Fake Dr. Levin and Fake Foreign Secretary Zappa have a lot in common. 1. Afro 2. Goatee 3. Just naturally super Jewish-looking 4. Weird music And 5. Jazz Shred.
its so nice watching incredibly esoteric talent. its comforting knowing what will happen will be at the very least unique and talent driven and just good
your commentary was exactly what i thought watching you play. at 2:04 adam forgets it's his turn to play 1/8th notes and reverts to his bass-playing instincts with a third half note before correcting himself. then right at 2:11 ben takes that as license to go off script and start a groove adam immediately picks up on as shuffles the half notes with the groove ben starts & the rest is all the delicious groove stuff that makes jamming fun without the randomly walking away from groove thing. agree 100% that creating the restraint (as it always does) lets the free-form part have more structure as the structure was inherited from the groove evolving out of the exercise.
I did a lot of similar games in college as an English major. I don't think that there are many collaborative exercises in writing like there are in midi or acting, but we made up a few, and this exercise is very similar to one my friends and I created where we would write collaborative poetry. We would first decide on a structure then take turns writing lines. I wouldn't say the results are as pleasing as these musical exercises, but we learned more about each other's and our own styles of writing and broadened our creative pallets through this exercise. On a side note, college is not necessary for a musician or a writer, but it is a valuable experience, and one of those valuable experiences is being surrounded by people who share your passions and learning from each other. I probably learned more about writing from collaborating with fellow students than by lectures in class. (I had already read many of the books I was assigned, or ones like them, before college).
You guys are the best RUclips teachers. Very innovative idea for musicians and composers and not just guitarists that want to shred all day...Thanks again!
I like to think of the cat's tail as an entity in and of itself; a totally separate consciousness from the cat, just hovering around your chairs seeing what's going on like a furry periscope. Also, Ben could easily be a character in the film Waking Life.
A little late to the party, but this was great. I also really like the volume balance and having the bass lead the improvisation. It made higher voice lean on the lower and made it sound more natural I think. Awesome job!
Huge thank you - so I make about half my living playing for dance classes (ballet and modern) and I improvise a fair amount of it, but I've been really struggling recently to be melodic and not just play a bunch of banal sounding "correct" stuff and trying to get all of the interest from harmony or texture. So as I start to (slowly) improvise these myself, I can really start to feel the horizontal nature and make my harmony follow my melody and not the other way around. And really, if you just come to any nice cadence every 8/16 bars your ear loves all the rest of the zany explorations.
The way you two inspire and build off each other's ideas in this is both beautiful and amazing, way beyond just being a fun and useful exercise. I loved how you picked up on each other's rhythmic and melodic ideas and even stuff like harmonics.
I recently discovered your channel, but have been following Adam since 2011. Its awesome to see the two of you collaborating like this. Its really mind-opening. Do more!
Those three music games ideas are just great! Can't wait to try them with real live people. Over the years I've been subscribed to you you've posted some really great and inspiring stuff, thank you :)
Yeah, I've been waiting a year for Adam to make a video about bass chords using your teeth on the fretboard. Kinda feeling let down. Ben, you've got to remind him!!!!
Such a nice sensible concept but does make the brain work. Super nice. Thanks gents. I know this is an old vid, but I regularly come back to it to remind myself that keeping it simple conceptually works so well.
well i think its not about completing the other ones line, for me they should dingle around by themselves, by still listening to the other ones voice(s). this is what was intended with fugues and counterpoint.
The low-on-battery smoke detector in the background while you talk is unnerving. Because this video is awesome, and I want to be able to watcht it without distractions.
be careful with all those face-melting solos. If your vibrato is too fast your fretboard can easily start a fire and if you're focusing on the groove you may not notice until it's too late. don't be a cautionary tale.
Hey Ben that was beautiful, hard to believe it was improv! Wanted to ask a question, in these kind of jams where you are trying to make two instruments express cohesive ideas do you recommend "thinking" in chords, modes, scales, or just let your fingers free to roam the fret instinctually? Thank you!
For me, I use my knowledge of chords, scales and modes together like pieces in an engine. This comes from spending a lot of time thinking about each part individually and seeing how they relate. You could focus just on thinking in chords for a time and then try focusing on scales for a bit. Eventually you will think of both at once. Or rather, two parts of the same whole.
How to sound baroque without playing anything remotely baroque.
Musician's are always broke...
Unreleased Gentle Giant jam session
YO Adam is such a thoughtful musician! When Ben hit a harmonic and in the next bar Adam integrated harmonics into his melody, I was dead.
ben levin is so weird
subscribed
Why is a man with a large head improvising with the ghost of a young Frank Zappa?
Fake Dr. Levin and Fake Foreign Secretary Zappa have a lot in common.
1. Afro
2. Goatee
3. Just naturally super Jewish-looking
4. Weird music
And 5. Jazz Shred.
its so nice watching incredibly esoteric talent. its comforting knowing what will happen will be at the very least unique and talent driven and just good
Thanks, Adam is great!
NEW MEANING TO 'TASTY LICKS'
Hell, you guys could just put out an album of that stuff--folks would love it.
Thanks! I hope you get a chance to try it out!
My grin is starting to hurt.
same family
This is also good fun if you play piano and shift between your left and right hand : )
Great stuff - i like these duo vids
Thanks Steve!
You both have that spark, you should compose together. It would be nice.
Love the secrete cat tail
Found this channel through Neely's. Really enjoying this a lot. Brought joy to me today.
Same
your commentary was exactly what i thought watching you play. at 2:04 adam forgets it's his turn to play 1/8th notes and reverts to his bass-playing instincts with a third half note before correcting himself. then right at 2:11 ben takes that as license to go off script and start a groove adam immediately picks up on as shuffles the half notes with the groove ben starts & the rest is all the delicious groove stuff that makes jamming fun without the randomly walking away from groove thing. agree 100% that creating the restraint (as it always does) lets the free-form part have more structure as the structure was inherited from the groove evolving out of the exercise.
I could listen to this all day.
I did a lot of similar games in college as an English major. I don't think that there are many collaborative exercises in writing like there are in midi or acting, but we made up a few, and this exercise is very similar to one my friends and I created where we would write collaborative poetry. We would first decide on a structure then take turns writing lines. I wouldn't say the results are as pleasing as these musical exercises, but we learned more about each other's and our own styles of writing and broadened our creative pallets through this exercise.
On a side note, college is not necessary for a musician or a writer, but it is a valuable experience, and one of those valuable experiences is being surrounded by people who share your passions and learning from each other. I probably learned more about writing from collaborating with fellow students than by lectures in class. (I had already read many of the books I was assigned, or ones like them, before college).
Love it!
You guys are the best RUclips teachers. Very innovative idea for musicians and composers and not just guitarists that want to shred all day...Thanks again!
I could listen to this kind of music for hours, man. So chilling.. And so inspiring.
How do two people who use their ears so exquisitely NOT hear that smoke detector chirp every 30 seconds
musical bromance
That improvisation was honestly among the best instrumental music I've ever heard!
you guys just wrote an anime opening
jman sounds more like an ending
Swen Zettler yyyup
I like to think of the cat's tail as an entity in and of itself; a totally separate consciousness from the cat, just hovering around your chairs seeing what's going on like a furry periscope. Also, Ben could easily be a character in the film Waking Life.
A little late to the party, but this was great. I also really like the volume balance and having the bass lead the improvisation. It made higher voice lean on the lower and made it sound more natural I think. Awesome job!
100% would buy an album solid packed with jams like that first one. That was beautiful. Love this exercise.
What a beautiful little tune you guys made...also loved the guest appearance of the cat.
I swear to god, the sexual innuendos in all of the videos with those 2 are off the charts.
The counterpoint improv was pure sonic bliss
fantastic! you are both so smart and articulate, it's wonderful to realize and remember what great musicians you are!
Huge thank you - so I make about half my living playing for dance classes (ballet and modern) and I improvise a fair amount of it, but I've been really struggling recently to be melodic and not just play a bunch of banal sounding "correct" stuff and trying to get all of the interest from harmony or texture. So as I start to (slowly) improvise these myself, I can really start to feel the horizontal nature and make my harmony follow my melody and not the other way around. And really, if you just come to any nice cadence every 8/16 bars your ear loves all the rest of the zany explorations.
I need an album of these two together. It was amazing!
The way you two inspire and build off each other's ideas in this is both beautiful and amazing, way beyond just being a fun and useful exercise. I loved how you picked up on each other's rhythmic and melodic ideas and even stuff like harmonics.
I recently discovered your channel, but have been following Adam since 2011. Its awesome to see the two of you collaborating like this. Its really mind-opening. Do more!
3:43 that creepy cat...
I was wondering if anyone else noticed that.
Woah.
Then at end of the song your head explodes from the awesomeness.
One of the most beautiful music I ever heard.. Amazing tone..
I'd love for you guys to make more of these someday. I keep rewatching the ones you have done every now and then. Awesome stuff!
Dude on the left reminds me of Justin Long in Strange Wilderness. love it!
Excellent jam and talk. Really looking forward to more of whatever you guys decide to do.
Thanks a lot!
Those three music games ideas are just great! Can't wait to try them with real live people. Over the years I've been subscribed to you you've posted some really great and inspiring stuff, thank you :)
Believe it or not, this video single-handedly removed a lot of counterpoint holes in my knowledge.
Thank you so much, Ben & Adam!
"A new meaning to tasty licks" LOL
Yeah, I've been waiting a year for Adam to make a video about bass chords using your teeth on the fretboard. Kinda feeling let down. Ben, you've got to remind him!!!!
Such a nice sensible concept but does make the brain work. Super nice. Thanks gents. I know this is an old vid, but I regularly come back to it to remind myself that keeping it simple conceptually works so well.
Very prolific games! Thank you for constantly exploring new things, Ben!
Thank you, Gleb! Adam is a beast.
I love these vids you put together with Adam, both educational and hilarious, keep 'em coming!
Nice video, I think its great that you are introducing people to some more sophisticated musical ideas but keeping it light and fun at the same time.
Man, this was just great. I wish I can find someone to improvise with like you guys .)
OMG! this is my favorite music video on the internet right now!
Wow amazing on the counterpoint game I'll be ecstatic if I can get half of what you guys did!
It's so fun!
Absolutely fantastic, you guys are such a great team!
This was heavenly, I hope you guys do a counterpoint party 2!
Came across you through Adam's channel.... You work so well together & are both inspiring..:-))) cheers from Essex
Thank you!
This is awesome! Sharing it with my Guitar Improv class!!
Did you seriously just improv that? That was very beautiful.
Can you do more of these? I want to start jamming with my friends and i think these are great ways to ease me in
1:38 I *knew* Ben had a tail!!
Such a great couple.
this was great man! and i just got here from watching your other counterpoint videos too. i have to subscribe now :)
This is awesome! Y’all should release a duo improv album!
The cat's periscope stealthing by. Lol
Wow nice lines. Sort of similar to my Prelude in F which is based on Fux's 2nd species.
I have finally watched this after RUclips kept recommending it to me.
it was amazing and simply beautiful.
Maybe the half notes and eighth notes should be a speed limit. You don't have to play all of them. I can't wait to play this game with a few friends.
This seems like a really fun exercise - would love to try this out.
I love your sense of humor!
well i think its not about completing the other ones line, for me they should dingle around by themselves, by still listening to the other ones voice(s). this is what was intended with fugues and counterpoint.
You guys sound great. Keep the inspiring vids coming!
how does this not have more views?!!
Reminds me of some of the dual guitar parts in Maudlin of The Well's music.
This needs to be a thing
The low-on-battery smoke detector in the background while you talk is unnerving. Because this video is awesome, and I want to be able to watcht it without distractions.
So fire
Do a full Zelda/Chronotrigger/Final Fantacy/ album, just the Dr. Levin and Prof. Neely!!!
Haha!
Gives a new meaning to tasty licks!! Hahaha
Love it
fun fun fun
i can tell this was probably filmed on the same day because of the smoke detector thing.
Ahah, this is fun.
Ya!
be careful with all those face-melting solos. If your vibrato is too fast your fretboard can easily start a fire and if you're focusing on the groove you may not notice until it's too late. don't be a cautionary tale.
Fuck you
Take my thumb
Couldn't get rid of a feeling they're about to start playing Pachelbel's Canon during the entire video.
great video! looking forward to more collaborative vids.
Thanks! There's another one coming tomorrow.
I like this. Good idea. Thank you.
Ben you make some trippy videos.
Por favor subtitula los videos Ben!
Gracias, genio!
REPLACE YOUR SMOKE ALARM BATTERY!!
Somewhat around 2:30 my brain has been expecting Roundabout to start ;)
That was beautiful, it shows that it is not such a theoretical exercise
Beautiful music fellas :)
Hey Ben that was beautiful, hard to believe it was improv! Wanted to ask a question, in these kind of jams where you are trying to make two instruments express cohesive ideas do you recommend "thinking" in chords, modes, scales, or just let your fingers free to roam the fret instinctually? Thank you!
For me, I use my knowledge of chords, scales and modes together like pieces in an engine. This comes from spending a lot of time thinking about each part individually and seeing how they relate. You could focus just on thinking in chords for a time and then try focusing on scales for a bit. Eventually you will think of both at once. Or rather, two parts of the same whole.
Good advice, will spend some time working it out. Thanks a lot, keep up the great content!
The song sounds like a indie film intro song.
Two very cool brains
this was really good!
Wow, the beginning sounded like a musical quotation of Pollyanna from Earthbound.
great game
This is so cool!
That was so pretty ! I guess I really like fugues.
yep! cat tail at 3:45
nice impro
You guys should get baked and just fuck around in a two hour video
Fire