How The Strokes Write Like Classical Composers /// Modern Age Analysis
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- Опубликовано: 7 фев 2025
- Exploring how voice leading can work in a rock/pop context and why it's essential to the sound of certain songs and artists PART 2
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I'm not sure when it started but, for years now, if I'm going somewhere and I've had a bad day or I'm not feeling confident, I play "The Modern Age" really loudly in my earphones and it just transforms me!
From the moment that intro kicks in, it just does something to my brain and kicks me out of whatever slumber my soul is in.
Its like a rush of pure energy goes through my entire body.
It's testament to how good those early Strokes albums are that they still sound as fresh today as when I first heard them.
Yo same are you me
'when it started' heh
Without question one of the best music theory/music channels I've stumbled across. Your analysis and presentation is excellent!
Tysm, i am honored and humbled to hear you say that 🥰
seriously!!! incredible demonstrations and explanations all around
Man, that's how I have always perceived music intuitively. Those somewhat visual relation between the sounds of each instrument. I don't have a broad music theory knowledge, so it's really, really cool to see that explained! Thanks!
yes! thinking of music visually is so helpful! keep it up :)
You are a treasure 🌟
No u 🥰🥰🥰
facts
I think he has no idea.. definitely amazing stuff
I went to a conservatory, but even if I didn’t understand a lot of the fundamentals, you explain things more approachably than a lot of the doctorate professors I had.
I’m proud of you for finding this path. It seems like your calling. Your videos are all so thoughtful, and it is amazing to see you shine every time you make a new one! ❤️
Thank you so much for the kind, kind comment! 🤗 you've given me some of the greatest praise I could ask for! I truly hope to continue to provide the same and greater value with all my future content :)
Wtf this video is actually so good. Your choosing of words is so well done, the visuals, and you yourself are passionate. You seem like you've really broke this down and had let these ideas sit in your head for a while.
thank you so much for the kind words and support my friend 🙏 I'm trying my best to communicate these ideas in a clear, actionable manner :)
You gotta do one of these for someday! It trips me up trying to understand what’s going on in that song how the three guitars each are doing their own thing but gel together to make that warm nostalgic sound
Matty you should be very proud of this video! It's really well done. I'm a classical music nut and a huge Strokes/Voidz fan and I thoroughly enjoyed this.
Hey thank you so much for watching and taking the time to share your thoughts! I'm very happy you enjoyed the video :) seems like youre exactly the type of person I was trying reach with this hehe
Thank you for continuing this series Matty!
Thanks for supporting!! Always loving your covers
Could you do an analysis of Red Light (The Strokes)? I recently heard Jorge Orellana's cover with just the guitars, and making them more evident made me realize how Albert and Nick play at different intervals and it seems confusing but at the same time it's incredible to listen to. I don't understand much about music theory, but I'm looking to learn more, I really liked your teaching! Hugs from Brazil!
will def get to red light in the future at some point! if you can't wait, I do have a patreon tier where you can request any song you like!
this is some of the best stuff ive seen pertaining to the strokes. dont stop making these!
dont gotta tell me twice
i think oblique motion is very important to the sound of the "typical" strokes guitar riff!
If we think of every guitar string as one voice, they have many riffs where they strum or arpeggiate the 3 upper strings to make a triad and move just one of the notes around, usually the higher one, then do the same thing with a different chord (YOLO, Someday, Why are sundays so depressing, Automatic stop...)
then they have other melodies where they do it with just two strings: one stays in one note and the other one moves around (is this it, albert's guitar on the end has no end)
Yes exactly! You already know exactly where this train is headed haha! The Modern Age is the perfect song to introduce the basics of these principles but in some of the songs you outlined, the interaction of the voices gets pretty crazy
Really high production quality here. Incredible and very clear animation.
Thank you so much!! The animations are here to stay hehe
Super interesting once again, would love to see more of these! Seriously thanks so much for doing these, also the visuals really help with understanding the concepts
Thank you for watching! Will definitely keep going and keep developing visuals!
I just watched a vid with Gordon Raphael where he made some similar observations to what you’re saying here. He said Julian used to write/compose all the parts, including the drums, and he made the comparison to classical musical with different harmony lines vs the typical rhythm plus lead guitars in rock music. There’s a video of Julian playing 11th Dimension on an acoustic which is very interesting to watch. His playing in many ways is amateurish and rudimentary and he doesn’t play like a guitarist. Most guitarists have shapes, chords, licks, etc that they know. But with Julian it’s more like he just has music in his head.
ruclips.net/video/zf04PMblrgU/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/rV86UxO_1Oc/видео.html
I loooooooove that video of Julian playing 11th Dimension on guitar! youre totally right, it communicates and implies so much about how his brain works regarding this stuff
Those motion images are just amazing!
tysm!!! took a lot of work but I think it was worth it :)
Great video! I love how each instrument is playing something so simple, yet together they create this full and rich sound... i love the strokes
Even though I like making music, I don't know a single thing about music theory and this video made it so abundantly clear what the concepts meant and got me interested in something completely new to me. Amazing video!
This is the best comment i could ever receive, I'm so happy you got something out of it :) thank you for your support
Thank you for helping me understand why I love the Strokes sound so much.
👈😎👈
Thank you so much for teaching me the history and theories of music/musicians. It's always a win in my book. Big Love, Matty. ✌🏻💙👏🏻
Tysm for the support, I'm so glad you got something out of it!
So many reliable youtube channels failed to help me understand voice leading. You helped me understand it, thank you! The images with the lines really help with the notes/chords on screen. Keep up what you’re doing! You’ve gained a supporter!
thank you so much for the support my friend 🙏
Love this breakdown and you make the theory so easy to understand. I'd love to see a follow-up on the vocals and overall rhythmic and tonal interplay here! This song has always been so interesting to me because I've always been thrown off-meter from the start of the song, when the drums come in, and when Julian starts singing...and when he gets to the pre-chorus for that matter. It's a wild ride!
We may get to the vocals at some point but Ill probably move on to other songs for the time being!
These videos are awesome! I play a lot of classical music and took a few classes in college, but I was never too interested in the theory, so I never noticed these things in The Strokes. I've always loved the way they harmonize their guitars, but never really understood why it worked so well, so thank you for explaining all of this! Looking forward to more of these videos! Have you thought about doing songs from the newer albums? It wasn't really until I heard At The Door that I truly realized just how deliberate Julian's musical decisions are. You can't write a song like that without knowing any theory. I've been listening to their music since I was 12, so it's amazing how there is always more to learn.
Yes I will def be getting to songs from their newer albums! I've done a shorter video on Threat Of Joy already, but I will be doing more! Agreed, JC is incredibly deliberate in his choices and writing. Once you actually analyze it, it is undeniable!
this is so helpful thank u so much! the strokes r so unique but also have this classicness about them and i just love it
completely agree! most don't know what about them is special and its all this stuff! and theres os much more to talk about too!
Oh I love these graphics - so helpful in simplifying the concepts
Awesome! They will most likely be here to stay teehee
At 16:00 you discuss the chords like a piano player, which is fine, but part of why the Strokes are awesome is how the instruments are voicing the notes. eg A guitar can play a D/F# with a huge cowboy chord sound but a D (in standard tuning) has to be a thinner sound. And for electric guitar the instrument includes the pedals, amp, and speaker. Distortion pedals get muddy or shrill if you start moving around too far so you want to keep the tessitura small (or at least have a good think about why you need to move the line so far). eg As a contrast to the classical composers The Edge in U2 is entirely focused on the actual sound and when translated to sheet music it looks like some kid wrote it with crayons. I suspect that the Strokes do start with the 'chart' and then pick the guitar sounds to suit. Such a good video and I know you left heaps "on the cutting room floor" to make it coherent. Thanks!
Really enjoyed this video. Very well done, lots of insight. And I love hearing from someone else the exact reasons why I love The Strokes so much. I wish everyone would consider music this same way.
Thank you so much for watching, I'm glad you got something out of it 🙂 trying to promote deeper music appreciation is what i aim for!
Very grateful for the theory stuffs and although I'm not a real musician by any stretch of imagination, the inner mechanism of how music works never failed to amaze me.
Also once again.. I realised I watched your vid without any subtitles which proves how clear you can relay the information. You sir is a great teacher!
Anyone who makes any kind of music is a real musician 💪 appreciate your insight and kind comments so very much, I'm thrilled that my videos can be of help to you!
babe wake up, new matty just dropped
😌😌😌 y'all are waking up but after finishing editing this, I'm in my honk shoo era
What an incredible musical breakdown. Thank you
wow, love that melody and finally trying to understand how it's done, thanks for such a detailed analysis! Also take a look at notes at the end, there is something happend, A in not Sol, E no Re, etc..
Thank you for watching, I'm glad you got something out of it! I just Movable Do, not fixed do
Just the suspensions explanation got a subscriber out of me. Thanks! I'm trying to figure out how I'll play this on my guitar as a solo player. At work rt now so I'll wait till I get home.
thank you for your support!
I don't understand a lot of stuff you say, but it's interesting to see this kind of analysis in music I love so much. Thank you!
tysm for watching! hopefully you can learn a little bit along the way :)
@@mattygregmusic I did! I had always wanted to understand in ehat way Julian used classical style of music to compose. And now I have a better idea. Thank you, I was waiting for your content for years, in a way. Hahaha
I feel like I was also waiting for this content for years, so I decided to make it myself haha!
@@mattygregmusic hahaahah that's the best approach to life
Hey! I love your videos and how you keep working on them, especially on the animated illustrations you just added. But I have noticed you mentioned some of the notes like G a Fa, where I learned american notation as G is a Sol. The american notation I learned is this C: Do, D: Re, E: Mi, F: Fa, G: Sol, A: La, B: Si. Maybe it has to do that I am also a spanish speaker.
I am curious why you explain them in that way!
Despite that, YOUR CONTENT IS MESMERIZING. KEEP IT UP.
He uses an alternative system as shown in the video. Where, in the key of D major, the first scale degree D would be do and so G is the fourth degree, fa.
Thank you very much for the kind words! You're not the first person to ask this question: i use a solfege system called "Moveable Do", where Do is always the first note of the scale, so in the key of D, D: Do, E: Re, F#: Mi, and so on.
More strokes please!
always more coming down the line :)
it’s amazing what you’re doing! :) the visuals, your explanations, and the music julian and the band created are so beautiful. If you’re doing stuff like that with more strokes ( or arctic monkeys etc;) ) I will watch everything with joy! It’s inspiring, fun and thoughtful, amazing, thank you :)
There's so many bands and artists and songs I'd love to talk about! Could definitely do some Arctic Monkeys :) thank you so much for watching and supporting!
Please please continue making these especially with the strokes great work
dont gotta tell me twice~
I love this content so much, the D major inversions with superman stock images got me wheezing brother, keep it up
Edit: also it was a surprisingly good explanation of inversions
Haha thank you so much my friend! I'm happy to hear those bits i throw in don't go unappreciated :)
You made my ears smarter, thank you❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Dude ur stuff is insanely good. Thank you.
Tysm for the support 🙏
Love for this, I've been saying this to my friends since I found out about the Strokes, they're so choral... 🌅thanks for putting this together.
no doubt in my mind he was thinking about SATB part writing when arranging these guitars :)
I love these videos so much, they put into words and explain the reason behind the little details of the strokes which I really love
Great content man! Those visualizations you used with the different ways of motion were really helpful to get the point across. You deserve some more subs for sure👍🏼
thank you so much for the support!
this is one of my fav songs from one of my top fav bands and you made a awesome video diving into this song
thank you for watching and supporting!
I dont know you, but I love you. im a straight male who couldnt be more appreciative of you. this is eye opening and golden
These analysis videos are fantastic. Puhlease! Do more-- Strokes, and or otherwise. Thank you. Subscribed. Looking forward to it!
Thank you for your support!! lots more coming down the line :)
please keep making these
Is this it, is incredible. Most of their albums have some bangers on them. Id love to see them live but it's doubtful.
thank you so much keep doing this man you're a smart man
Thank you my friend, gonna keep going as much as i can 💪
I'm a singer/songwriter in a band and I know nothing about music theory. It's crazy to watch this video and realize, "Hey, that's exactly what I'm doing but without even knowing that I'm doing it."
Great vid. Cheers
hell yeah, sounds like youve got a naturally good ear for arrangment! check out some of my other music theory vids and send some of your band's music my way!
This thing is freaking essential for strokes fan, how come I get to this now
cuz I just made it 💪 thx for watching!
your videos are so helpful, thank you so much for all the hard work you put into these videos
thank you so much for the support bennett, ppl like you keep me going 🙏
congrats man you dropped a very good and usefull video, please keep doing this kind of content 👏👏👏👏👏
lots more coming, thanks for the support!
Matty!!
There’s nothing I can say that no one else hasn’t. Your style is very engaging, digestible, and informative. It’s invigorated me to try and learn music theory like I used to but with a different approach. Do you have any advice?
Live these videos. It's so cool seeing someone as interested in the strokes as I am.
this post made my strokes gang
This was such a great video!!! Thanks!!
thank you so much for all your support my friend!
I look forward to more of these. Great stuff.
Thank you!
This video is gold. Thank you!
so happy you enjoyed! lots more content like this on my channel, and more coming! I also livestream every week :)
while that was a bit comical.... I will say, on a serious note, I absolutely love what you are doing please continue pumping out the great content! I have a little background in "bornig" theory, but this gave me a modern outlook on it with more application and practicality. I will be studying my music theory book if anyone needs me. Thank you Sir!
Thank you so much for the support! Means so much :)
this is amazing, ty so much for such a great presentation too!
ty for watching :)))
At the door plays very similar on guitar to blackbird, and the beatles have famously said blackbird pulls from classical
This is great music education! There's a lot of great discussion of harmony in rock and pop, but voice leading needs more popular discussion
I agree! That is exactly what I set out to do :)
This is a great channel. Thanks for sharing your wisdom.
tysm for your support 🙏
I hate rock and classical music but I love mullets and rosy cheeks. This channel has my undying subscription
I'd say you're making me blush but I've had these rosy cheeks since the day I was born 🥰🥰🥰
14:00 small correction - common practice era composers didn't develop voice leading - they developed the tonal system (major/minor) system, while counterpoint developed waaaay earlier than that (beginning of Renaissance afaik)
A minor correction even
That is correct! What I was attempting to say was they developed a certain framework for using voice leading, the framework being different in each era (leading to their specific brands of tonalism). Thank you for catching that and clarifying
This is sick i wish you woulda went into the relation between the chords and not just their movement. Like why did they choose to add the 2nd and the 6th. Like why do those sound good? get me? anyways cool video
@@1lastry344 great point! I believe I go into that a little bit in my video titled "why voice leading is essential to the strokes' sound"
Thank you for the kind words 🙏
I really like this kind of videos
This is super great. Thanks!
thank you for watching!
Can you do a breakdown of Under Control at some point? I love your videos and that's my favorite Strokes song
@@kilgoretrout1289 anything for you kilgore trout (KURT VONNEGUT MENTIONED) fr tho i do have a short on under control already if you haven't seen that yet! And i definitely think it's likely i make a longer video on it in the future!
Thank you so much !!!! This is useful!
Been saying this for years - great vid!
Thank you for watching my friend! If you're into this, there's more on my channel as well as a bourgeoning community in the livestreams! Consider coming to hang :)
Amazing content as always!
Top tier content mate
Tysm 🙏
Absolutely earned a subscriber
Thank you so much for the support my friend 🙏
Amazingly thorough analysis of one of my favorite bands ever! I really enjoyed the visualizations too. Curious, how did you make them?
thank you so much my friend! I made the visualizations using Adobe After Effects
Was just thinking about this - great video
Great minds *touches forehead*
I was watching an interview with Gordon Raphael and he compared Julian's compositions to Bach and I thought where did I hear that before 👍
the proof is in the pudding!
Great videos Matty, keep it up. You got a new subscriber 🙌🏼
Tysm for the support!
Matty, I wanna be your friend! Cool AF decomposition breakdown you made!
Tysm! The more the merrier, let's be friends :)
Can't believe this info is out here for free
doing what I can to make this world a little bit better of a place :) If you like what I do, I got lots of other stuff on this channel like this, and I livestream every week! Consider coming and hanging out in the chat :)
Thanks for your support! Are you a musician?
You are awesome thank you Matty Greg
No u 🥰
Best guitar solo ever fullstop.
Awesome Job
I’m here for all The Strokes stuff! Thank you! Can’t wait until you get around to 12: 51🤞
Thank you for sticking around! We will def get to 12:51!
The “bouncing ball” visual is genius (and way too short). Any way to watch the voiceleading for the length of the song?
I made it myself! Should I make more of them for full songs?
Question: Why would you say moving from the ii to iii is a downward shift on Nicks guitar? Isn't moving from an Eminor to F#minor also going upwards? Seems like the guitar and bass lock into parallel motion at that last chord. The first two chords are contrary motion though. Great video!
Thanks for watching! It's because of the voicings of the chords. He plays the Em chord higher up at the 7th fret, then slides down to play the F#m voiced at the 2nd fret, so we've effectively moved downwards from the ii chord to the iii chord
Excellent content. You should have more subscribers.
thank you very much! trying to grow everyday :)
what an excellent video!
Thank you so much! Lots more like it on my channel :) are you a musician?
@@mattygregmusic I've watched most of your videos on The Strokes, it's fascinating to see the theory behind what I consider probably the greatest music of the modern age (see what I did there). Would love to see more stuff on The Voidz. I am hesitant to call myself a musician, but I do make music, yes. 🙂
@@papanasu anyone who makes music is a musician! society has gotten way too obsessed with equating monetary success to legitimacy. Music can be a lifelong passion and activity for everyone , esepcially if they only do it at home with themselves and/or friends and family :)
I agree, I think people havent even realized just how immense their infleunce on the 21st century zeitgeist really is
@@mattygregmusic couldn't agree more, that's why I will continue to make music for as long as I am able to. Really grateful to have stumbled upon your videos and to see a decent human being among so much trash pushing itself onto us on the interwebs. Keep it up, bud!
@@papanasu youre a real one, my friend 🙏 tysm for your support, you are always welcome in my comment section :)
You might also consider coming and hanging in the chat during my livestreams!! we have a good time :)
Best music theory video ever
I find it hard to judge whether the first inversion at the start of the chorus is what makes the chorus sound so great or whether I like the inversion because it is used in the chorus I like :-)
haha chicken and egg kinda situation
Read my mind by the killers? good shit Matty Greg
love the killers. Brandon Flowers himself said they were very inspired and influenced by the strokes
Great video
Good video as usual Marty 👍👍👍
One question I have is about jumping between diff octaves. The bass in the verse is on G then goes to F# in the chorus. While the F# is technically lower if you’re looking at the scale, Nikolai goes to a higher octave instead. I’m just curious if/what purpose going up an octave instead of just going down the half step would do. You see something similar with Nick going from Em-F#m with his voicings
great question! I think it is as simple as they tried it both ways and picked the one they preferred!
If I had to give an analytical guess, I'd say having the bass go up the octave connected it to the guitar more, giving it that "choir of guitars" esque sound moreso than having it the full octave down. That probably would have made them sound very separate. Also, notes going up tends to add an intensity.
additionally, while arranging/practicing/recording, they may have found the bass note going up the octave cut through the mix better, in both a live and studio context
this was indeed super interesting and revealing. if you had half as much fun making this as I had learning from it, you had a blast!
I have theoretical knowledge of all the concepts presented but not practical so two things confused me in the end, please bear with me as I am an utter beginner.
When you played all together, during the verse, the first guitar plays Mi-Re. I assume this acts as a switch to create that I-Iadd2 sound, right? Do you have to mute the 3rd when playing the second guitar on beats that hit Re?
And, more confusing, sorry for being pain... When the verse switches chord to IV, the annotation says the first guitar plays Do-Re-Do which (I think) would again be IV-IVadd2. Shouldn't the first guitar play La-Do-La to make it IVadd6-IV?
What am I not understanding??
Also_the graphics are super helpful, keep them in. A minor nuance was the Bass in the middle (in the end where you put all together). Since you can't put it low due to space constraints, I would logically expect it on the far right instead of the middle. However, that might be just my brain and not a universal consensus. KUDOS for the color coding!
Note to myself: learn solfeggio.
Thank you so much for watching and for the feedback! I kept the bass in the middle and the guitars on the sides because that's how they're panned in the stereo mix, but I also considered doing it like you mention; I'll try that next time!
In regards to your other questions:
yes, the move to Re in Guitar 1 creates the add2 in Iadd2. No you need not mute the 3rd in guitar, the clash between those notes adds a lot of character. Plus, if the third was muted then it would be a sus2
When switching to the IV chord, the positions of the solfege syllables do not move. The IV chord is fa-la-do, so the re adds a 6th, hence add6!
Hope that helps :)
@@mattygregmusic thanks so much for clearing this up!
Please break down What Ever Happened
I did a short of What Ever Happened! perhaps Ill do a longer one too
Nice video
ive heard of radiohead, are the strokes popular?
Hey man where can I get that jumper? I love it.
I got it at a Marshalls years ago! No idea where it could be found now
By any chance do you like Mac demarco?
I like some of this music but I wouldnt say im into him
yes he is .