When I hear the rare contrarian talk about how they think the Beatles are “overrated” or “boy band” sell outs or whatever I know they’re probably just trying to be controversial for controversy sake and likely mean they just don’t personally enjoy the Beatles’ aesthetic. Clearly they’re as seminal and important as they deserve to be since we can use them to demonstrate many theory concepts that have become so important to modern pop/rock, let alone genre conventions and cliches. The Stones are great in their own right but I doubt we could find as many durable theoretical concepts coming from their oeuvre.
I love the idea that songs aren't in "A Major" or "A minor" but just "A". Really simplifies things from an arranging, compositional and improvisation perspective.
The Beatles' (specifically Lennon's) "I'll Be Back" is one of my favorite interchange examples, notably that haunting fadeout alternating between two keys.
One of the best examples of songs by the Beatles that are easily overlooked but are amazing bits of songwriting and performance. It isn’t just that the modal interchange exists in the song, but think of when you specifically hear the shifts- it goes into the minor key on “you know, if you break my heart I’ll go” because that idea (ending a relationship) is supposed to be sad, but John (and yes, this song is pure John) immediately undercuts the significance of his threat to leave when he switches to the major in time for the end of “but I’ll be back again”. And in the same way undercuts that “happy” resolution by immediately going back to the minor for the next verse. It paints a picture of someone who can’t enjoy the good because he knows the bad is inevitably right around the corner. All this tension between the major and minor keys represents his conflicted emotions towards the significant other being sung about; just absolutely brilliant musical rhetoric going on.
@@chloemchll3774 You give a great analysis of the emotional underpinnings of the key changes, and how Lennon instinctively knows how to convey his ambivalence. George Martin recognized this was a great tune; he always selected a strong tune for the last album cut. "I'll Be Back," though written in 1964, foretells the more complex tunes to come on Rubber Soul & Revolver.
@@VMBFV Yes, that's a whole other discussion; I agree with you on that cut but putting that 'Dizzy Miss Lizzy' cover at the end of Help! make it easier to skip that cut when the vinyl was first released :)
Your videos are so immensely helpful. You always have the perfect examples to showcase a very particular piece of music theory. That makes it much easier to understand those concepts.
The IV-iv minor is so common that every time I hear a major key become minor in a song I naturally assume it's the IV chord even if I wouldn't recognize it otherwise.
Request - I'd love to see you use a bit more Roman numeral notation. I realize it depends on the tonic, but it'd really help me think about the progressions as you talk about them
@@DavidBennettPiano Great! Alexander took the word out of my mouth with that comment. The roman numerals would really help in your eplanations. Great work David!
One style of music with a lot of modal interchange is Tango. These songs are typically in a minor key, but occasionally switch to the parallel major. Although there are some the do it the other way.
Another killer video, David. I love hearing the alternate chord examples. That Moody Blues example made my heart happy! My mom and I used to listen to it when I was growing up. The prevalence of modal interchange (and even the term itself) was a recent revelation for me when I starting to break down modern music. It's not as easy to find songs in my library that are not mixing modes, or modal, than I thought!
I honestly don't know where I'd be in my musical exploration without this channel. Pure gold! This is the channel I recommend everyone that ask questions
A lot of Radiohead songs use modal interchanges: Everything In Its Right Place, No Surprises, Just... also, I think Airbag uses a modal interchange between the Ionian and the Lydian modes, in the verse.
I was gonna comment that I was surprised he didn't mention No Surprises rather than Creep, bc in No Surprises the I M->IV m progression is really the core of the song.
As a songwriter I love the experimental doors your videos open up, especially beatles modulations type stuff. Fascinating. Have recently been playing around with the phrygian mode and was looking for one of your excellent videos explaining the posibilities of changing between modes within a song a little more in depth. Any pointers you can offer here would be much appreciated :) All the best (from York)!
I got my Grade V theory when I was a teenager because my piano teacher wanted me to have a clear road ahead to just get the practical exams I couldn't reach without the theory exams. I haven't played piano or keyboard since I was 18, but the theory stuff is fascinating -- and learning it really enhances the way I can listen to music even if I can't play it.
I studied theory at University for a year and left feeling more confused than educated. Admittedly, classical theory is much more rigid in its structure but these lessons are much more practical and digestible. Thank You!
"Anthem" by Rush uses a similar progression to the "Gimmie Shelter" and "Lola" examples. Most of the melody and chords fit in E minor, but the tonic is an E major chord instead. Most of the song relies on a C-D-E (all major) progression. "Can You Feel It" by the Jacksons also does this in F#, with both the melody and chords mixing F# major and F# minor. The chorus chord progression is D-E-F#, all major.
The intro to People of the Pride by Coldplay uses modal interchange form the parallel minor scale and Coloratura from the same album borrows from Mixolydian, Lydian and Minor. Its a cool song. Most of Coldplay's early stuff had a lot of modal interchange. Great vid and keep up the great work!
Considering how prevalent it is, I feel like this topic is really underexplored! Particularly so-called "majorised minor modalities", or what Philip Tagg calls "permanent Picardy thirds" (i.e., a minor mode but with a persistent major chord I).
Oh Comely by Neutral Milk Hotel is an interesting example where the vocal melody is all in E minor but the guitar consistently plays an E major chord. So instead of constant picardy thirds, it's almost like constant #9s
Another great example of modal interachange from major to minor is the opening line of each verse of Nobody Does it Better by Carly Simon (C, Cm, G), which is my personal favourite
“Falling On” by Finger Eleven has recently been my favorite example of this. It’s crazy how well it works despite the melody being unable to decide if it should sing C or C#.
It was interesting you bringing up modal Mixture to remove the diminished in Nights in White Satin because it seems that bypassing diminished chords is one of the biggest uses for modal interchange! People just don't like using diminished chords in pop and rock songs!
I would not see it as avoidance of the half diminished chord. The F is a nice replacement for the dominant chord B, because it is its tritone substitution. At the same time it fits into the descending bass line pattern. The tritone substitution is hidden though, because it is not played as a dominant seven chord, but as the basic triad.
Fun fact: You can find modal interchange in the end of Franz Liszt's fourth Consolation. The left hand plays a bass octave going down the C-Sharp natural minor scale, while the right hand plays D-flat major, A major, G-flat major, E-flat minor, and finally D-flat major again. The music that it comes after is in D-flat major. I think it's a pretty interesting and satisfying way to end that chorale piece.
Some of my favorite moments of major/minor modal interchange that aren't shown in the video are at the end of the verses in "i will follow you into the dark" by DCFC and the outro to layla by eric clapton with that beautiful dominant 7th add 9
Another cool thing is when they play the tonic chord but you cant tell if its major or minor (like by obscuring the third note, or having different instruments playing both minor and major 3rd). Like at the end of Remember a Day by pink floyd, it plays tonic for a long while which sounds minor at first, but then gradually changes to more major sound with the vocal melody
This is the topic that most interests me! One of my favorite videos of yours of all time is the one where you ranked the modes by brightness. That subject basically changed my life and ever since I have rediscovered music for myself and has also changed my compositions forever.
6:30 yes!! You put in to words something I was going to ask you but didn't know how... It's like, the classic modes are useful but seem to just be a convenient (and historical) set of scales because they're all the same "spacing" just starting at different points... So at the end of the day you could play any amount of the 5 "outside key" notes and if they fit a classic modes then we might say we are playing in a certain mode... But if we pull any strange combination of "wrong notes" it doesn't really matter if it fits a classic modes or mixed modes or whatever... All that matters is it sounds good. It's a very important lesson to learn that music theory is not a dictatorship, it's information that is extremely useful but music is still "free" and that's what makes it beautiful and why we never run out of new music!
Yes, but theory is a good way of understanding the relationships between those notes. It's not rules, it's just explanation/tools for understanding patterns in music. Of course just play what sounds good - the explanation doesn't really matter. But the explanation makes these patterns easier to figure out. Not everyone can just instantly play amazing music. And that's why theory exists - it helps with figuring out these patterns that sound good. It allows you to "play what sounds good". If you play more chromatic stuff, it very likely has some kind of an explanation behind it. And knowing these explanations helps, because it gives you tools for "playing outside". Outside playing isn't random. Someone with no knowledge of how it works will most likely not be able to make it sound convincing.
I've spent the afternoon working my way through your videos, and am not only finding them useful, but also really like the way you link the ideas, e.g. in the Waterloo example where you explain that both the Lydian mode exchange and the Secondary Dominant ideas are correct... this is a sentiment that I find reassuring rather than hard 'right and wrong', and I have to commend you on that, because it gives me licence to go ahead and write music without worrying about stuffing up ;-)
First song I thought about, when I heard "Modal Interchange": Udo Jürgens - "Ich war noch niemals in New York". The song uses similiar chords to "Are you gonna be my girl". Nice coincidence.
9:01 Maybe something useful to address this "overlaping" and ambiguity of harmony analysis rules, particularly when referring to secondary dominants, is to identify where the chord is headed. . If its headed towards it's own grade IV, such as in the example 'D' (tonic) > 'E' (??) > 'A' (grade IV of 'E'), then 'E' is a secondary dominant ! Whereas, if 'E' would head towards any other chord different than 'A', it would be a Lidian modal interchange. Settled !
Sorry for plugging Girls Aloud once again, but quite a few of their songs use modal interchange. For instance, Call the Shots, while written in the key of B minor, also uses a G sharp minor chord in the verse. Black Jacks, which is written in the key of F major, introduces a B flat minor chord in the verse. The Promise, which is written in the key of A major uses a D minor chord in the pre-chorus section. However, my favorite has to be The Show which borrows so many chords from different modes of A flat and switches them around in the blink of an eye that it’s easier to describe it as simply in the key of A flat.
8:00 I like to see this kind of progression as a use of the axis theory on the axis of ausome's pointed chord progression, so instead of C G D Em we get C G F Em by replacing two chords from the dominant axis (or alternatively replacing the dominant of the relative major by the tritone substitution of the dominant). This kind of chord also has a pgrygian sound, which may or may not be why the moody blues put it in there, but anyway I think a better comparison would be between F and D and not F and F#m.
Thanks a lot for your videos, I'm learning so much things with them and I try to apply these music theory concepts to my songwriting. Thank you! I really love your channel. 😊
The IV-iv movement in Forrest Gump by frank ocean is really cool too because of how consistently it’s used, it doesn’t even register as out of the key after a while because it just sounds so good and it’s repeated so much
Hi David, I'd like you to examine some of the solo material of The Beatles members. There's a plenty to choose as im sure you are aware. Take 'Pipes of Peace' for example, I think a masterpiece from Paul. Have a lively day. M
"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Hey Joe" sound like they're using power chords. Those aren't really major chords because there's no third. Also interesting to note how the "Hey Joe" progression goes around the Circle of Fifths.
Hey Joe has 5 major chords. I don't know any song where Hendrix use only power chords. If you play the song it will sound very wrong if you use a minor chord somewhere. I am sure that every guitar player will agree with me.
Both "Columbia" and "My Big Mouth" by Oasis do a similar thing to "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet. They mix major chords from A Minor and A Major but melodically sit firmly in A Minor. The fact that both songs use only major chords makes them sound bright despite their aggressive, distorted guitar tones.
Fool For Love by Bryan Ferry shifts from G minor to Bb major in the “bridge”. Sounds like a shift in the key, but no, it just changes the tonic keeping the key signature (Bb) the same.
Funny enough, I had just been thinking about "96 tears" by ? and the Mysterians, and that song is a great example of modal interchange, vamping between G major and G minor.
Don’t forget that while the keyboard riff vamps between the G major and the G minor chords, the bass alternates between G and C, thus transforming the G minor chord into C7sus2. So I don’t think it really qualifies as a modal interchange.
Your videos are always top notch, extremely educational, and interesting to watch. I wonder about these modal mixtures if they mostly occur randomly, added by the composer based on what they feel resonates, rather than a song writer purposefully taking a chord or chords from another mode? Especially because, as you point out several times, the "deviant" chords used tend to bring forth a certain emotional color that adds depth to the song that would not otherwise be there if the "correct" chord were chosen.
Your videos are incredibly informative and interesting for people who want to learn more about music! Congrats for such a great work! Greetings from Brazil! 🎸🎵
Yoo i was waiting for one of you music you youtubers to break this down for the masses. Now i can link this instead of arguing with people on this topic 😅
I'd love to see a video on songs that are in different keys in the verse and the chorus. This topic came to mind specifically when I was playing Kodachrome by Paul Simon, which has verses in D and a chorus/outro in G.
You can do anything your taste leads you to and that's a benefit of not knowing the past and this because of tunning. There is nothing more noxious then rules of composition there just inductions of limited experience
Personally, I'd consider the Emaj in Waterloo to be a secondary dominate because it is followed by an Amaj so it would be a V/V to V. That being said, like you said, it's all opinion anyways
I have a question for you that I've been wondering about, since these are scales I've been toying around with a lot lately myself: how common would you say that what we know as the "gypsy scales" are in popular music (or other genres)? I think I know of at least one example cuz I've been enjoying the song a lot recently: "Playground" by Bea Miller (from the Neflix show "Arcane"). If I'm not mistaken, the verses are in standard Phrygian, but in the chorus it shifts to the Phrygian dominant scale (Phrygian with major third). It's a really fun song and I'm curious now what your thoughts on these scales in modern music are. :)
I like the most the idea of "it being something else" than major or minor. I just feel like it should have its own theory, when to pull that mix out to have an effective change. The first two examples really felt like melodical ties to the next chord, to have a nice little bridging, which just happens to be interpreted as major -> minor -> next chord, where it actually in my head categorizes/plays more like as major -> neutral shell of the chord with melody line -> the next chord. I suppose this video's songs and examples emphasize how in the end music is mostly about feeling it and being creative, maybe hearing it in your head and letting someone else care about describing the rules around what sounded good when you came up with it and what is happening there. In the end the modal videos didn't satisfyingly explain when to take advantage of them either to create something very nice. Just that you can do it and sometimes they're used very briefly even, just to do a trick. And in that moment they feel just like an out of key note that just fits perfectly (die to the function of modes though). It's so odd how even when you learn why something works or what is happening is still different than just coming up with something that sounds pleasant and makes a hit song.
![Writing Progressions with Borrowed Chords: Songwriting Lesson [MUSIC THEORY - MODAL INTERCHANGE]](/img/n.gif)
Use this link to get 20% off lifetime access to HookTheory's amazing resources: www.hooktheory.com/davidbennett 🎼😃
I really appreciate the way you show what a song would sound like if the composer had taken the conventional approach.
I agree, really helps to actually hear the difference
And it sounds really interesting! :-)
Love how frequently the Beatle catalog can be used as examples
Me too!
We are all just players on a stage the Beatles built.
In My Life is a top 10 Beatles song
(Or at least top 20)
When I hear the rare contrarian talk about how they think the Beatles are “overrated” or “boy band” sell outs or whatever I know they’re probably just trying to be controversial for controversy sake and likely mean they just don’t personally enjoy the Beatles’ aesthetic. Clearly they’re as seminal and important as they deserve to be since we can use them to demonstrate many theory concepts that have become so important to modern pop/rock, let alone genre conventions and cliches. The Stones are great in their own right but I doubt we could find as many durable theoretical concepts coming from their oeuvre.
Crazy how much they evolved and accomplished in such a short time they were together.
I love the idea that songs aren't in "A Major" or "A minor" but just "A". Really simplifies things from an arranging, compositional and improvisation perspective.
The Beatles' (specifically Lennon's) "I'll Be Back" is one of my favorite interchange examples, notably that haunting fadeout alternating between two keys.
One of the best examples of songs by the Beatles that are easily overlooked but are amazing bits of songwriting and performance.
It isn’t just that the modal interchange exists in the song, but think of when you specifically hear the shifts- it goes into the minor key on “you know, if you break my heart I’ll go” because that idea (ending a relationship) is supposed to be sad, but John (and yes, this song is pure John) immediately undercuts the significance of his threat to leave when he switches to the major in time for the end of “but I’ll be back again”. And in the same way undercuts that “happy” resolution by immediately going back to the minor for the next verse. It paints a picture of someone who can’t enjoy the good because he knows the bad is inevitably right around the corner.
All this tension between the major and minor keys represents his conflicted emotions towards the significant other being sung about; just absolutely brilliant musical rhetoric going on.
@@chloemchll3774 You give a great analysis of the emotional underpinnings of the key changes, and how Lennon instinctively knows how to convey his ambivalence. George Martin recognized this was a great tune; he always selected a strong tune for the last album cut. "I'll Be Back," though written in 1964, foretells the more complex tunes to come on Rubber Soul & Revolver.
Very many of those older songs are gems, overshadowed by what came later. There are a lot of "wow" moments when you really examine them.
@@ClueSign Unfortunately he chose "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" to close Help!, I think it's a weak track by the band.
@@VMBFV Yes, that's a whole other discussion; I agree with you on that cut but putting that 'Dizzy Miss Lizzy' cover at the end of Help! make it easier to skip that cut when the vinyl was first released :)
Your videos are so immensely helpful. You always have the perfect examples to showcase a very particular piece of music theory. That makes it much easier to understand those concepts.
Thank you!
@@DavidBennettPiano You're really awesome indeed! Thanks for the amazing content! 😊
The IV-iv minor is so common that every time I hear a major key become minor in a song I naturally assume it's the IV chord even if I wouldn't recognize it otherwise.
Most of the time you are probably correct too!
David understands it in addition to knowing how to explain it, try doing that folks.
Thank you 😊
you know it's a david bennett piano video when the beatles and radiohead are both mentioned in the first minute and a half
Request - I'd love to see you use a bit more Roman numeral notation. I realize it depends on the tonic, but it'd really help me think about the progressions as you talk about them
Good idea 😀
@@DavidBennettPiano Great! Alexander took the word out of my mouth with that comment. The roman numerals would really help in your eplanations. Great work David!
One style of music with a lot of modal interchange is Tango. These songs are typically in a minor key, but occasionally switch to the parallel major. Although there are some the do it the other way.
Love David’s presentations...especially the outros. So generous. And human.
We need more of that.
I like how you show us how it would have sounded if they'd used different chords, most music analysis channels don't
Thanks!
I’ve heard this effect so many times. Now I know what it’s called! Excellent as always, thanks. Makes me look at music differently.
Great!
Kiss from a Rose by Seal uses modal interchange, and is one of the most beautiful songs I've ever known.
Another killer video, David. I love hearing the alternate chord examples. That Moody Blues example made my heart happy! My mom and I used to listen to it when I was growing up. The prevalence of modal interchange (and even the term itself) was a recent revelation for me when I starting to break down modern music. It's not as easy to find songs in my library that are not mixing modes, or modal, than I thought!
Watching this, I was thinking about your Massive Attack Teardrop breakdown video which I watched recently - then I saw that you commented! Cool!
4:13 that’s the same chord progression used on “A Day in the Life” by The Beatles, in the “aaaah”
I honestly don't know where I'd be in my musical exploration without this channel. Pure gold! This is the channel I recommend everyone that ask questions
Thank you!
A lot of Radiohead songs use modal interchanges: Everything In Its Right Place, No Surprises, Just... also, I think Airbag uses a modal interchange between the Ionian and the Lydian modes, in the verse.
Radiohead doesnt even care what key theyre in
@@calvindewolff9177 they certainly do, they're not your typical alternative rock band that doesn't care about theory.
@@Alberto-ny7kf i meant it in a good way
even creep has it cmin and cmaj
I was gonna comment that I was surprised he didn't mention No Surprises rather than Creep, bc in No Surprises the I M->IV m progression is really the core of the song.
As a songwriter I love the experimental doors your videos open up, especially beatles modulations type stuff. Fascinating. Have recently been playing around with the phrygian mode and was looking for one of your excellent videos explaining the posibilities of changing between modes within a song a little more in depth. Any pointers you can offer here would be much appreciated :) All the best (from York)!
I got my Grade V theory when I was a teenager because my piano teacher wanted me to have a clear road ahead to just get the practical exams I couldn't reach without the theory exams. I haven't played piano or keyboard since I was 18, but the theory stuff is fascinating -- and learning it really enhances the way I can listen to music even if I can't play it.
I studied theory at University for a year and left feeling more confused than educated. Admittedly, classical theory is much more rigid in its structure but these lessons are much more practical and digestible. Thank You!
"Anthem" by Rush uses a similar progression to the "Gimmie Shelter" and "Lola" examples. Most of the melody and chords fit in E minor, but the tonic is an E major chord instead. Most of the song relies on a C-D-E (all major) progression.
"Can You Feel It" by the Jacksons also does this in F#, with both the melody and chords mixing F# major and F# minor. The chorus chord progression is D-E-F#, all major.
Using Rush as an example of cool music theory phenomena almost seems like cheating! lol
The intro to People of the Pride by Coldplay uses modal interchange form the parallel minor scale and Coloratura from the same album borrows from Mixolydian, Lydian and Minor. Its a cool song. Most of Coldplay's early stuff had a lot of modal interchange. Great vid and keep up the great work!
Considering how prevalent it is, I feel like this topic is really underexplored! Particularly so-called "majorised minor modalities", or what Philip Tagg calls "permanent Picardy thirds" (i.e., a minor mode but with a persistent major chord I).
I know "Kiss from a Rose" has permanent Picardy thirds. Are there any other songs?
Just turn the chord major and it makes it great
The outro of Under the Bridge is a great Example.
Oh Comely by Neutral Milk Hotel is an interesting example where the vocal melody is all in E minor but the guitar consistently plays an E major chord. So instead of constant picardy thirds, it's almost like constant #9s
"I Will Possess Your Heart" by Death Cab For Cutie has both a major & minor tonic chord. It's really pretty!
I ended up here after watching one of your videos. You’re the best!
Another great example of modal interachange from major to minor is the opening line of each verse of Nobody Does it Better by Carly Simon (C, Cm, G), which is my personal favourite
“Falling On” by Finger Eleven has recently been my favorite example of this. It’s crazy how well it works despite the melody being unable to decide if it should sing C or C#.
Note also that some of those classic examples use A D C G... the most common and easy chords on the guitar
It was interesting you bringing up modal Mixture to remove the diminished in Nights in White Satin because it seems that bypassing diminished chords is one of the biggest uses for modal interchange! People just don't like using diminished chords in pop and rock songs!
I would not see it as avoidance of the half diminished chord. The F is a nice replacement for the dominant chord B, because it is its tritone substitution. At the same time it fits into the descending bass line pattern. The tritone substitution is hidden though, because it is not played as a dominant seven chord, but as the basic triad.
The outro song is beautiful! sounds like it has some modal interchange itself.
I would love to hear about analysis of THAT song!
Fun fact: You can find modal interchange in the end of Franz Liszt's fourth Consolation. The left hand plays a bass octave going down the C-Sharp natural minor scale, while the right hand plays D-flat major, A major, G-flat major, E-flat minor, and finally D-flat major again. The music that it comes after is in D-flat major. I think it's a pretty interesting and satisfying way to end that chorale piece.
Oh, how much I love the change from IV to iv (sometimes add 6)! Thanks for the video!
Some of my favorite moments of major/minor modal interchange that aren't shown in the video are at the end of the verses in "i will follow you into the dark" by DCFC and the outro to layla by eric clapton with that beautiful dominant 7th add 9
Another dandy video with thoughtful examples... thanks, as always!
Thanks!
Another cool thing is when they play the tonic chord but you cant tell if its major or minor (like by obscuring the third note, or having different instruments playing both minor and major 3rd). Like at the end of Remember a Day by pink floyd, it plays tonic for a long while which sounds minor at first, but then gradually changes to more major sound with the vocal melody
This is the topic that most interests me! One of my favorite videos of yours of all time is the one where you ranked the modes by brightness. That subject basically changed my life and ever since I have rediscovered music for myself and has also changed my compositions forever.
6:30 yes!! You put in to words something I was going to ask you but didn't know how... It's like, the classic modes are useful but seem to just be a convenient (and historical) set of scales because they're all the same "spacing" just starting at different points... So at the end of the day you could play any amount of the 5 "outside key" notes and if they fit a classic modes then we might say we are playing in a certain mode... But if we pull any strange combination of "wrong notes" it doesn't really matter if it fits a classic modes or mixed modes or whatever... All that matters is it sounds good. It's a very important lesson to learn that music theory is not a dictatorship, it's information that is extremely useful but music is still "free" and that's what makes it beautiful and why we never run out of new music!
We always will have different sounds and voices and athmospheres to come but best music is already made in my opinioon.
Yes, but theory is a good way of understanding the relationships between those notes. It's not rules, it's just explanation/tools for understanding patterns in music. Of course just play what sounds good - the explanation doesn't really matter. But the explanation makes these patterns easier to figure out. Not everyone can just instantly play amazing music. And that's why theory exists - it helps with figuring out these patterns that sound good. It allows you to "play what sounds good".
If you play more chromatic stuff, it very likely has some kind of an explanation behind it. And knowing these explanations helps, because it gives you tools for "playing outside". Outside playing isn't random. Someone with no knowledge of how it works will most likely not be able to make it sound convincing.
I've spent the afternoon working my way through your videos, and am not only finding them useful, but also really like the way you link the ideas, e.g. in the Waterloo example where you explain that both the Lydian mode exchange and the Secondary Dominant ideas are correct... this is a sentiment that I find reassuring rather than hard 'right and wrong', and I have to commend you on that, because it gives me licence to go ahead and write music without worrying about stuffing up ;-)
David's piano piece, heard during the Patreon acknowledgments, is another good example of modal interchange.
First song I thought about, when I heard "Modal Interchange": Udo Jürgens - "Ich war noch niemals in New York". The song uses similiar chords to "Are you gonna be my girl". Nice coincidence.
I seem to naturally like modal interchange because I love almost all the songs that you have used as examples in this video.
9:01 Maybe something useful to address this "overlaping" and ambiguity of harmony analysis rules, particularly when referring to secondary dominants, is to identify where the chord is headed.
.
If its headed towards it's own grade IV, such as in the example 'D' (tonic) > 'E' (??) > 'A' (grade IV of 'E'), then 'E' is a secondary dominant ! Whereas, if 'E' would head towards any other chord different than 'A', it would be a Lidian modal interchange. Settled !
i love how satisying modal interchange sound
Sorry for plugging Girls Aloud once again, but quite a few of their songs use modal interchange. For instance, Call the Shots, while written in the key of B minor, also uses a G sharp minor chord in the verse. Black Jacks, which is written in the key of F major, introduces a B flat minor chord in the verse. The Promise, which is written in the key of A major uses a D minor chord in the pre-chorus section. However, my favorite has to be The Show which borrows so many chords from different modes of A flat and switches them around in the blink of an eye that it’s easier to describe it as simply in the key of A flat.
8:00 I like to see this kind of progression as a use of the axis theory on the axis of ausome's pointed chord progression, so instead of C G D Em we get C G F Em by replacing two chords from the dominant axis (or alternatively replacing the dominant of the relative major by the tritone substitution of the dominant). This kind of chord also has a pgrygian sound, which may or may not be why the moody blues put it in there, but anyway I think a better comparison would be between F and D and not F and F#m.
Thanks a lot for your videos, I'm learning so much things with them and I try to apply these music theory concepts to my songwriting. Thank you! I really love your channel. 😊
Now I see how you incorporated the “minor plagal“ cadence into video with the larger sphere of modal interchange. Great stuff!
Nick Drake - Way to Blue is a good example of song wich uses both major and minor to create a melancholy mood
The IV-iv movement in Forrest Gump by frank ocean is really cool too because of how consistently it’s used, it doesn’t even register as out of the key after a while because it just sounds so good and it’s repeated so much
A song that is worth mentioning in this context is "Happy" by Pharrell Williams. It's definitely in F, but F what, exactly?
Hi David, I'd like you to examine some of the solo material of The Beatles members. There's a plenty to choose as im sure you are aware. Take 'Pipes of Peace' for example, I think a masterpiece from Paul. Have a lively day. M
"Are You Gonna Be My Girl" and "Hey Joe" sound like they're using power chords. Those aren't really major chords because there's no third.
Also interesting to note how the "Hey Joe" progression goes around the Circle of Fifths.
Hey Joe has 5 major chords. I don't know any song where Hendrix use only power chords. If you play the song it will sound very wrong if you use a minor chord somewhere. I am sure that every guitar player will agree with me.
Hey Joe definitely uses full major chords, not power chords. You can clearly hear the third over all of the chords.
David, great video as always. Thanks!
This means old school house and garage used quite a bit of modal interchange in order to get it's signature unique sounds
i love how during the outro patreon section he just brushhes through the name :"David bennete is hawt" without acknowledging it 10:29
Livin Thing by Electric Light Orchestra is another example of Modal Interchange
Hodgepodge :) love that term
Your videos make me want to make an ambiguous chord progression with all the modes.
Let's hear it! 👏
@@yuyiya it’s three chord loop Cmaj-Cmin-Cdim. All three chords functions as the tonic lol.
I keep saying it but your teaching style is amazing.
Thank you!
Brilliant as always.
Thanks!
Excellent video, David, thank you.
Thanks Peter!
You are such a good teacher, David. Fantastic as always. So 1:38 is word painting that you've spoken about, right?
Ye
This is also mode mixture, modal mixture , or substituted chord, HOWEVER we know it best as "borrowed chords" or 'chord-borrowing
I love your videos so much. Learn so much for song writing
Thanks David, always great content and you choose the best examples - theory is nothing without context!
Thanks Andy!
Such a great channel. Thanks for the video again 👍🏾
Both "Columbia" and "My Big Mouth" by Oasis do a similar thing to "Are You Gonna Be My Girl?" by Jet. They mix major chords from A Minor and A Major but melodically sit firmly in A Minor. The fact that both songs use only major chords makes them sound bright despite their aggressive, distorted guitar tones.
The Am7 F#m7 example is also considered a chromatic mediant.
Brilliant as per usual
Love when he sang in "creep" that I don't belong here lined up with that CM lol
Thank you, Christopher Ryan.
A great example for me of modal interchange is Teardrop (Massive Attack)
Excellent song!
This is just what I needed today
8:55 I do think the major II chord is a secondary dominant. Some may have different opinions though
Fool For Love by Bryan Ferry shifts from G minor to Bb major in the “bridge”. Sounds like a shift in the key, but no, it just changes the tonic keeping the key signature (Bb) the same.
Such a helpful lesson. Thank you, David! 😊
I love this lydian II chord over I chord tonic in bass (a.e. E/D) Its albo used in The One by Elton John. and Jurassix park theme
Funny enough, I had just been thinking about "96 tears" by ? and the Mysterians, and that song is a great example of modal interchange, vamping between G major and G minor.
Don’t forget that while the keyboard riff vamps between the G major and the G minor chords, the bass alternates between G and C, thus transforming the G minor chord into C7sus2. So I don’t think it really qualifies as a modal interchange.
Amazing video!! I'd love one on a breakdown of some Puma Blue 🙏
Awesome viewpoint!
😀
Your videos are always top notch, extremely educational, and interesting to watch. I wonder about these modal mixtures if they mostly occur randomly, added by the composer based on what they feel resonates, rather than a song writer purposefully taking a chord or chords from another mode? Especially because, as you point out several times, the "deviant" chords used tend to bring forth a certain emotional color that adds depth to the song that would not otherwise be there if the "correct" chord were chosen.
Your videos are incredibly informative and interesting for people who want to learn more about music! Congrats for such a great work! Greetings from Brazil! 🎸🎵
Yoo i was waiting for one of you music you youtubers to break this down for the masses. Now i can link this instead of arguing with people on this topic 😅
Thanks! 😀😂
As someone who's not a huge fan of the doors, I actually prefer that snippet of light my fire that doesn't have a modal interchange
I'd love to see a video on songs that are in different keys in the verse and the chorus. This topic came to mind specifically when I was playing Kodachrome by Paul Simon, which has verses in D and a chorus/outro in G.
Good stuff. This helps a lot. Pink Floyd seems to do this. The old song "The Gnome" seems to change multiple times.
You can do anything your taste leads you to and that's a benefit of not knowing the past and this because of tunning. There is nothing more noxious then rules of composition there just inductions of limited experience
I particularly like when the interchange happens on the tonic. Stone Temple Pilots did this a lot.
Great video your a great teacher of music
Thanks!
I think the song La Bikina (by Rubén Fuentes) makes a great use of modal interchange. I recommend you to check the version of Luis Miguel.
Personally, I'd consider the Emaj in Waterloo to be a secondary dominate because it is followed by an Amaj so it would be a V/V to V. That being said, like you said, it's all opinion anyways
I have a question for you that I've been wondering about, since these are scales I've been toying around with a lot lately myself: how common would you say that what we know as the "gypsy scales" are in popular music (or other genres)?
I think I know of at least one example cuz I've been enjoying the song a lot recently: "Playground" by Bea Miller (from the Neflix show "Arcane"). If I'm not mistaken, the verses are in standard Phrygian, but in the chorus it shifts to the Phrygian dominant scale (Phrygian with major third). It's a really fun song and I'm curious now what your thoughts on these scales in modern music are. :)
Listen to come out and play by the offspring😁
Would 10cc's I'm not in love qualify on this ? It's chord progression is quite unique, and I don't remember hearing you talking about it 🙂
It should definitely count bro.
Yes
Yes, it uses the minor iv.
And my god so many great songs on this video 😍
The Force Theme by John Williams is the best example of this
Great job. To my ear, the key is in the cadence
I was really surprised to not find Adele's "Rollin' in the deep" in this video :)
I like the most the idea of "it being something else" than major or minor. I just feel like it should have its own theory, when to pull that mix out to have an effective change. The first two examples really felt like melodical ties to the next chord, to have a nice little bridging, which just happens to be interpreted as major -> minor -> next chord, where it actually in my head categorizes/plays more like as major -> neutral shell of the chord with melody line -> the next chord.
I suppose this video's songs and examples emphasize how in the end music is mostly about feeling it and being creative, maybe hearing it in your head and letting someone else care about describing the rules around what sounded good when you came up with it and what is happening there. In the end the modal videos didn't satisfyingly explain when to take advantage of them either to create something very nice. Just that you can do it and sometimes they're used very briefly even, just to do a trick. And in that moment they feel just like an out of key note that just fits perfectly (die to the function of modes though). It's so odd how even when you learn why something works or what is happening is still different than just coming up with something that sounds pleasant and makes a hit song.
My favorite example of it at the moment: Camel by Camel by Sandy Marton