It's funny how cultures will keep feeding each other's cultures back to one another. Japanese musicians definitely pulled this progression from Motown circa 1970-72. There are a bunch of examples I've found over the years but the first that comes to mind is Ain't No Mountain High Enough, which I especially like because when it goes from the IV chord to the V chord, the IV stays in the bass, creating a super bright extended Lydian chord. I'd also encourage players to experiment with taking the second half of that length of Am7 and using it to set up a secondary IIm7-V7 back to the IVmaj7 chord. (Gm7 C9 or tritone substitute the C9 for Gb7alt).
I’ve been writing riffs based around a particular chord progression for like 3 years trying to break away from it. Your channel has been really inspiring for me to get out of that box 📦 keep up the good work!
the inversion of chords that only used he highest 4 strings are what i call ukulele voicing cuz you play it the same way on that instrument as well, hey maybe someone should do a math rock song on just ukulele!
The most staple full chord progression in Japanese music would be either the Koakuma a.k.a. Royal Road or many variations of the Bird Blues. A lot of people seem to default to Koakuma, but I think I prefer the Church-y feel of the Bird Blues variations much more.
I've always wondered what this was. Thank you for such a great and easily understandable breakdown of it. Liked, subscribed and signed up for the newsletter!
To add at the end of the final progression, I first heard a Gm7, that I would start at the 10th fret, but then I reconsidered the words "smooth change", and thought of a Bbmaj7/D starting at the 5th fret and 5th string - D, B♭, D, F, A or frets 5, 8, 7, 6, 5 shaped as a barre chord. That's my take.
I would go with the Gm9 at that question mark you at the end of the video: 3rd finger on fret 5 of D string. First finger on 3rd fret covering the 4 below strings and finger number 4 on the 5th fret from the first E string.
Very interesting. I will try this out. I would just add though that a proper example would have elevated this lesson a lot. I mean like 30-40 seconds of playing a discrete piece of music without discussion. I hope you'll add this in future lessons, I'll keep an eye on your channel. Peace
@@LongTim-They're a Brisbane, Australia based band that have found success in the last seven years. I wouldnt call them a Japanese band so much as two of their band members are Australian-Japanese. They're very indie rock.
the progression is still the IV - V - iii - vi so the Gm chord is the functional choice. But for the most smooth transition, I was thinking more about voice leading so using the smallest jumps between chords. Following that, I thought a Gm7/D (G minor 7 second inversion) works well. You could play that chord like this: x 5 5 3 6 x
As OP said already, there are just too many examples to pinpoint in all honesty, so it's kind of hard to point out the most striking examples and even the Wiki page for Royal Road has lots of non-Japanese examples from other countries esp. Indonesia (which goes to show you the significance of its popularity). That being said, the most memorable use of it for me is the ending theme for the original Boogiepop Phantom anime, "Yūdachi" by Shikao Suga. Outside Japan, I think the Indonesian song "Siapkah Kau 'tuk Jatuh Cinta Lagi" by the pop group Hivi (stylized as H!VI) has some of the tastiest use of the progression within a long progression context.
lol didnt even realise i had till you pointed it out! I changed my name in my google account for some verification thingy. Didn’t know it would change it here too!
Hello you lovelies! Check out my Math Rock & Midwest emo Guitar Essentials eBook here: bit.ly/4eV2Elp
It's funny how cultures will keep feeding each other's cultures back to one another. Japanese musicians definitely pulled this progression from Motown circa 1970-72. There are a bunch of examples I've found over the years but the first that comes to mind is Ain't No Mountain High Enough, which I especially like because when it goes from the IV chord to the V chord, the IV stays in the bass, creating a super bright extended Lydian chord. I'd also encourage players to experiment with taking the second half of that length of Am7 and using it to set up a secondary IIm7-V7 back to the IVmaj7 chord. (Gm7 C9 or tritone substitute the C9 for Gb7alt).
Final Fantasy VII may be cool, but have you tried Final Fantasy VIIm7b5?
😂
😭
Damn.
That could easily be a new spin-off, seeing how videogames can be when it comes to naming conventions.
I’ve been writing riffs based around a particular chord progression for like 3 years trying to break away from it. Your channel has been really inspiring for me to get out of that box 📦 keep up the good work!
That's what I love to hear! The motivation I need to keep making this kind of content. Thanks! 🙌
Em7/B, wow what a cool chord.
Sweet idea for the inversions.
Thanks! Glad you found them useful!
Dude I love the way you present the guitar.
you've both encouraged me to get back to practice and given me a breakthrough in a song ive been writing that's in the same key
This video has been wildly helpful for where I'm at on guitar. Learning inversions is opening a whole world of sound for me. Great video!😁
One of my favorite progressions
the inversion of chords that only used he highest 4 strings are what i call ukulele voicing cuz you play it the same way on that instrument as well, hey maybe someone should do a math rock song on just ukulele!
The most staple full chord progression in Japanese music would be either the Koakuma a.k.a. Royal Road or many variations of the Bird Blues. A lot of people seem to default to Koakuma, but I think I prefer the Church-y feel of the Bird Blues variations much more.
I've always wondered what this was. Thank you for such a great and easily understandable breakdown of it. Liked, subscribed and signed up for the newsletter!
You're welcome! thanks for signing up 🙌
To add at the end of the final progression, I first heard a Gm7, that I would start at the 10th fret, but then I reconsidered the words "smooth change", and thought of a Bbmaj7/D starting at the 5th fret and 5th string - D, B♭, D, F, A or frets 5, 8, 7, 6, 5 shaped as a barre chord. That's my take.
excellent! Thanks for sharing. I went with a Gm7/D (G minor 7 second inversion). On the guitar it would be: x 5 5 3 6 x
I would go with the Gm9 at that question mark you at the end of the video: 3rd finger on fret 5 of D string. First finger on 3rd fret covering the 4 below strings and finger number 4 on the 5th fret from the first E string.
I learned so much from this video, especially that I need a jazzmaster
What a great lesson!!!
cheers 🙌
LUV THE CONTENT ❤💥💥mostly the explanations
thanks 🙌
Very interesting. I will try this out. I would just add though that a proper example would have elevated this lesson a lot. I mean like 30-40 seconds of playing a discrete piece of music without discussion. I hope you'll add this in future lessons, I'll keep an eye on your channel. Peace
A video about how to do riffs like tera melos (in their 2010-2018) would be cool!!!
It's my favorite progression.
Gotta do a math rock cover of “those who fight further” now
i found this sound by accident by using e minor 7 as a sub for cmaj7, a 2516 or 4516 doing that gives a very similar sound
For the last chord I would use a Dm6/11 starting on the G string and it looking like x5546x
Thanks for sharing! If you played this chord x5536x you'll have a Gm7/D (G minor 7 second inversion) and I found this provides smooth voice leading.
That’s a last dinosaurs type chord progression. My favorite Australian / Japanese band
Reminded me of apollo
Is that a newer band? Last Dinosaur is a popular song by the pillows which is pretty famous J rock band from the 90s
@@LongTim-They're a Brisbane, Australia based band that have found success in the last seven years. I wouldnt call them a Japanese band so much as two of their band members are Australian-Japanese. They're very indie rock.
never gonna give-
😂
Great video! How about japanese songs in minor key what chord progression are they using?
the best end is the Em7 chord but on the 5th fret😎
I see what you did there 😂
answer for the question at the end! my personal choice would be a G9 chord because it adds a different flavor instead of the usual G minor chord
a spicy choice! nice 🙌
The Intro sounded like Sunny from Frieren
SHIZUMU YOWO NI TOKETE YUKU YOWO NI
I've just paused it at 9:33
I'm thinking a Cmaj7 on the third fret, don't know if it fits into the scale. Would that be a Maj 2nd? ? ?
the progression is still the IV - V - iii - vi so the Gm chord is the functional choice. But for the most smooth transition, I was thinking more about voice leading so using the smallest jumps between chords. Following that, I thought a Gm7/D (G minor 7 second inversion) works well. You could play that chord like this: x 5 5 3 6 x
@@LetsTalkAboutMathRockI thought of x-10-8-10-8-x which might not be as smooth but has some extra flare
IV V iii vii
fly me to the moon ahh chord progression
What is a JRPG?
G7 to answer the last question, it's basically what you just taught but a tone down
Gm7
Did you goto ACM?
very nice looking jazzmaster.
Thanks! 🙌
This does have a familiar ring to it. Any J-pop culture connoisseur care to list some examples of series/games, etc. that feature this progression?
There's a ton of examples in this video: th-cam.com/video/6aezSL_GvZA/w-d-xo.html
As OP said already, there are just too many examples to pinpoint in all honesty, so it's kind of hard to point out the most striking examples and even the Wiki page for Royal Road has lots of non-Japanese examples from other countries esp. Indonesia (which goes to show you the significance of its popularity).
That being said, the most memorable use of it for me is the ending theme for the original Boogiepop Phantom anime, "Yūdachi" by Shikao Suga. Outside Japan, I think the Indonesian song "Siapkah Kau 'tuk Jatuh Cinta Lagi" by the pop group Hivi (stylized as H!VI) has some of the tastiest use of the progression within a long progression context.
Why is it called the royal road progression?
Mario Kart 🫡
Its like a philosophy thing, this is considered the most harmonious hence the name, like "this is the way"
sir,what this guitar model?
Some kind of Jazzmaster, I think.
a partscaster. American Performer body, WD pickguard, pure vintage 65 pickups, and a vintera jazzmaster neck 👍
@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock oh,like mjt right?
@hxcovo9877 nope, from the Stratosphere ebay site 👍 the pickguard is custom made though by WD music
@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock thanks a lot
and this is why all those popular "I wrote a anime riff" videos fall flat to me
why did you change the channel name? weird.
lol didnt even realise i had till you pointed it out! I changed my name in my google account for some verification thingy. Didn’t know it would change it here too!
Cruel to be kind?
Am I the only one noticing this "midwest emo on crack riff" guitar? It's gorgeous, what's the story behind it?
It's Yvette Young signature guitar. Do a quick search for Ibanez YY20 to find it :)
@@LetsTalkAboutMathRock yeah, I know it. Just curious how it got into your collection. Is it like mustang + jazzmaster + telecaster body shape?