How Elton John uses Inversions
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- Опубликовано: 29 ноя 2020
- Inversions are an entire dimension of chords which can often be overlooked. But Elton John certainly isn’t one to ignore the potential of inverting chords. It’s hard to find an Elton song that doesn’t feature inversions, and perhaps the reason for this is that Elton is a pianist!
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R.I.P. to Dee Murray. He played those unique basslines on all of Elton's early albums.
He also sang most backing vocals. Amazing
2018: Radiohead
2019: The Beatles
2020: Elton John
2021: Mii channel music
I can’t wait for the Mii Channel biopic
@@DavidBennettPiano lol
2022: The lick
@@gi5897 2023: Mario Kart lick
@@Aurora-oe2qp 2024: Apple alarm sound
“But on the guitar, the thought of using inversions probably doesn’t even cross your mind.”
*Jimi Hendrix has entered the chat*
Yes!!☮️❤️
We use inversions all the time it’s called relaxed strumming
Love the show, but can't agree that inversions don't cross guitarists' minds. In fact, while strumming, one is constantly switching inversions. How about up-stroking the 3 high strings, quickly followed by down stroking the 3 low strings, followed by up-stroking the 4 middle strings, followed by down-stroking the 2 low strings, followed by down-stroking the 3 high strings, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc. No shortage of inversions at all!!!!!!!
@@hawaiirealmedia5610 I agree 90%. Depending on where and how you strum will be an inversion, but there will be big not jumps between each new inverted root of you use the strumming method. A simple example to counter this is like when you go G - D - Em with the simple open string chords to put your thumb on the F# when playing the D. Secondly, this is just personal opinion, but thinking about inversions when writing a song using a guitar only comes after you wrote the song, normally you'd just play some chords and see what melody you can make out of them.
I'd say any somewhat "advanced" guitarist knows about and uses inversions, and quite often at that. If you look at advanced guitarists, regardless of genre, it's a no-brainer obviously, but even in loads of super common and conventional pop/rock guitar songs there are inversions. I mean take Stairway to Heaven for example, in the arpeggios in the very beginning there is a D major in first inversion (an F# being the lowest note).
But notes (and thus chords) are far easier to visualize on a keyboard than on guitar, and thus easier to mess around with. Not to mention easier to play. Guitarists are often kind of conditioned to common chord shapes (the standard open and bar chord shapes), and to think of the root as the lowest note that's being played, because it's pretty much what the instrument is designed for. Takes a while to break out of that "box", yet a lot of great guitarists never did, but they're not less great because of that.
A guitarist who used a lot of inversions is Hendrix, to create his beatiful guitar voicing, and it’s one of the best example of the use of inversions with a guitar.
Right, because Jimi was able to play the 2 lowest strings with his thumb, that freed up his fingers to play all kinds of things other people hadn’t tried before.
John Mayer also has the thumb advantage.
Also most of jazz guitarists
Not only that, he also inverted the guitar being left-handed ;) Sorry, I could not resist this stupid joke.
@@DarkSideofSynth have a stupid thumbs up. Or is it an inverted thumbs down.
❗ CORRECTION: at 2:35, I forgot to put a natural on the E so the chord labelled "C9" is actually a "Cm9". It doesn't really affect the point I'm making but it is a small deviation from Rocket Man's actual chord progression so I thought it worth bringing to your attention. Thanks to Ophir for pointing it out 😊
I'll gladly take the pride,but it was in fact Ophir who pointed it out. I'm the confused danish bloke 😅
3:16 Hey David, are you sure that inversions count as line cliches? I always heard that the entire chord needs to stay put while only one note changes for it to be a line cliche... Just checking, because I'm kind of confused
@@Stewerrvideos Thanks :)
Pedro kenzo a line cliche can be just one note changing, and often is, but can also be any time when chords are voiced to create a line on top that ascends by step or a line on the bottom that descends by step
Stewerrvideos ha! Oh yeah, sorry about that. Correct person credited now!
The power of bass in harmonies is not only just what kind of chord it will be, but also the movement of music. Amazing power we bass players have in a band sense. A lot of harmonic micro managing
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is exemplary in this sense. Elton almost never uses the root in the bass. He said he was inspired by "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys, probably the most obvious example that comes to (my) mind when we talk about inversions
Agree. Best Elton example.
“No one can break your heart more on the piano than Elton, my friend Elton.”
- Stevie Nicks
It's actually really easy to invert chords on guitar though
All the chord inversion examples you played on piano are quick and simple to play on guitar too, you just have to have a solid understanding of the instrument -- it's the same with piano
And now I wanna take the time to get really well acquainted with my guitar
It's doable on guitar, but not nearly as easy as on a piano, particularly if you want to play something other than the root in the bass.
It’s super common to play a D/F# inversion though and you can invert a C major chord by playing the open E with it
@@robertpratt1020 This is true.
However, I was just trying say it isn't as black and white as the video makes it seem, it's not impossible to play any inversions on guitar, and it's not completely possible to play every chord inversion on piano.
But you are 100% correct, it is still easier on piano.
Oh, and for context; I am a fan of DB, I just wasn't too keen on his explanation during that part of the video.
I'm a completely untrained musician, but I'm pretty sure that I play inversions on guitar because I just mess around with shapes, not really knowing what the chords are.
Always hype for Elton John videos. What a legend.
Well, he has been milking it for 30+ years....
@@foljs5858 Elton milking it? I don't agree.
@@foljs5858 you have to be kidding.
true, however I don't associate inversions with Elton John. It's a common thing among pianists. As a pianist myself, I'd never play all chords in the root position. You always try to move your hand as little as possible
Yes!! Give us more Please, David
Just a quick advice to use headphones to hear those with/without pedal point differences better, especially if you're on your phone.
Good call. I understood the point but it was a little hard to hear with normal speakers
I absolutely love Elton, one of my favorite artists of all time. Him and Bernie are geniuses.
Thank to this video I now understand both the meaning of this "double chords" I see on sheets and why Elton John's song are so recognizable !! Thank you so much for your clear explanations !
Thanks for watching 😊😊
how does using inversions on piano makes his songs recognizable, if almost every single piano player on earth uses them?
@@shvgvrqv6888 because there's so many inversions you can use
"How Elton John uses Inversions": like a goddam legend... :)
AC/DC loves that first inversion. That's Angus Young's specialty.
I said it above, but I think Angus and Malcolm own the title deed on D/F#.
Elton John piano style has always been fascinating. If you want to learn pop piano & accompaniment, learn Elton John songs because there are so many things you can do with only triads, inversion & arpeggio.
Bass: (Playing same Eighth Note for 5 bars)
David: This is deep
Inversions definitely give Elton's songs a signature flavor!
I see a lot of comments talking about how it's easy to play different inversions on guitar. While this is true, I think the main point is that although you might choose to play an E in the third position, the bassist will likely play the root. Most people would call the chord an E and be done with it. However, with piano you have the ability to really spread things out and hear what different bass notes would sound like under the chord. This can be possible on guitar as well, but it's not nearly as natural, and you don't have as much range to play with.
Another great video, David! Love how deep you dive into these tunes.
Thanks Jon! I agree with you... a lot of people have latched on to what I said about guitar! I'm not saying of course that inversions can't be played on guitar! I'm just saying that they are less accessible, which is true. 😁
@@DavidBennettPiano yeah, it seems a lot of guitarists misunderstood that part!
In the 10 years that I’ve been playing piano I never knew inversions where written this way in chord symbols and I use them ALL the time.
What an eye-opener
He’s mixing slash chords with Inversions.
Someone Saved My Life Tonight -- Elton himself usually points to this song more than any other when explaining his use of inversions. (He also usually credits Brian Wilson for teaching him this technique). That one is also interesting since the use of inversions means the progression in the verse never really resolves (at least until the chorus starts), so it creates a sense of ambiguity and tension which fits given the rather personal subject matter of the song.
Great to see an in-depth analysis of Elton’s music. He is a phenomenal writer, well deserving of his success. I always use voice leading when I’m writing to the point that I forget I’m doing it, so it’s good to be reminded of the impact it has
Rick Beato had a video where he recommended looking for inversions of chords when one plays as a way of developing one's skills.
David, I have just discovered your videos, which are brilliant, so now I need to work through all of them. As a teenage devotee of Elton in the early 70s, can't tell you how much I appreciate the attention you pay his work. Thank you SO much.
I’ve been teaching myself a bunch of Elton’s songs by ear on piano (that’s how I learn best) and this video is so helpful and enlightening!! I actually had no idea the / was used to show inverted chords! I hope I can sound more like Elton now 😁
Phenomenal video! My daughter and I watched with amazement! Thank you for the lesson on line cliche’s and pedal point. Being aware of these things will make my music playing and listening experience better!
I’m pretty sure Elton John has credited Brian Wilson with inspiring him to use inversions
God only knows if that's true
In an interview he said, in reference to Someone Saved My Life Tonight:
"It's an inverted chord, not a root chord. I got that from 'God Only Knows.' Being a piano player, I latched onto that immediately when I heard it."
Yes. Have heard him say it.
Also, classical music and sometimes playing the organ in his early days, and a love of Gerswin would have had a huge effect. Gershwin was a huge influence on both Brian & Elton.
@@scottbrown635 nice pun bro 😅
My favorite inversions are the vocal harmonies on the Cars albums, especially the first one. If I remember right (from uh thirty years ago) they sang a lot of major chords with third inversions. I hadn't heard pop vocal harmonies like that since the Beatles.
I've only been playing piano for a couple of years (guitar for a lot longer) but you've nailed what I think is the core of Elton's song-writing trick bag. It's all about moving that bass around to give the chord another flavour and using those line cliches to move to a target chord. Learning his stuff over the last year has opened my mind to a whole world of stuff that I'd mostly avoided as a straight ahead rock/blues guy. Thanks for doing a great job of explaining it. :)
The intro of "dear prudence" and all the song "tomorrow never knows" use pedal notes, grettings from chile!!!!!!
I've known about inversions for nearly 50 years, but this is a really nice exploration of them. Good job as usual, Mr. Bennett!
This is one of the best explanations of his voicing I've seen.
Thanks much!!
Jimi Hendrix was famous for playing inversions on guitar, there’s a few pretty accessible ones
Lordy you’re so good. You are a great teacher and it’s a privilege to see you. Thanks. Elton is so great - he inspired me so much. Elton John “farewell show” in ATL was my last b4 COVID - & PEEKS? Was there. It was so much fun.). He has an instinct with this that I’ve listened to an emulated years, but I got so much that night. It’s great having a mixer at the show like peeks. I miss live music so much. I know y’all catch hell on RUclips for breaking these songs out (and down), but thanks. Let’s get your channel sponsored and add free soon. Love it. Thanks. Hope you can work out being “free to the masses” someday. Love ya. Stay safe.
One very good example of inversions on Elton John songs is “Sorry seems to be the hardest word”. From the intro (that you start with the 7 on the bass, that then descends beautifully) to the chorus, that is practically all inversions. Love that song and how he used those inversions. I was actually expecting you would mention that one on this video :)
I remember Elton in an interview saying that Brian Wilson was an influence for his apporach here. I really like your videos btw. Really, very nice approach to introducing areas of theory, and deconstructing things a meaningful way as far as all that goes!
Clever, very clever. Well done that man, Elton ☺️
Love the intro to Elton's Someone Saved My Life Tonight - where the tonic "home" chord is second inversion.
Thanks for making these videos - really fascinating how you explain things, it's always a treat. Thanks, Marissa.
Thanks!
The Beach Boys and Especially Brian Wilson’s piano bass lines and inversions were a huge inspiration for Elton and his piano style
God only knows
Yessss, Brian was a genius at using inversions. God Only Know, Wonderful, Don't Talk, Let's Go Away for Awhile, and so many others
Interesting and informative as ever. In Line Cliché, you seem to have given a term to what I am actually trying to do with my compositions. Thank You!
You are such a brilliant music teacher. I love your stuff.
I love your work. As an absolute
musical heathen you have helped me learn so much.
I really enjoy the way you explain theory. Inversions are not as common on guitar but also add flavor there and are not always technically challenging for intermediate musicians. Paul Davids has a nice video about it from a couple years ago.
Thank you! I'll have to check that Paul David's video out 😊
Excellent and clear, as always
Hey your videos are phenomenal. Love your analysis and you present everything very well and clearly.
Keep up the great work -- appreciate it.
Thank you! 😃😃😃
I seem to recall "Something" by the Beatles using a good amount of inversions, but then again you could do a whole video on George Harrison's chord progressions. Songs like "Beware of Darkness" and "That is All" I find to be absolutely fascinating.
Once again, well done David!
Check out the chorus of Someone Saved My Life Tonight for some amazing use of inversions to voice lead a bassline. Also he opens on a G/D, not for any voice leading reasons but just for the sound of the second inversion.
Fascinating. Sir Elton is such a master of songwriting
All these comments about other examples of inversions, but most are ignoring the fact that we got to see David play piano _AND_ guitar in the same video! 2020 is wild man.
As someone who’s a fan of your channel but doesn’t know much about music theory, this blew me away, SO fascinating
Tiny Dancer imo is the best use of pedal because when it does eventually change you REALLY notice it and that specific part of the song is emphasised. ‘Looking on... she sings her song...’ when the choir comes in etc. Wonderful 😊
I'm in the process of binge watching these videos having only discovered them last week, and I've taken to clicking like before I even watch them seeing as I know 100% they're all going to be brilliant!
Great stuff! Very well explained and illustrated!
Do more Elton John!
The Chorus in "Hello, Goodbye" has a descending bassline built on chords inversion. Also the chorus in Tears for fears' "Sowing the seeds of love" (which are, basically, the same chord progression...).
One thing I really like about "Can you feel the love tonight" is that the while bassline ascends from C to F, the melody descends from Eb To Bb, blending together two opposite ways to resolve the phrase
There's a very startling inversion by Brian Wilson - Cmaj7 in third inversion (C/B to Am, repeated) in the song "Holiday" from his incredible album "Smile". Elton is a huge fan of Wilson and was very much influenced by him, particularly in the 70s.
Interesting! Another artist I've noticed who does similar stuff with "Line Clichés" is David Bowie, e.g. Oh! You Pretty Things and Life on Mars.
And Lennon's "Isolation" basically has the same line cliché as "Life on Mars".
This is pure magic.. thanks for the download..
Thank you for taking a subject so foreign to me, a complete non-musician, and making it understandable. You have nudged me to add music to my retirement learning curve.
I don't know why but I always find your "Patreon credit outros", where you play and read out the names, really satisfying to listen to. They always feel like a really natural close to the video.
Thank you! 🙂👍🏼
@@DavidBennettPiano You could make a song out of them, like Billy Joel's "We didn't start the fire" :)
Your videos are always interesting and insightful...
Very good stuff as always.👍
Thank you! 😃
Instantly liked when he brought out the guitar. Did not see that coming.
Your videos are so cool. I love music and I know just enough to annoy myself. I really appreciate you adding some clarity to the jumbled up junk in my head.
Thanks a lot for this video. Great work! I like the inverted chords on Keane - Thread
Thank you. Explained very well. I’m a guitar and saxophone player who dabbles on piano. (I play triads based on guitar chords!)
Inversions make sense on piano and the explanation really helps me understand I particularly liked the distinction between cliche and pedal. Powerful tools
Cool, David!
Your point is valid about inversions being so much easier/obvious/common on piano but I feel like you could have worded the part about guitar better. So many guitarists/songwriters never progress past open position chords that it appears that they are rare or difficult but the concept really does translate one to one. Great Video as always.
Tom Waits also uses inversions. Brilliantly.
This was an excellent, informative episode. I cut my teeth on Elton's music when he was just catching on. I loved that stuff, and his distinctive chord arrangements. I still love playing his stuff.
I think a video on how Johnny Marr uses chords and arpeggios would be really cool to show that there is much more to playing guitar than the usual chords you talked about in this video
You help me push my songwriting to new levels and challenge myself. Thank you.
Always impressive how slick these videos are.
Thanks! 😃😃
Fantastic video I play lots of inversions on the guitar after years of playing, but the piano just invites you to explore them with ease and in a much richer way. It's interesting to play the guitar through the mind of a piano player especially with a great reverb pedal to help break away from the limitations you highlight.
Thank you, David, for another excellent video.
The bit in Springsteen's "Born to Run" where he sings "Sprung from cages on Highway 9..." has some great inversions. The first round of chords even ends on an inversion (E7/D), which sounds pretty wonky until it comes around again and you get the payoff of the main hook.
Sir Elton‘s comment about writing on a piano versus other instruments is so true! Guitar and bass are my primary instruments; but play fairly basic piano. Enough to understand exactly what Elton John means - I never play a piano or keyboard without thinking about how a chord is voiced, and that carries over to how I play and understand the guitar. So basically, guitarists - just learning basic piano will have a huge impact on how you play! Oh, and David is right about voicing basic major triads on the guitar, which probably explains why, as our playing advances, we like to use all those inverted extended chords as chord substitutions!
Yup..... when I began playing piano full time my approach to guitar fully changed. I had to incorporate finger-style 100% to keep up with piano compositions. I only flat-picked before that.... sweeping thru to simulate finger picking. 20+20 = 40yrs. Thanks for the excellent videos!
Richard Carpenter uses a lot of inversions. "Yesterday Once More" and "We've Only Just Begun" are two that immediately come to mind; but, like you said, on the piano, it's almost harder to *not* use inversions, so I'm sure every Carpenters song has at least one inversion. Same with Billy Joel, because he is so piano-driven (at least in his earlier music).
Outstanding video. All info no fluff. Thanks.
Thank you! 😃😃
What a great, clear explanation! Thank you!
Thanks! 😃
"Pretty much the same voicings that anyone's used on any guitar song". Allan Holdsworth: "Hold my beer...."
Ted Greene as well
😂
One thing I know for sure is that Allan would have finished the beer rather than let anyone hold it. :)
One time I discovered using inversions quite by accident, I didn't know what they were called at the time but it changed the way I make my music. Generally I only use them on string and pad sounds but it still works well.
Love the video man!
Thanks Ben!
One tecnique that Elton uses which you didn't cover is how he uses inversions in the subdominant major chord. He often plays the bass note of the dominant chord into subdominant chord, so for example, if the song goes in Bb-major, the chord would be Eb/F. You can hear this in songs like Daniel, Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me and The One for instance.
I'm learning so much from your videos. Thank you. BTW, in learning to play the piano, I latched onto chord inversions early as a way to easily move from one chord to another (as you demonstrate in the video). In learning a new song, I always look at how I can voice the chords for easy movement. That's of course if the voicing sounds good. Thanks again.
Thanks Lee 😊
Excellent, thank you, David.
Thanks Peter!
Very well done ! Thanks
See also: Brian Wilson. And Pete Townsend is practically the king of pedal point. The intro to "Pinball Wizard" is very much "how many chords can I play that have F sharp as the bass note in whatever inversion works."
Great example! Pinball Wizard is a favourite of mine
"Pete Townsend is practically the king of pedal point"
Tony Banks: *exists*
A NEW FOE HAS APPEARED!
Seriously tho, Pinball Wizard is a great track tbh
@Aquatarkus Tony Banks is hugely underrated! In my opinion he is the best prog rock keyboard player, yet he never gets the recognition of Kieth Emerson or Rick Wakeman.
More Elton videos! 💙💚
I’m so glad I found your channel
Hi David. I love your channel, and it's definitely one of the more interesting ones on music theory that I've seen. I have to point out though, as a guitarist, that the limitations you mention really depend on how (or if) you've learned the instrument. When I began (self-)learning guitar my primary sources were Piano Vocal Guitar songbooks with chord boxes above the stave which gave lesser practical options like C#m appearing in 2nd inv (xx2124) or Abm as xx2204, but learning this way rather than from tabs or easy-strumalong songbooks gave me a great perspective on which voicings are available. It's not as limited as you say. But keep on with the stellar content. Leon.
My favourite example of inverted chords by Elton is on Someone Saved My Life Tonight.
It’s absolutely full of them and he even demonstrates it in the very first chord.
Inverted chords with the 5th note are always the most interesting. A technique that Elton has said he was inspired to use when listening to the compositions of Brian Wilson.
For guitarists wanting to try some easy inversions:
C/E = just play your open low E while playing your standard C chord.
C/G = play your open C chord normal but use your pinky for the low C note. Then use your ring finger to play the G on your low E.
E/B = Play your standard E chord but don't play the low E string.
G/B = Play your standard G chord but don't play the low E string.
G/D= Play your standard G chord but don't play the two lowest strings
or
Drop D your guitar, play your standard G chord but leave your Low E (now tuned to D) open. [lowest to highest strings: 0,2, 0, 0, 3 3]
These are some I use when playing guitar. Let me know if you want some other.
Also, I enjoy your videos a lot.
'God Only Knows' is a good example of inversions being usd to create something beautiful, Brian Wilson used to write a lot of songs on the piano as well including this one, he also played bass a lot early on with the Beach Boys which gave extra emphasis to inversions/slash chords/that is bass note progressions.
Another really well explained musical lesson !
Thank you!!
Brilliant - I love this channel so much
Thank you!
thank you for this very informative video. I would really be interested to see you do a similar analysis of Billy Joel's music and compositional approach. I know he does also use inversions (for example in the intro to Piano Man and many others), but other aspects of his music could also be interesting. I find for instance his rhythmic use of the piano and his dynamics quite original. Thank you again for those videos
Now that u mention it its what u feel in his song sooo smooth
Comment on my own post... Wonder if meatloafs stuff uses these Techniques
your composition (note I am not a musician) sounds baroque to me, that is how I would describe it, I really like it
Thank you!
Coming from a guitar playing perspective, inversion were always confusing me when learning piano. I preferred to think of (and use) slash chords. In other words, I was taught (when learning piano) that inversions and slash chords were two different concepts. Great video. Thank you.