Guitar has been a hobby of mine for about 15 years but Rick has inspired me to push the boundaries for sure...I’m almost 30, I don’t think I’ll ever be a rock star but being able to play my favourite songs is just a damn good feeling
carlosmayag right!? I wish I’d have found someone like him when I was younger - even 10% of the knowledge I’ve gotten from Rick’s channel makes a HUGE difference in thinking of ideas and slows the “noodles” 😅🤣
The Beatles definitely knew their music theory. It's common knowledge that Blackbird was inspired by a Bach piece. In my humble opinion the difficulty is not so much in the cord progression but being able to get a melody over it that works. That's what makes te Beatles such masters. The melody is still very catchy even though the chord progressions have a lot of tension to them.
Floris Backx ikr, I mean what the heck is going on with the chord progression in I am the Walrus, but for some reason the melody holds it all together.
I don't know whether it was inspired by it because I don't know that the Beatles had ever heard it, but "Blackbird" shares a few phrases in common with "Lagrima" by Francisco Tarrega.
+Floris Backx ikr What melody!? In 'I am the Walrus' the music is all about the chord sequence. The melody is based on a 1960s British police car siren: eeee aaah eeee aaah ..................
Even though paul mccartney remembers it was one of Bach's bourree 's that was the inspiration for Blackbird, the intro of Blackbird sounds exactly like to Sor Study Op. 60 no. 19.
For me.....this is your best and most interesting lesson. Sooooooo much appreciated Rick. "Something"..what a beautiful song - musically and lyrically. Cheers Mr Beato & keep up the Great work
And this is why the Beatles are definitely NOT overrated. The beach Boys are another great band that had a ton of musical knowledge and used it in their songwriting
Rick. I love how much you love music. The excitement and enthusiasm is infectious and you truly inspire me. I bought the Beato Book & Ear Training Course, but I haven't been able to download it because my house burnt down and I'm in an RV now with no Wi-Fi, but we're going to be getting Wi-Fi soon so I can't wait to actually be able to get it downloaded and complete your courses. I will be joining your Beato Club soon. You're absolutely awesome, I love you brother!!! Thank you for being so freaking amazing!!! I wish you and your family wellness, prosperity and good fortune. Peace
This video might have been the most useful for me in my advancement in music (and I've watched bout 300 of your vids, and learned a lot from them). Thank you Rick, thank you so much!
Rick, 'Fixing a Hole' doesn't use the cliched line progression. The chords are much more ingenious: F - Caug - Fm7 - Bb9. The chromatic descending line is the same, but the chords involve some original McCartney modal mixture. Thanks for the video.
Hearing you analyze chord progressions in popular music and make connections between multiple songs throughout time is one of the most enlightening parts of any of your videos, Rick. In the end, isn’t the ability to quickly observe similarities, make connections between them, and then subsequently derive creative insights one of the most essential manifestations of intellect in any genre? This is how we listeners know how smart Rick really is. Thank you for these insights, Rick.
Music theory is like the grammar for languages. Music and songs are not created from theory, theory is derived from music and songs. In other words, some music is created that sounds good, and theorists put a label on what the composer did.
All these people calling out songs for him to play.. Come on, put on the record if you really want to hear it - Beato's thoughts are way more interesting than a riff you've heard a million times before. This started out as a great stream but derailed into a hook-showcase. Too bad.
@@russride I think you misunderstood; he clearly appreciates Rick; what he's objecting to is people who can't manage to hold off on demanding he plays their favorite song. He's advocating just letting Rick do his thing.
There are no hard rules but in my opinion the best way to write songs is to write the chords and melody together. If you can come up with some lyrics at the same time, even better. This is the best way because a melody will help predict what chords you need next to move the feel along appropriately. Lyrics can also guide the direction of both chords and melody. You are forced more into getting the right feel. Theory knowledge can then help you glue it all together better.
Thanks for the lesson. In my super basic music theory understanding, one of things I've gotten stuck on is starting a chord progression on the I chord, as opposed to the IV or VI. That alone seems to result in boring progressions. Thanks Rick!
I think it's important for songwriters to have experiences, travel, meet people and to read the classics to get in touch with your soul... it helps to have a guitar in your hand a lot... The rest is discipline ritual and waiting for the Muse to arrive..
This old video funny he fumbles through it confusing ppl more than helping them the channel has come a long way from this. They're much more prepared now at the time I viewed it was 5yrs old. Gd on you!
I love that you talk about musical hooks. Many people narrowly equate Hooks with the chorus. And I am arguing with them that the drum breaks leading into the chorus could also be a hook.
Long Distance Runaround is nuts with hooks. The guitar/keyboard intro is pretty intricate, then the bass piles on. THEN the verse starts, and that bass lick! with guitar doubling it and the keys kind of keeping time. It's wild. So much stuff interlocking and layering. I never really thought of yes, in terms of pop song construction. It's amazing, whether or not you're wearing your thinking cap. Beautiful stuff! I haven't really paid any attention to Yes since probably high school.
When I was a kid we didn't have $ Dad was a single parent, we were at a flea market & I found some old 8-Tracks recorded with no labels, I just gambled a few bucks on them, I did not know who was on those tapes for a couple of years, Yes Fragile, Lennon Mind Games, Todd Rundgren Wizard a True Star & Zep Houses of the Holy. I guess you can figure what type of music I like now, lol, trying to pickup & play some Steve Howe licks, oh boy what a chore when you don't read music., & yes the weaving in an out. Love that song @William.
Syd used other things in a very personal way which was his undoing. At the same time it was a gift to us because so much PF was inspired by the loss of himself.
Rick - Would love it if you could talk about why great songs that are huge hits in other countries are never even heard in the states. After moving overseas, I was exposed to such great music I never heard here over decades. (in english) I understand that if they don't play the songs here, they can't be hits.. but I'm curious about the executive decisions about not releasing them here. My wife and I love your channel!
Beside the level of difficulty learning Russian, the answer is yes. St Petersburg is an extraordinary place.. beautiful does not say enough about it. But what makes it better for me are the people. Now in the states again, but will go back.
I never learned much Beatles, then my wanted to sing some of their songs one night…and it was a blast. She struggled to find the notes at first so I found the melodies on guitar and the intervals were so cool. Entire night of music nerd fun.
I think Elliott Smith was by far one of the best and most underrated chord progression writers of the last 30 years or so. Definitely one of the few songwriters I can think of in my lifetime who has come close to rivalling The Beatles in that regard. Highly recommend checking out his stuff and learning his songs to anyone interested in expanding their chord catalogue and learning how to fit chords together in beautiful and interesting ways.
I've been pushing for anything referring to Elliott. A theory video would be great. I'd also love to see him do a WMTSG about any one of the amazing songs by ES. Peace.
this stuff has been around for thousands of years thank God we still have ears. its al about the ears all three of them good music come from no one person if you are in your bedroom tring to prove to the world how good you are do like the Vanhalen said just jump.
This stuff about chords is really interesting! Can you go into detail about the top line melodies too. Dealing with scale degrees and relationship to the underlying chords.
Here in the 🇵🇭, most songs you'll here in the neighborhood are songs of: Air Supply's, Bon Jovi, Firehouse and lots of boom boom music. Its okay once in a while, but not all the time. ✌️
Hi Rick, Have you heard about ZYLIA ZM-1 microphone array? It enables to record the entire sound scene with only one mic. You can then separate the individual tracks of instruments and vocals and mix them into a balanced recording. There are 19 capsules inside the mic with high-end 24-bit recording resolution and you can record the music in both 3D/360˚ and traditional Stereo. There is also Ambisonics plug-in available. It is really groundbreaking technology!
Yes!! This is a great lesson in "what makes all those songs great"!! If more people learn the tools for great songwriting, the world will have more good songs. :) Thank you for doing this, Rick!!
The magic of Here Come The Sun is that the signature is the melody of the song. Great riffs are good but if the catchy part is the vocal melody, you have scored.
zyxw vut Yes. Non musicians don’t really consciously hear the music the way musicians do but they can sing the melodies. I love great guitar riffs. I play guitar myself and it’s a great instrument for creating signature sounds but I think that vocal melody is always prime. Even if music has no vocals like classical, it is usually a simple melody line that people remember. I would suggest that musicians and especially guitarists should try to avoid writing short riffs and try to build a chord progression with melody where the signature is within a longer structure of the progression and related melody rather than a shorter hook. By doing this You force yourself to come up with something more sustained and clever.
Thank you rick. I particularly enjoy just playing along with you, its a lot of fun and i learn something every time and it also helps me remember things that i just read about but dont practice as much as i should
I love the way you analyzed Something. Your reaction at the end was beautiful, Wow! All the beautiful theory.. you kinda looked away like, whoa! Yeah, !! It spaces you out, it does me. What a phenomenon!! With Martin to guide them, other ideas rooted in good theory!! BRAVO!! Rick!!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🚀👍🏼
Wow I wish I’d seen this 25 years ago. Such brilliant content, you’re talent for teaching and explaining is first class 👍. I’m in trouble now as I’m supposed to be watching Saturday night TV with the family 😂
I always play that U2 with or without you that way, and after the second verse I hit don't stop believing (yes the 2nd line of verse is a little bit changed), and then hit lewis capaldi "someone you loved" chorus, transition to let it go from Frozen, then back to U2 just to mess with people when I'm playing around.
Would love to hear you talk about a sequence of steps in song writing. Progressions, hooks, lyrics and production. And a real approach to it. The order and ideas and how to make the path.
Many thanks Rick...keep up the good work. "If I fell" Beatles...apart from an intro in Db and then a verse in D..the middle section stays on the chord of D (D7,D9)...another inspired and very surprising move!
There has been an incalculable volume of music produced this many years into our 'culture'. That makes it absurd -- read, wholly greed-based -- for 'artists' and *_especially_* posthumous 'representatives' to file lawsuits based on 'intellectual' property and 'rights infringement' allegations that are predicated on the essential use of composition fundamentals . Do people sue for the use of unavoidably similar verbiage in print or speech? That should only be acceptable when the material is *_verbatim_* an obvious 'borrowing' of a pre-existing example intended for artistic expression and monetary gain.. "Four score and seven years ago..."' could probably be used as a song lyric without consequence, but the phrase has famous, indisputable origins, likely never used in that structure previously. Hence, it would qualify for copyright 'protection' as intellectual property. 'Field Hollers' were used in the early days of Blues with recycled melodies and 'new' words for the expression of a different sentiment. 'Hound Dog' is a similar example that made its way into the early days of Rock. Lawsuit Fever, anyone? Such suits are nauseating. A douchebag releasing 'Stairway To Heaven' in 2020 as a 'new song' with a different title and lyrics, or as one that his Great Uncle Manny suspiciously claimed to have had in a nearly finished state when Zeppelin's album was released, would be a flagrant violator, or would at the least be in a very suspect position. Barring action such as that, compositional similarities will always exist and should be tolerated. They are simply unavoidable. It's the *_vibe_* of a song that differentiates it as reasonably unique art. Chord progressions are tools, just as "In...", "The...", "A...", and other prepositions and articles are for beginning grammatically clean sentences. What is conferred through sound and word imagery is the art of music. If it isn't indistinguishably similar to something that preceded it, it shouldn't be considered plagiarism. Some of the most superb examples of songwriting, such as the Beatles tunes Rick references here, are *_truly_* so artistically radiant and structurally brilliant that they simply shine as originals. The *_signature_* hooks that Rick cites and runs through are perhaps the best examples of a song component that stands apart. Cloning *_those_* elements would be clear intellectual property rights violation. Using chord progressions that have been used previously because they're emotively effective and appealing to the ear is like suing someone for saying "I hate my job." Some things have been done far too many times and have been the stepping stones to something else in too many examples for people to justly claim them as their own. Is Ford suing Tesla for introducing a vehicle that has four rolling wheels and a steering wheel? I realize that I use apostrophes too much, but often I do so to emphasize cynical disgust or sarcasm as much as to denote double entendres, or common parlance and the 'finger quotes' that people use. ; ] I understand what Rick is saying about a person's 'ear' -- common usage of the word, no cynicism or double meaning 'here' . ; ] As an untrained musician, I know what he's ascribing to even technically knowledgeable or schooled musicians who just 'sense' music. He gives the same recognition to Kurt Cobain. I happen to not be much of a fan of Nirvana, and I have found it interesting that, as noted in at least one other video, Rick is so fond of the band, mentioning Kurt Cobain's 'ear' for thirds and other compositional flair he's credited with having. I detect a *_lot_* of boring sameness in Nirvana's songs, which I attribute to Kurt Cobain being a one-trick pony as a musically uneducated primary songwriter. He had a 'signature', certainly, and was not entirely devoid of musical ability, but in several songs Nirvana without a doubt displayed a melodic homogeneity. It wasn't 'thematic development' as employed by Classical composers, it was the limitation imposed by a low talent crest. This redundancy, usually witnessed in the scope of a single album, can be seen in other acts that preceded the Grunge era. Look for examples, or search your memory. Such groups were ostensibly 'garage band' types that lacked formal training and, typically, the compositional sophistication that usually results from it. This is internal sameness, not the genre repetitiveness that has existed since the mid-1950s in the effort to ride high on the wave of profitable gimmickry. It's ironic that a band could have evidence of plagiarism within its own material. ; ] I really dig this and all of Rick's videos. In general, Rick's productions demonstrate how a comprehensive understanding of the craft can make the artist better. There will always be uneducated musical geniuses and overly erudite, staid technicians alike. I know that most viewers here would agree when I say that Rick's material is very accessible and entertaining and should appeal to anyone with enough interest in 'everything music' to find themselves on his channel. ; ]
Hey Beato can you dig that the fact that the chords albeit are the same what matters is the vocal melody and that is what makes the song...that's where the genius lies. Not to mention the arrangements....
There's only so much that is reasonably acceptable to sing over the same four chords. Sure, some songs use the infamous I-V-vi-IV progression and still sound unique (like Take On Me or Take Me On, I never remember the word order in the title), and it can be further developed by using different voicings and phrasing, but why milk the same overdone progression when there are so many other cool things to do in music? I mean I see why the industry does this sort of thing, non-musicians still enjoy it and it's a lazy way of producing new pop songs, but if one's focus is on music rather than on making bank or getting laid then there's just no point, other than maybe scientifically exploring all the possible things that can be done with just four chords out of hundreds that are readily available.
How could you not support his channel ! he as cool as fk! , charges nothing for his time for the most part , and looks more like Cristopher Lee by the day, Double cool ! ... Wish I looked like Drac !! people will realize what you gave for a very long time .. Thank you, Rick "Beats" Beato !
I somehow accidentally hit some keys that gave me a message that I reported you. I'm so sorry. I love your channel and have learned so much. RUclips doesn't seem to allow people to backtrack if they accidentally make a report
Rick I know he was so out of the mainstream, but at some time you have to talk about Ted Green. You can talk to Jay Graydon or Steve Lukather about him, maybe George Benson.
32:04 someone asks what is a signature 39:32 after 7 minutes of intros Rick concedes and admits every song with an intro, has a signature part. AKA a hook.
Uff da, I hope I can afford a copy of the book some day. The information in the videos goes by so fast I can't track it, and it's not like I'm slow. I value the information, long time in rock rebel attitude, recent shift in focus. I know all the words, but the way you run through things is too fast to even pause and take notes. Poverty ditch keeping me down long time now, last effort to break free was crushed by the lock down and mandates. The book is required to get anything much from these music theory vids. At least for me, since I only got the introductory lessons in my teens before I ran away with just learning everything by ear. Flute is my new focus, guitar and voice on maintenance. It's the most delicate and easy to make ugly instrument I've ever learned to play, stuck in the lower 2 octaves on bamboo until learning how to go higher. Guitar self taught, had to re learn how to play with correct posture in my 30's. Flute self taught, not focused until recently, thus stuck in the lower register, highs shrill and hard to control. I guess it's the lack of chords, but all the flute teachers are easier to follow in video form. For Mr. Beato, I wish I had a hard copy of his book. I need the printed form that stays put while I suss it out.
Its funny. I feel like i’ve covered all your material but then I get an idea and pursue the education on the idea and end up finding another one of your videos and they really are almost perfect. I thank you so much because I would be 50 by the time i got an album out if it wasn’t for you Rick. (I am 28 now and a late bloomer) lol cheers.
I live in a shithole country and our economy sucks im really glad i found your channel ive learned so much! I never had a musical teacher or lesson..all i learned was alone and on free internet sources... I really wish i could support your channel but we having a recession here because of the comunists... I dont have money for anything apart food.. Just wanted to thank you.. One day things gonna get better and ill proudly support.. Keep on always
***---"In my life"** @RickBeato ---- "......all these places have their moments, with peope and friends I still can recall, some are dead and some are living, but ****in my life- *** I've Loved you more!"
Rick, your lessons on substitutions have helped me muchly. Can you do a video on writing melodies to chord progressions with substitutes? I'm working on a little thing I like with a flatted seventh major and a major third in it. That adds a flatted seven and a minor third to my major scale. Salute to you
Hi Rick I'm New here. You know a lot of hooks! Wow and I can tell that guitar is you're main axe. I play keys and I know lots of keyboard hooks but I never looked at hooks the way you are explaining it . Thank you for giving you're musical knowledge and perception to us all.
Can you do lesson on functional harmony for modes dorion /phrygian/mixolydiyan.fifth is minor..helpme/ lydian.....there are only videos of major scale...
Guess it was good I grew up in the 1960s. Discovered prog in the mid-1970s then fusion then "New Wave/post punk" in the 1980s. Grunge alt type stuff when that came out in the 1990s. So much variety in music to be influenced by. Why would anyone want to play a "formula"? ;-) Throw in older jazz and some classical (Puccini & Tchaikovsky are faves) and it's hard to listen to formula pop anyway. ;-)
What about drum hooks - In The Air Tonight, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Hot For Teacher, When The Levee Breaks come to mind? But I struggle to think of many others.
Hey Rick, love your videos - wondering if you can touch on a certain passing chord I keep hearing in Disney and Randy Newman songs? I'm not great at explaining it, but it sounds like half-step movement that includes a non diatonic chord. It's prevalent in "When she loved me", "Do you want to build a snowman", and Randy Newman's "When I'm gone". It happens in the beginning of When She Loved Me, behind the lyrics "everything was beautiful"; and it happens in When I'm Gone behind "the darkness to the dawn". I'm a real novice when it comes to theory, but it's really interesting how they (Randy Newman especially) creates such movement and momentum with their chord changes, and I have zero idea how they do it. Thanks, love your channel!
when I think about Something from Beatles I don't consider it to modulate, the song remains in the key of C pretty much all time, it's just getting out from the diatonic frame but the gravity center is still C. Do we just use two different language to express the same concept ?
Surely we mustn't lose sight of who we are writing songs for. No average listener cares about the "mechanics" of harmony. It's just - does it sound good to them? I've written songs with 17 chords and songs with 4. The more harmonically complex one's may impress a muso but that's irrelevant. I think Jason Mraz's song "Have it All" is brilliant in it's simplicity. It's based on probably the most used Chord progression of all time I-vi-IV-V but does that diminish it in any way? Not to me, it's a feel good tune and it's right on the money as far as I'm concerned.
Not knocking music theory of course, but it's fascinating to explore the creative process of those geniuses who never properly learned. Check out the above McCartney 'ignorance is bliss' clip
Recently heard a Dave Grohl interview where he said he 'thinks like a drummer when playing guitar' and only goes by 'the shapes', doesn't always know the names of the chords. Still writes great songs.
TheMaxKids what about not? He did not know music theory. Almost at all. It's a pretty well-known thing so please don't imply otherwise. Just read George Martin's "Summer of Love"... he says multiple time how John Lennon was completely oblivious to music theory and didn't want anything to do with it. :)
Chris Ridenhour, that's just another thing he learned from Kurt Cobain. In many interviews Kurt stated something like that ("play the guitar like you would play the drum"). Anyway, Dave Grohl said multiple times almost everything he knows in songwriting and guitar playing comes from Kurt Cobain.
*....I have hundreds of official chord books by various artist and one Billy Joel song had approximately 25 unique chords in it...(off the top of my head)...*
I read somewhere that Lennon was talking about doing 6 90-minute sets regularly in their Hamburg days.. if they didn't know their theory when that started, they definitely knew it by '63 ish....
I listen. I listen. I listen. But I only understand a particle of what you are saying; fifth of G, modulations, flat 3 in key of e, major thirds…it’s all Swahili to me!!! What basic translation tool do you have for knuckleheads such as I?
15 years from now all rock stars will site Rick Beato as their major influence
Guitar has been a hobby of mine for about 15 years but Rick has inspired me to push the boundaries for sure...I’m almost 30, I don’t think I’ll ever be a rock star but being able to play my favourite songs is just a damn good feeling
You've got it 👍
He has been my teacher on here for the past two years. He is a God send
Yep... I’m so grateful for how much more stuff I notice now... I used to like music but now I love it... WMTSG for Ramble On is soooo good!
More like now
These old streams are a gold mine for aspiring songwriters. A literal gold mine
Indeed. I’m glad I found this channel. He’s a fucking godsend
So happy to see someone actively calling out derivativeness in the industry.
i like how this went from very cool/informative chords in songs to rick playing a bunch of his favorite riffs
Rick is going to single-handedly bring good music back into popularity.
Lol
Its a fenomenal music Channel , so many if us are understanding músic now , not just noodling around with our guitar.
carlosmayag right!? I wish I’d have found someone like him when I was younger - even 10% of the knowledge I’ve gotten from Rick’s channel makes a HUGE difference in thinking of ideas and slows the “noodles” 😅🤣
Someone has to do it 2nd all this horseshit on the radio sounds the same... our poor kids
God, I hope so!!!
The Beatles definitely knew their music theory. It's common knowledge that Blackbird was inspired by a Bach piece. In my humble opinion the difficulty is not so much in the cord progression but being able to get a melody over it that works. That's what makes te Beatles such masters. The melody is still very catchy even though the chord progressions have a lot of tension to them.
Floris Backx ikr, I mean what the heck is going on with the chord progression in I am the Walrus, but for some reason the melody holds it all together.
I don't know whether it was inspired by it because I don't know that the Beatles had ever heard it, but "Blackbird" shares a few phrases in common with "Lagrima" by Francisco Tarrega.
Stevie Wonder also comes to mind...
+Floris Backx ikr What melody!? In 'I am the Walrus' the music is all about the chord sequence. The melody is based on a 1960s British police car siren: eeee aaah eeee aaah ..................
Even though paul mccartney remembers it was one of Bach's bourree 's that was the inspiration for Blackbird, the intro of Blackbird sounds exactly like to Sor Study Op. 60 no. 19.
For me.....this is your best and most interesting lesson. Sooooooo much appreciated Rick. "Something"..what a beautiful song - musically and lyrically. Cheers Mr Beato & keep up the Great work
And this is why the Beatles are definitely NOT overrated. The beach Boys are another great band that had a ton of musical knowledge and used it in their songwriting
Rick. I love how much you love music. The excitement and enthusiasm is infectious and you truly inspire me. I bought the Beato Book & Ear Training Course, but I haven't been able to download it because my house burnt down and I'm in an RV now with no Wi-Fi, but we're going to be getting Wi-Fi soon so I can't wait to actually be able to get it downloaded and complete your courses. I will be joining your Beato Club soon. You're absolutely awesome, I love you brother!!! Thank you for being so freaking amazing!!!
I wish you and your family wellness, prosperity and good fortune.
Peace
sure hope things are getting better
This video might have been the most useful for me in my advancement in music (and I've watched bout 300 of your vids, and learned a lot from them).
Thank you Rick, thank you so much!
pp
Rick, 'Fixing a Hole' doesn't use the cliched line progression. The chords are much more ingenious: F - Caug - Fm7 - Bb9. The chromatic descending line is the same, but the chords involve some original McCartney modal mixture. Thanks for the video.
Hearing you analyze chord progressions in popular music and make connections between multiple songs throughout time is one of the most enlightening parts of any of your videos, Rick. In the end, isn’t the ability to quickly observe similarities, make connections between them, and then subsequently derive creative insights one of the most essential manifestations of intellect in any genre? This is how we listeners know how smart Rick really is. Thank you for these insights, Rick.
I’m impressed on how many you do know or how fast you can put it together but ear songs from a long time ago
Music theory is like the grammar for languages. Music and songs are not created from theory, theory is derived from music and songs. In other words, some music is created that sounds good, and theorists put a label on what the composer did.
All these people calling out songs for him to play.. Come on, put on the record if you really want to hear it - Beato's thoughts are way more interesting than a riff you've heard a million times before.
This started out as a great stream but derailed into a hook-showcase. Too bad.
I'm not sure that you know how good these videos are.
@@russride I think you misunderstood; he clearly appreciates Rick; what he's objecting to is people who can't manage to hold off on demanding he plays their favorite song. He's advocating just letting Rick do his thing.
true..
There are no hard rules but in my opinion the best way to write songs is to write the chords and melody together. If you can come up with some lyrics at the same time, even better. This is the best way because a melody will help predict what chords you need next to move the feel along appropriately. Lyrics can also guide the direction of both chords and melody. You are forced more into getting the right feel. Theory knowledge can then help you glue it all together better.
Thanks for the lesson. In my super basic music theory understanding, one of things I've gotten stuck on is starting a chord progression on the I chord, as opposed to the IV or VI. That alone seems to result in boring progressions. Thanks Rick!
I think it's important for songwriters to have experiences, travel, meet people and to read the classics to get in touch with your soul... it helps to have a guitar in your hand a lot... The rest is discipline ritual and waiting for the Muse to arrive..
This old video funny he fumbles through it confusing ppl more than helping them the channel has come a long way from this. They're much more prepared now at the time I viewed it was 5yrs old. Gd on you!
I love that you talk about musical hooks. Many people narrowly equate Hooks with the chorus. And I am arguing with them that the drum breaks leading into the chorus could also be a hook.
Long Distance Runaround is nuts with hooks.
The guitar/keyboard intro is pretty intricate, then the bass piles on.
THEN the verse starts, and that bass lick! with guitar doubling it and the keys kind of keeping time.
It's wild. So much stuff interlocking and layering. I never really thought of yes, in terms of pop song construction.
It's amazing, whether or not you're wearing your thinking cap. Beautiful stuff!
I haven't really paid any attention to Yes since probably high school.
When I was a kid we didn't have $ Dad was a single parent, we were at a flea market & I found some old 8-Tracks recorded with no labels, I just gambled a few bucks on them, I did not know who was on those tapes for a couple of years, Yes Fragile, Lennon Mind Games, Todd Rundgren Wizard a True Star & Zep Houses of the Holy. I guess you can figure what type of music I like now, lol, trying to pickup & play some Steve Howe licks, oh boy what a chore when you don't read music., & yes the weaving in an out. Love that song @William.
what about Syd Barrett? he used unusual chord changes in a very personal way like Cobain did in the 90s
Viejotrueno Syd Barrett was a brilliant song writer but a wasted genius in the end, sadly.
Syd used other things in a very personal way which was his undoing. At the same time it was a gift to us because so much PF was inspired by the loss of himself.
Rick - Would love it if you could talk about why great songs that are huge hits in other countries are never even heard in the states. After moving overseas, I was exposed to such great music I never heard here over decades. (in english) I understand that if they don't play the songs here, they can't be hits.. but I'm curious about the executive decisions about not releasing them here. My wife and I love your channel!
Arthur Herring It's a really common thing Europe to listen to american artists that aren't famous in the states
Sure thing.. I know that through experience now.
Arthur Herring Do you like living in Europe better than living in the States?
Beside the level of difficulty learning Russian, the answer is yes. St Petersburg is an extraordinary place.. beautiful does not say enough about it. But what makes it better for me are the people. Now in the states again, but will go back.
Arthur Herring St. Petersburg is truly beautiful
I never learned much Beatles, then my wanted to sing some of their songs one night…and it was a blast. She struggled to find the notes at first so I found the melodies on guitar and the intervals were so cool. Entire night of music nerd fun.
I was hoping for this particular subject to come up in a video, the content is always great btw.
I think Elliott Smith was by far one of the best and most underrated chord progression writers of the last 30 years or so. Definitely one of the few songwriters I can think of in my lifetime who has come close to rivalling The Beatles in that regard. Highly recommend checking out his stuff and learning his songs to anyone interested in expanding their chord catalogue and learning how to fit chords together in beautiful and interesting ways.
Rick you should do a video on the music theory of Elliott Smith.
Yes!
I've been pushing for anything referring to Elliott. A theory video would be great. I'd also love to see him do a WMTSG about any one of the amazing songs by ES. Peace.
this stuff has been around for thousands of years
thank God we still have ears.
its al about the ears all three of them
good music come from no one person
if you are in your bedroom tring to prove to the world how good you are
do like the Vanhalen said
just jump.
This stuff about chords is really interesting! Can you go into detail about the top line melodies too. Dealing with scale degrees and relationship to the underlying chords.
Check out :
Edly’s Music Theory for Practical People
It’s a great book on the information you’re seeking.
And I’m not getting paid to promote it, lol.
Here in the 🇵🇭, most songs you'll here in the neighborhood are songs of: Air Supply's, Bon Jovi, Firehouse and lots of boom boom music. Its okay once in a while, but not all the time. ✌️
Hi Rick, Have you heard about ZYLIA ZM-1 microphone array? It enables to record the entire sound scene with only one mic. You can then separate the individual tracks of instruments and vocals and mix them into a balanced recording. There are 19 capsules inside the mic with high-end 24-bit recording resolution and you can record the music in both 3D/360˚ and traditional Stereo. There is also Ambisonics plug-in available. It is really groundbreaking technology!
I loved the aunt Penney video, it was great and a really great insight to rick,and his life as a child and his aunt who was just great.
Yes!! This is a great lesson in "what makes all those songs great"!! If more people learn the tools for great songwriting, the world will have more good songs. :) Thank you for doing this, Rick!!
The magic of Here Come The Sun is that the signature is the melody of the song. Great riffs are good but if the catchy part is the vocal melody, you have scored.
'Cos non-musicians feel they can "play" the song just by singing it!
zyxw vut Yes. Non musicians don’t really consciously hear the music the way musicians do but they can sing the melodies. I love great guitar riffs. I play guitar myself and it’s a great instrument for creating signature sounds but I think that vocal melody is always prime. Even if music has no vocals like classical, it is usually a simple melody line that people remember. I would suggest that musicians and especially guitarists should try to avoid writing short riffs and try to build a chord progression with melody where the signature is within a longer structure of the progression and related melody rather than a shorter hook. By doing this You force yourself to come up with something more sustained and clever.
Rick, you are incredible. PHENOM. YOU ARE BLESSED WITH INCREDIBLE TALENT. PLEASE DON'T STOP, EVER.. THANK YOU
Thank you rick. I particularly enjoy just playing along with you, its a lot of fun and i learn something every time and it also helps me remember things that i just read about but dont practice as much as i should
Ah man this is fantastic. This is just what I needed right now; thanks for posting.
I love the way you analyzed Something. Your reaction at the end was beautiful, Wow! All the beautiful theory.. you kinda looked away like, whoa! Yeah, !! It spaces you out, it does me. What a phenomenon!! With Martin to guide them, other ideas rooted in good theory!! BRAVO!! Rick!!👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🚀👍🏼
You'd already need to know quite a bit of theory to follow what he's saying, went straight over my head!
Hey Rick!! Love your channel!!
Wow I wish I’d seen this 25 years ago. Such brilliant content, you’re talent for teaching and explaining is first class 👍. I’m in trouble now as I’m supposed to be watching Saturday night TV with the family 😂
I always play that U2 with or without you that way, and after the second verse I hit don't stop believing (yes the 2nd line of verse is a little bit changed), and then hit lewis capaldi "someone you loved" chorus, transition to let it go from Frozen, then back to U2 just to mess with people when I'm playing around.
Would love to hear you talk about a sequence of steps in song writing. Progressions, hooks, lyrics and production.
And a real approach to it. The order and ideas and how to make the path.
I didn't know how much I needed this! Thank you. I have been in a slump on my chord progressions and this is gold
Hey that was so VolBeat at the beginning! So happy you made this video! Exactly what I am looking for.. I am OCD on music theory for songwriters!
In the song "If I fell" The F min or 6 minor is actually a B flat minor or v1 minor ...
Many thanks Rick...keep up the good work. "If I fell" Beatles...apart from an intro in Db and then a verse in D..the middle section stays on the chord of D (D7,D9)...another inspired and very surprising move!
Not according to The Beatles complete chord book .
49:01 that's what makes that song....*must think of a word other than great*.......ah memorable
Rick, Even when I already know what you are teaching (sometimes it's only about half) I watch anyway just to get insight into how to teach it. Thanks.
There has been an incalculable volume of music produced this many years into our 'culture'. That makes it absurd -- read, wholly greed-based -- for 'artists' and *_especially_* posthumous 'representatives' to file lawsuits based on 'intellectual' property and 'rights infringement' allegations that are predicated on the essential use of composition fundamentals .
Do people sue for the use of unavoidably similar verbiage in print or speech? That should only be acceptable when the material is *_verbatim_* an obvious 'borrowing' of a pre-existing example intended for artistic expression and monetary gain.. "Four score and seven years ago..."' could probably be used as a song lyric without consequence, but the phrase has famous, indisputable origins, likely never used in that structure previously. Hence, it would qualify for copyright 'protection' as intellectual property. 'Field Hollers' were used in the early days of Blues with recycled melodies and 'new' words for the expression of a different sentiment. 'Hound Dog' is a similar example that made its way into the early days of Rock. Lawsuit Fever, anyone? Such suits are nauseating. A douchebag releasing 'Stairway To Heaven' in 2020 as a 'new song' with a different title and lyrics, or as one that his Great Uncle Manny suspiciously claimed to have had in a nearly finished state when Zeppelin's album was released, would be a flagrant violator, or would at the least be in a very suspect position. Barring action such as that, compositional similarities will always exist and should be tolerated. They are simply unavoidable.
It's the *_vibe_* of a song that differentiates it as reasonably unique art. Chord progressions are tools, just as "In...", "The...", "A...", and other prepositions and articles are for beginning grammatically clean sentences. What is conferred through sound and word imagery is the art of music. If it isn't indistinguishably similar to something that preceded it, it shouldn't be considered plagiarism. Some of the most superb examples of songwriting, such as the Beatles tunes Rick references here, are *_truly_* so artistically radiant and structurally brilliant that they simply shine as originals. The *_signature_* hooks that Rick cites and runs through are perhaps the best examples of a song component that stands apart. Cloning *_those_* elements would be clear intellectual property rights violation. Using chord progressions that have been used previously because they're emotively effective and appealing to the ear is like suing someone for saying "I hate my job." Some things have been done far too many times and have been the stepping stones to something else in too many examples for people to justly claim them as their own. Is Ford suing Tesla for introducing a vehicle that has four rolling wheels and a steering wheel?
I realize that I use apostrophes too much, but often I do so to emphasize cynical disgust or sarcasm as much as to denote double entendres, or common parlance and the 'finger quotes' that people use. ; ]
I understand what Rick is saying about a person's 'ear' -- common usage of the word, no cynicism or double meaning 'here' . ; ] As an untrained musician, I know what he's ascribing to even technically knowledgeable or schooled musicians who just 'sense' music. He gives the same recognition to Kurt Cobain. I happen to not be much of a fan of Nirvana, and I have found it interesting that, as noted in at least one other video, Rick is so fond of the band, mentioning Kurt Cobain's 'ear' for thirds and other compositional flair he's credited with having. I detect a *_lot_* of boring sameness in Nirvana's songs, which I attribute to Kurt Cobain being a one-trick pony as a musically uneducated primary songwriter. He had a 'signature', certainly, and was not entirely devoid of musical ability, but in several songs Nirvana without a doubt displayed a melodic homogeneity. It wasn't 'thematic development' as employed by Classical composers, it was the limitation imposed by a low talent crest. This redundancy, usually witnessed in the scope of a single album, can be seen in other acts that preceded the Grunge era. Look for examples, or search your memory. Such groups were ostensibly 'garage band' types that lacked formal training and, typically, the compositional sophistication that usually results from it. This is internal sameness, not the genre repetitiveness that has existed since the mid-1950s in the effort to ride high on the wave of profitable gimmickry. It's ironic that a band could have evidence of plagiarism within its own material. ; ]
I really dig this and all of Rick's videos. In general, Rick's productions demonstrate how a comprehensive understanding of the craft can make the artist better. There will always be uneducated musical geniuses and overly erudite, staid technicians alike. I know that most viewers here would agree when I say that Rick's material is very accessible and entertaining and should appeal to anyone with enough interest in 'everything music' to find themselves on his channel. ; ]
People used to say "four score and seven..." just whatever back then. That wasn't all that unusual for the 1800s.
You are always inspiring to watch, I'm glad I came across your channel, been a fan since last year =) Thank you Sir!
Flat 3 Chord. I was taught it was a chromatic mediant. Flat 6 too. Marylhurst University Music School ca. 1980's.
Rick is truly a great teacher!!!
A good place to learn about chords, inversions, modulations, etc and a great place to steal ideas from is by studying Bach chorales.
I agree so much with the fact that the 4 chords of pop are way over used
Hey Beato can you dig that the fact that the chords albeit are the same what matters is the vocal melody and that is what makes the song...that's where the genius lies. Not to mention the arrangements....
That’s strange that they would even include chord progressions then in songs? Should just be all solo vocal melodies right? The name is Rick bro.
There's only so much that is reasonably acceptable to sing over the same four chords. Sure, some songs use the infamous I-V-vi-IV progression and still sound unique (like Take On Me or Take Me On, I never remember the word order in the title), and it can be further developed by using different voicings and phrasing, but why milk the same overdone progression when there are so many other cool things to do in music?
I mean I see why the industry does this sort of thing, non-musicians still enjoy it and it's a lazy way of producing new pop songs, but if one's focus is on music rather than on making bank or getting laid then there's just no point, other than maybe scientifically exploring all the possible things that can be done with just four chords out of hundreds that are readily available.
How could you not support his channel ! he as cool as fk! , charges nothing for his time for the most part , and looks more like Cristopher Lee by the day, Double cool ! ... Wish I looked like Drac !! people will realize what you gave for a very long time .. Thank you, Rick "Beats" Beato !
I somehow accidentally hit some keys that gave me a message that I reported you. I'm so sorry. I love your channel and have learned so much. RUclips doesn't seem to allow people to backtrack if they accidentally make a report
I would say the “V of vi” chord and the iv chord are derived from Harmonic major
Rick I know he was so out of the mainstream, but at some time you have to talk about Ted Green. You can talk to Jay Graydon or Steve Lukather about him, maybe George Benson.
Procol Harum and The Left Banke were good at deviating from the same old progressions.
I would like to hear a Aydin Esen popsong.
32:04 someone asks what is a signature
39:32 after 7 minutes of intros Rick concedes and admits every song with an intro, has a signature part. AKA a hook.
Chromatisism is hooks. Find a tone in a chord, and move it down by a half-step, or up, and find your hook.
I learned more from this 1 hr video than all those terrible videos where all they try to do is sell me their lessons or books
So great video Rick. Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Like very much your passion, as always
Uff da, I hope I can afford a copy of the book some day. The information in the videos goes by so fast I can't track it, and it's not like I'm slow. I value the information, long time in rock rebel attitude, recent shift in focus. I know all the words, but the way you run through things is too fast to even pause and take notes. Poverty ditch keeping me down long time now, last effort to break free was crushed by the lock down and mandates. The book is required to get anything much from these music theory vids. At least for me, since I only got the introductory lessons in my teens before I ran away with just learning everything by ear. Flute is my new focus, guitar and voice on maintenance. It's the most delicate and easy to make ugly instrument I've ever learned to play, stuck in the lower 2 octaves on bamboo until learning how to go higher. Guitar self taught, had to re learn how to play with correct posture in my 30's. Flute self taught, not focused until recently, thus stuck in the lower register, highs shrill and hard to control. I guess it's the lack of chords, but all the flute teachers are easier to follow in video form. For Mr. Beato, I wish I had a hard copy of his book. I need the printed form that stays put while I suss it out.
Its funny. I feel like i’ve covered all your material but then I get an idea and pursue the education on the idea and end up finding another one of your videos and they really are almost perfect. I thank you so much because I would be 50 by the time i got an album out if it wasn’t for you Rick. (I am 28 now and a late bloomer) lol cheers.
Don't you love how Paul's voice cracked on the 3rd chorus of If I Fell--but they left Iit in?
I live in a shithole country and our economy sucks im really glad i found your channel ive learned so much! I never had a musical teacher or lesson..all i learned was alone and on free internet sources... I really wish i could support your channel but we having a recession here because of the comunists... I dont have money for anything apart food.. Just wanted to thank you..
One day things gonna get better and ill proudly support.. Keep on always
Interesting story. Where do you live?
Best song using the '4 chords of pop music' = Axis: Bold as Love.
Don''t believe me? Just ask the axis...
He knows everything.
***---"In my life"**
@RickBeato ---- "......all these places have their moments, with peope and friends I still can recall, some are dead and some are living, but ****in my life- *** I've Loved you more!"
Just found your channel tonight. Excellent content and easily understood. Your video on Larry Carlton was EXCELLENT. Keep up the good work.
So much gold in this one video it's going to take me a while to mine it all!
*......Please considering doing video series on Max Martin’s music theory....*
I dont like favorite", all youre stuff I love Ive watched this a bunch and it super great !!!!
Baker Street sax intro was an amazing hook.
Thanks Rick, u r the BEST, really!!
Thanks 4 sharing all your knowledgement.
Rick, your lessons on substitutions have helped me muchly. Can you do a video on writing melodies to chord progressions with substitutes? I'm working on a little thing I like with a flatted seventh major and a major third in it. That adds a flatted seven and a minor third to my major scale. Salute to you
Thank you for all the videos you put out Rick!
Love your videos. Very interesting and informative.... keep up the great content.
Hi Rick I'm New here. You know a lot of hooks! Wow and I can tell that guitar is you're main axe. I play keys and I know lots of keyboard hooks but I never looked at hooks the way you are explaining it . Thank you for giving you're musical knowledge and perception to us all.
5:44 modulation, secondary dominant; iv minor, borrowed chord
Can you do lesson on functional harmony for modes dorion /phrygian/mixolydiyan.fifth is minor..helpme/ lydian.....there are only videos of major scale...
Guess it was good I grew up in the 1960s. Discovered prog in the mid-1970s then fusion then "New Wave/post punk" in the 1980s. Grunge alt type stuff when that came out in the 1990s. So much variety in music to be influenced by. Why would anyone want to play a "formula"? ;-) Throw in older jazz and some classical (Puccini & Tchaikovsky are faves) and it's hard to listen to formula pop anyway. ;-)
Every time I watch, I learn. When can we expect (pretty please) a video about the magnificence of Joni Mitchell?
What about drum hooks - In The Air Tonight, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Hot For Teacher, When The Levee Breaks come to mind? But I struggle to think of many others.
Hey Rick, love your videos - wondering if you can touch on a certain passing chord I keep hearing in Disney and Randy Newman songs? I'm not great at explaining it, but it sounds like half-step movement that includes a non diatonic chord. It's prevalent in "When she loved me", "Do you want to build a snowman", and Randy Newman's "When I'm gone". It happens in the beginning of When She Loved Me, behind the lyrics "everything was beautiful"; and it happens in When I'm Gone behind "the darkness to the dawn". I'm a real novice when it comes to theory, but it's really interesting how they (Randy Newman especially) creates such movement and momentum with their chord changes, and I have zero idea how they do it. Thanks, love your channel!
when I think about Something from Beatles I don't consider it to modulate, the song remains in the key of C pretty much all time, it's just getting out from the diatonic frame but the gravity center is still C. Do we just use two different language to express the same concept ?
This is a great analysis, Rick. Interesting and useful. Thanks!
Super helpful for someone like me who is learning theory slowly........
Surely we mustn't lose sight of who we are writing songs for. No average listener cares about the "mechanics" of harmony. It's just - does it sound good to them? I've written songs with 17 chords and songs with 4. The more harmonically complex one's may impress a muso but that's irrelevant. I think Jason Mraz's song "Have it All" is brilliant in it's simplicity. It's based on probably the most used Chord progression of all time I-vi-IV-V but does that diminish it in any way? Not to me, it's a feel good tune and it's right on the money as far as I'm concerned.
"To this day, I have no idea what Aeolian cadences are. They sound like exotic birds." - John Lennon
Chris Ridenhour it was cool to sound that way back then. He knew.
Not knocking music theory of course, but it's fascinating to explore the creative process of those geniuses who never properly learned. Check out the above McCartney 'ignorance is bliss' clip
Recently heard a Dave Grohl interview where he said he 'thinks like a drummer when playing guitar' and only goes by 'the shapes', doesn't always know the names of the chords. Still writes great songs.
TheMaxKids what about not? He did not know music theory. Almost at all. It's a pretty well-known thing so please don't imply otherwise. Just read George Martin's "Summer of Love"... he says multiple time how John Lennon was completely oblivious to music theory and didn't want anything to do with it. :)
Chris Ridenhour, that's just another thing he learned from Kurt Cobain. In many interviews Kurt stated something like that ("play the guitar like you would play the drum"). Anyway, Dave Grohl said multiple times almost everything he knows in songwriting and guitar playing comes from Kurt Cobain.
Great video Rick! Something is a masterpiece!
Thanks for the tips! I'll letcha know how it goes!
*....I have hundreds of official chord books by various artist and one Billy Joel song had approximately 25 unique chords in it...(off the top of my head)...*
Signature Hook Theory by Rick Beato a dead chorus 🐎
32:04
45:00+
I read somewhere that Lennon was talking about doing 6 90-minute sets regularly in their Hamburg days.. if they didn't know their theory when that started, they definitely knew it by '63 ish....
Still Amazing! Love your style. Alan Parsons Project, Pleeeeeeese!!!
I listen. I listen. I listen. But I only understand a particle of what you are saying; fifth of G, modulations, flat 3 in key of e, major thirds…it’s all Swahili to me!!! What basic translation tool do you have for knuckleheads such as I?