Really like your experimental approach: Instead of just saying : “Do this”, you show how looking at why something works provides clues on other things that might work but you won’t know without trying them. And also something that works for an unknown reason inspires more useful questions. And also that even an expert can have unresolved questions and that is actually a good thing. Which brings up looking into the connections between curiosity, experiment/play and creativity …
Great comment! Thank you. I’d never thought about things like that before. I guess it just seems the most sensible and effective way to communicate some of these ideas. I’m glad you like the approach. Thanks for watching 👍🏼
Isn’t the Dm7b5 enharmonically equivalent to the Fm6? That would make it sound like a iv minor plagal cadence. I can also see it as a rootless back door dominant 9th… maybe?
I think the ii7b5 functions so well because it’s basically a minor plagal cadence. I often use it as a substitution through modal interchange. Is tasty.
It IS a minor plagal cadence. Bm7b5 is just a Dm/B by another name. Coincidentally, this is also has the same notes as a C#7alt, which makes sense because that comes from A Major's relative minor F# and it also resolves directly there.
It's hard to express how wonderful this channel is. Aside from the content there is another musical element that goes noticed but not expressed. Michael's tone of voice is somthing like a colloquy with each of us separately on the other side. But more importantly, almost every spoken word on youtube and television is a sales pitch with a kind of (pardon me) sleazy timbre. Michael's voice is like a friend sharing his day with us. Not enough people like you around these days.
Oh Richard, your comment means so much! Thank you. I'm so pleased that you feel this way, it's very important to me that I come across as a friendly, fellow musician, sincerely talking about things that I find interesting and have helped me on my musical journey. I had been reluctant to start posting educational content out of fear that I might be perceived as someone who thinks they know everything (which I'm definitely not!) and have carefully tried to produce my content in a way that feels personal in a way that I'd communicate if you were in the room with me. Thanks for watching and thank you for taking the time to comment too, it's much appreciated. Hopefully I can keep you enjoying the channel as it continues to grow.
I think the reason it works is because the Bm7b5 is the ii chord in the key of A. Please try inserting the dominant V (E7#9) before resolution to the A. Another beautiful substitution for the Bm7b5 is Bm9(11).
I am a sax player and I find these videos very helpful. You are very good at explaining the theory, and the pace is perfect for me. Sometimes when the topic goes into the weeds and my eyes cross, I stop the video and start again. Watching them over several times usually does the trick. Keep up the excellent content!
All I can say is THANK YOU. I've watched quite a few videos on trying to understand Tritone Substitution, and you explained it so well that it finally "clicked"! Thank you!
Love your videos. It always feels like going on an adventure to explore stuff together with someone who knows much much more than I, but somehow we still explore it together. Really really clever and naturally engaging format ❤
Love this comment! I’m so glad you feel this way, I hope others feel the same too. I definitely make an effort to avoid it feeling like a lecture/lesson/instructional video and that I’m an expert so it’s great to read your comment, thank you 🙏
So thankful for you! Your instruction is opening windows of understanding that have been hidden from me forever. I am 75 and basically only learned to read notes as a youth which I was excellent at but as an adult I knew there was so much more than just reading notes and I have tried to learn theory on my own for the last 35 years. I can now play very well from a lead sheet or chord sheet but now desire to play a little jazz and blues, at least understand it. Think with your help I will make good progress. I love understanding the theory, making the connections. Now if I can focus and put it into practice my playing will be amazing and so much more fun. Thank you!
Hello Michael. You fell into my RUclips stream and I’m so grateful for that. I attended Berklee College of Music back in 1987 and have always regretted not staying to finish my degree. I’ve never given up playing music, and have really committed myself to going deeper in my understanding of theory. There are many avenues available today, but none that provide such clear and practical instruction and explanation. Thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge. It made a difference in my life.
Hi Joe! I'm glad you stumbled over here too! I studied at music college here in the UK and really appreciate what I learned and the chance to spend my days focussed on music but I think I've probably learnt more since leaving through self discovery and studies than I learned in my 3 years there. Really glad you're finding some value in my lessons. Thanks for watching and leaving a nice comment 🙏
I just discovered this channel recently. I love your content, Michael, even when I know a lot of what your talking about you are able to fill in gaps in my knowledge and provide wonderful examples. Your delivery is just the right pace and just the right amount of humor.
I love your channel! I so enjoy watching you think and explore. Your thoughtfulness amplifies your teaching to an incredible level of communication. I am stealing all your voicings! I have learned so much from you in just a couple videos. Terms I have heard and struggled with are all becoming useful.
This is masterful teaching. The deeper you went, i started giggling like a school kid. Id never seen the interplay between tritone subs and resolving. This is nuts. I'll have to watch it a few times to really cement the whole concept. And i guess this becomes a perfect modulation tool also! And improvisational tool.
Woooooowwww !!! So much insights, thank you so much for sharing openly. Can't wait to try all these different textures and pathways. Feels like freedom !
As a guitarist, I've learned more from your channel about the way music works than anywhere else. Thankyou for your calm, thoughtful approach. No'sensationalism.'
So a diminished chord resolves to the four notes of the diminished chord one tone below! :O (e.g. C Eb Gb A resolves to Bb Db E and G, which make another diminished chord) - mindblown
3:15 Yes exactly, I've noticed that twenty five years ago when I played B7 chord on "where did you sleep last night" instead of B sharp as the majority of guitarists did.. I didn't know it was called a dominant chord back then.. 👍
Near the ending, Bm ->Bm7b5 -> A, the Bm7b5 (iim7b5 ) can be thinking as Dm/B , it is iv minor on B(ii) back to tonic chord A , similar as Dm to A. Thanks for your free music lessons, they are excellent lessons ! I am a guitarist and teacher, I don’t play piano, but I enjoy to watch your videos. Thank you!
The answer to your question about the resolution of b5b7 to the chord 1 tone below is actually in your video: it is just not the same pattern as the resolution of the triton when it is in a dominant chord. Actually the triton can resolve in many ways and the way it resolves in a dominant chord to the tonic chord progression is just one of them. That's all. And in some cases, it can even not resolve at all, for instance when it is used in the tonic chord of a minor key. Let's consider the chord A C M F# in the context of A minor: it is very stable as the tonic chord. It gives a "cabaret" flavor to the 1 chord, without resolution, despite the C/F# triton.
Every time I login to RUclips, I want one of your videos to pop up. I’m going to see if I can customize my page to do that. I love your teaching method.
I was just thinking about this recently while in my personal rehearsal with regards to Dom cords(except Maj7 of that key as you have stated) and now you have really widened that thought process. Thank you!!!!!! Given that b dim7 resolves to F#,A,C and Eb I can see that those four keys stacked together also all have a diminished relationship 😂😂
Found your channel yesterday. Love your approach. As others have said it's so relaxing and informative, interesting and enjoyable, so that means you the creator of this content are giving that in full and generous measure. Many thanks.
You can even get away with the major 7th in there in the context of VIImaj/V7 (B/G7 in C). On the piano that would be G and F between pinky and thumb on the left hand in the bass register with (ideally) a root position B major chord voiced by the right hand, voiced a tritone above the left hand thumb. It sounds wild but resolves beautifully to any kind of C major chord with it's 5th on top, facilitating a half-step resolve. So, C, Csus2, Cadd9, C6, Cmaj7, Cmaj9, C69. It can also resolve to any kind of C dominant chord with G on top. That can set you up for fun motion like G7 B/G7 C7 E/C7 F7 A/F7 Bb7, etc. to move to any new key from any other. Like a less traditional version of G7 G7/B C7 C7/E F7 etc.
I took a look at this and charted it out. Eventually, I found a simplification. It works like this, every diminished chord can resolve by playing a Major chord based on any note up a semitone from ANY of it's notes. In this example: B diminished = (B, D, F, Ab) has the possiblity of resolving to C maj Eb maj,F# maj or A major. An observation that simplifies this even further is the notes C Eb F# A are actually another diminished chord a semitone up from the orginal (don't play this chord just think it for mapping purposes) - ie. if B dim is the original think a major chord starting on any note of C dim, which are again C, Eb, F#, Ab. That's C major, Eb major, F#(Gb) major or Ab major.
@@michaelkeithson Wishing your site well Michael and keeping a close eye. Working on iib5, Valt, Im at teh moment. Really trying to nail down impro over them. For that you need to have at least one scale absolutely nailed in 12 keys for each chord. I have chosen a Locrian raised 2nd, followed by the altered scale, followed by Aeolian. Lots of wonderful ambiguities in the minor world. Loving it all, trying to keep it super simple. Thank you.
Major 7 as a "dominant chord" sounds great imo. For example in G7 - Gmaj7#5 - C(maj7) or as a kind of tritone sub in D7 - Dbmaj7 - C The ii7b5 to I works because it has the same gravity to I as V7 (equal amount of semitones and tones resolving). Same for iv6 Great video!
Yeah, I think was getting hung up on trying to work out which notes/interval was pulling us to that resolution in the same way the 3rd and 7th of a dominant pull to the 3rd and root of a tonic chord. Cheers for the comment, glad you liked the video. 👍
It's because the Bm7b5 is an extension of G9,(still containing it's tri tone) and as such, the third, and weakest resolution of a Dominant chord is up a whole step(deceptive, but pivoting to relative major). Up a fourth (Down a Fifth), Down a Half Step, and finally borrowed from modal tonality up a whole step. Also I wish you had explained that if you take a G7, that the addition of the Db and the Ab from its Tri tone sub become the b9 and b13, thus its kind of the "Big" version of both of those chords together.
The Bm7b5 resolves to A - probably because you’re borrowing the Bm7b5 ii chord from the parallel key of Am Plus the F note is going to an E - and the D note is going to C# - the A note stays the same
Another incredible video, Michael; thank you. I'm learning so much from your lessons - please keep it up! Maybe you already knew this, but does it feel so good to resolve it to A because the Bm7b5 contains the iv minor triad?
Cheers Andre, I appreciate your comment. Yeah, I think I was getting too hung up on the lack of leading note to the A and trying to identify which notes were creating the pull to the A, it didn’t seem to match up with the other examples and fit into that reasoning. The iim7b5 definitely contains those IVm tones but also the iim7b5 is an example of modal interchange too. It’s fun pondering this stuff! Cheers!
I think last thing works one afew levels. A B7 wants the E maj which A is the 5 of. So the half Bm7b5 has the f you technically resolving from the F# next to just doing the chromatic step down then doing the 37 resolution to the relative minor.
17:33 … as for why Bm7b5 to A ‘works’, if you put Bm7b5 in its third inversion, isn’t it effectively an A(‘double-Sus’)#5 … so, the Sus4 resolves down a semitone to C#, the #5 resolves down a semitone to E, and the ‘Sus2’ kind of just melts away … ❄️😊
For that end example that you can’t quite figure out at the end, I was thinking it has something to do with a IV iv I resolution. In A major it would be D major to D minor to A major. It might serve as a sort of replacement to the IV-iv movement where it is just one chord instead of two that wants to resolve to A. Just my thought. Great video though!
Hey Evan, yeah it does contain those qualities of the iv minor but also is a simple modal interchange borrowed from the natural minor. I think I was getting hung up on trying to work out which notes of the iim7b5 were pulling us to resolve to the I chord. Thanks for the comment 👍🏼
brilliant videos! I love the approach of understanding by hearing, feeling and just doing with the theoretical part being more of a side note. Someone called it "experimental" which is unfortunately true, many more people would play an instrument nowadays if this is was the standard way to teach it. ❤
Hey! Absolutely love your work and have been binging your channel for the past week or so. A thought on why the 2min7flat5 resolves well to the 1 chord - it sounds to me like a substitution for a minor 4 - 1 cadence - which is very common, and one of the most common extensions added to a minor 4 chord is the 2 from the key (or the 6th of the chord) which is essentially the same sound as a 2min7flat5.
Hi Bhavishya, thanks for the comment, I'm really pleased you've been enjoying the content. Yeah, it's an example of modal interchange from the natural minor but I think I was getting hung up on which notes were pulling us to the resolution in the same way the tritone of the dominant 7 chord do. Thanks for the watching 🙏
I have yet to come across anyone reflecting on the cultural base of the notion of tension and release as the foundation of western music culture. It seems to me that we tend to treat this as a godgiven, or a truth that is self-reinforcing through math and sound frequency explanations. I think we are piss poor at examine ourselves from a distance. Given that many other music cultures don`t steer by these rules, we must assume that western cultural expressions like any other, are part of a taught language. A language that we are immersed in from birth, enculturated into as we grow up within our cultural borders. Don`t get me wrong, I love this video, I love this kind of intellectual opproach to harmonies. We grow up in a very rich musical culture, and jazz is definitely my favorite genre. But I always have this nagging feeling that we regard our approach as some kind of eternal truth, not something thought up and taught on. Anyone seeing what I grasp at here? :)
Thanks for the comment. I’ve heard lots of people talk about Barry Harris and watched the odd clip but never really jumped in to his stuff. Could you recommend a starting point for studying his work? Cheers. MK
@@michaelkeithson ruclips.net/video/59iooHhigmQ/видео.htmlsi=G92nYXlp9dcliH9a ruclips.net/video/zDBOs-HGj6U/видео.htmlsi=O2EmPUR9uCrdXTdP Also George Shearing block chords
Great stuff. When you pointed out that anything but a major 7th goes nice with a dominant 7 chord, I was thinking of tritone substitutions and expecting that a 4th might also conflict. But then 7sus4 chords are possibly the best thing ever. It does conflict a bit if you play the major 3rd too, so e.g. G F B C sounds weird... but revoicing it as G F C B sounds nice in its own way.
Yeah, I think you're right. I was getting stumped as to which notes we dropping/raising a semi-tone to resolve to Amajor but I think its the D and F of the Bø that both fall a semitone to the 3rd and 5th of A. Just like in a backdoor dominant it would be the 7th and 5th (D and F) of a G7 that leads the resolution to the A. Thanks for the comment and the other comments too 👍
Turning the ii chord in m7b5 feels like borrowing from harmonic minor. Resolving back to the key of A makes the parallel minor interchange works. While the harmonic minor interchange creates good tension.
Another great vid. Thanks! That last min7b5 works because its an inversion of min6 on the iv chord. Bmin = substitute for IV maj6 Bm7b5 = sub for iv min6
Some additional thoughts. The Bm7b5 is also the diatonic chord of C major. Also, i heard somewhere that these diminished 7th chors actually resolve to any major or minor chord because of their highly unstable nature. And i think they really do. Not as nice as the natural resolution, but they still do kind of.
My thoughts for your bit at the end, in the key of A major a B diminished chord resolves to A major, and substituting it for a Bm7b5 (half-diminished) just raises the Ab a semi-tone to A which is why it still works very well leading into A. It's also a borrowed ii chord from the parallel minor, which you already know since you have a whole video on it lol.
Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I think I was getting too bogged down in trying to work out which specific tones of the chord were pulling it in that direction and couldn't work it out. Cheers!
@@michaelkeithson Of course, I know that you understood it, was moreso curious on if my analysis was in the right direction. Btw I love your videos, I watched your vid on modal interchange yesterday and have been working my way through all of your chord theory vids. I especially like the videos on dominant, diminished, altered, secondary dominants, tritone subs, and modal interchange. If I may make a suggestion, maybe a video on augmented chords in the future?
@@TheEpochCompanion Yeah, you're right, it has all but one note of a Bdim or E7susb9 which both resolve/pull to the A major. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add it to my list! Nice to hear you're enjoying the content, I appreciate the support 🙏
Hello Michael. I landed on one of your videos about modes by accident and have subscribed to your channel since then. I'm a total novice to the piano/keyboard and have just learnt the C major scale and the chords related to C major all by myself. I'm absolutely terrified to incorporate the black keys. Could you please make a video series for people like me so we could quickly build up from this basic starting point and slowly help overcome the fear of the sharps and flats? I don't quite understand how it sounds so nice when you play the C major or F major and it doesn't when I play the exact same chord. Haha.
Hey Jezreel! Thanks for your comment and thanks for watching my videos! I hope you’ve been finding them helpful. Did you see my video about learning to improvise on the piano? It will be similar to some of the stuff you may have already learned but I think there could be some extra bits that you find useful. I’ll have a think about what I could offer to help. My first suggestion would be to do the same as before, working out the major scales and chords for the keys of G major and F major as you’ll only be adding one new black note in each key and you’ll learn three new chords in each key that will incorporate the black note. There’s also a lot of crossover of notes and chords between those keys and C major. Then practice playing some songs that are in those keys. It’s really just familiarisation with the chords and scales that incorporate the black notes. If you became really familiar with a Db major scale and the chords related to that key, you wouldn’t be afraid of playing black notes anymore! Hope that helps a bit!
Hey Don, thanks for watching til the end! 😉 Thanks for your comment. I guess it’s more like a sus b9 as there’s no third and a 4th instead. So could be described as E7susb9/B. My confusion is in what elements of the chord want to make it fall to the A, we don’t have the tritone of G# and D that want to resolve to the root and third of A. Is the D alone strong enough to pull the ear to A or is there another combination that’s pulling us to A?
@@michaelkeithsonMinor fourths keep popping out to me when I'm thinking about this stuff. I think a less complicated way to think of it is the Bm7b5 contains a Dm (it's a Dm/B basically), so then the question of why might be the same as asking, why does the iv like to resolve almost as strongly as the V? I'm becoming more convinced that negative harmony is a great explanation for it: the minor third of the iv chord is a flatted sixth degree in the key, which in negative harmony terms is a "leading tone" down to the fifth. Actually, on top of that, in A major the negative of Bm7b5 (scale degrees 2, 4, b6, 1) should be scale degrees 4, 2, M7, 5... oh hey it's E7. So I guess we figured out that iiø is V7's negative harmony equivalent. (Also interesting that it's a borrowed chord from minor.) I guess we'd call your mystery chord a "negative dominant seventh" then? Like stacking another "downward third" on a minor fourth. Anyway, I think this video connected some dots for me. It makes sense to me that Bm7b5 resolves to C since it's the diatonic viiø. I've heard it described as dominant in function but I hadn't noticed til now that it shares the same tritone as the V7 so that's easy to explain I guess. And the "substitution" resolution Bm7b5 to F#, well there's another iv-I situation, cool.
To anyone trying to understand this the cheatsheat is take the chromatic intervals from b7, 7, 1, b2, 2, b3, draw a line, then continue 3, 4, #4, 5, b6, 6. They're reflected across the line, so 1 changes places with 5, major thirds with minor thirds, b7 with natural 6, etc. Or take a circle of fifths, slice it in half between the root and fifth of the key, and reflect across the line you drew. Or, take a note and instead of stacking thirds up, stack thirds down but invert major/minor and dim/aug. It's all the same.
@@silphv Dude! You're a fount of knowledge, please can I get you to respond to all my comments 😂, you seem to be more versed in weeds of this stuff than me. Yeah, I hadn't connected the dots to negative harmony. I need to spend some more time on Negative Harmony, I understand it in theory but yet to really get to grips with its practical applications. Thanks so much for your contributions to the comments, I really appreciate it and it certainly has made me think harder on these points. Cheers! MK
I was under the impression, perhaps mistakenly, that the tritone got its name from the three note equal tempered scale. A three tone interval makes more sense and seems more descriptive.
A lady recently said she wanted to be my dominant. Well i said “aw that’s lovely. I feel like a tonic!” She looked a bit disappointed but then she brought me a refreshing drink, so I suppose she must have been happy.
Really like your experimental approach: Instead of just saying : “Do this”, you show how looking at why something works provides clues on other things that might work but you won’t know without trying them. And also something that works for an unknown reason inspires more useful questions. And also that even an expert can have unresolved questions and that is actually a good thing. Which brings up looking into the connections between curiosity, experiment/play and creativity …
Great comment! Thank you. I’d never thought about things like that before. I guess it just seems the most sensible and effective way to communicate some of these ideas. I’m glad you like the approach. Thanks for watching 👍🏼
Expiramental? Dude's speaking facts
Ditto
Isn’t the Dm7b5 enharmonically equivalent to the Fm6? That would make it sound like a iv minor plagal cadence. I can also see it as a rootless back door dominant 9th… maybe?
this guy has to be the most peaceful sounding, chill person ive ever heard. I LOVE this channel
Ha! If only that was the truth! Glad you’re enjoying the channel, thanks for watching Joel. 👍🏼
I think the ii7b5 functions so well because it’s basically a minor plagal cadence. I often use it as a substitution through modal interchange. Is tasty.
It IS a minor plagal cadence. Bm7b5 is just a Dm/B by another name. Coincidentally, this is also has the same notes as a C#7alt, which makes sense because that comes from A Major's relative minor F# and it also resolves directly there.
going to come back to this to let it sink in, thanks
Hopefully there’s something useful in there somewhere!
Cheers for your comment!
It's hard to express how wonderful this channel is. Aside from the content there is another musical element that goes noticed but not expressed. Michael's tone of voice is somthing like a colloquy with each of us separately on the other side. But more importantly, almost every spoken word on youtube and television is a sales pitch with a kind of (pardon me) sleazy timbre. Michael's voice is like a friend sharing his day with us. Not enough people like you around these days.
Oh Richard, your comment means so much! Thank you. I'm so pleased that you feel this way, it's very important to me that I come across as a friendly, fellow musician, sincerely talking about things that I find interesting and have helped me on my musical journey. I had been reluctant to start posting educational content out of fear that I might be perceived as someone who thinks they know everything (which I'm definitely not!) and have carefully tried to produce my content in a way that feels personal in a way that I'd communicate if you were in the room with me.
Thanks for watching and thank you for taking the time to comment too, it's much appreciated. Hopefully I can keep you enjoying the channel as it continues to grow.
“It resolves, because it wants to”. I don’t know why I found that so funny, it is though!
🤣 Ha! Yeah probably not the most technical analysis!
I think the reason it works is because the Bm7b5 is the ii chord in the key of A. Please try inserting the dominant V (E7#9) before resolution to the A. Another beautiful substitution for the Bm7b5 is Bm9(11).
Cheers John! 👍🏼
I am a sax player and I find these videos very helpful. You are very good at explaining the theory, and the pace is perfect for me. Sometimes when the topic goes into the weeds and my eyes cross, I stop the video and start again. Watching them over several times usually does the trick. Keep up the excellent content!
Thanks Peter, glad you're finding the videos useful. Appreciate you watching them several times too! 😂
All I can say is THANK YOU. I've watched quite a few videos on trying to understand Tritone Substitution, and you explained it so well that it finally "clicked"!
Thank you!
You are welcome Greyson! I’m really pleased that you found it useful! Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it!
@@michaelkeithson looking forward to more content and thoughts you have!
Love your videos. It always feels like going on an adventure to explore stuff together with someone who knows much much more than I, but somehow we still explore it together. Really really clever and naturally engaging format ❤
Love this comment! I’m so glad you feel this way, I hope others feel the same too. I definitely make an effort to avoid it feeling like a lecture/lesson/instructional video and that I’m an expert so it’s great to read your comment, thank you 🙏
So thankful for you! Your instruction is opening windows of understanding that have been hidden from me forever. I am 75 and basically only learned to read notes as a youth which I was excellent at but as an adult I knew there was so much more than just reading notes and I have tried to learn theory on my own for the last 35 years. I can now play very well from a lead sheet or chord sheet but now desire to play a little jazz and blues, at least understand it. Think with your help I will make good progress. I love understanding the theory, making the connections. Now if I can focus and put it into practice my playing will be amazing and so much more fun. Thank you!
Hi Gail! Thanks for your comment. Really pleased you enjoyed the video and found it useful. Happy practising!
Hello Michael. You fell into my RUclips stream and I’m so grateful for that. I attended Berklee College of Music back in 1987 and have always regretted not staying to finish my degree. I’ve never given up playing music, and have really committed myself to going deeper in my understanding of theory. There are many avenues available today, but none that provide such clear and practical instruction and explanation. Thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge. It made a difference in my life.
Hi Joe! I'm glad you stumbled over here too! I studied at music college here in the UK and really appreciate what I learned and the chance to spend my days focussed on music but I think I've probably learnt more since leaving through self discovery and studies than I learned in my 3 years there.
Really glad you're finding some value in my lessons. Thanks for watching and leaving a nice comment 🙏
Yay berklee!
Again a superb video. So extremely well explained. You are a natural. Thanks!
Thanks Frank! I appreciate your kind words. Thanks for watching! ❤️👍🏼🎹🎵
I just discovered this channel recently. I love your content, Michael, even when I know a lot of what your talking about you are able to fill in gaps in my knowledge and provide wonderful examples. Your delivery is just the right pace and just the right amount of humor.
Ah, thanks for the kind comment. I'm really glad you're here and enjoying the content!
I love your channel! I so enjoy watching you think and explore. Your thoughtfulness amplifies your teaching to an incredible level of communication. I am stealing all your voicings! I have learned so much from you in just a couple videos. Terms I have heard and struggled with are all becoming useful.
🙏 ☺️ Ah, thanks so much for the kind comment, it's great to hear. Really glad you're enjoying the videos and getting something out of them. Cheers
what a great approach -- it's beginning to make sense
Thanks Sean, glad it's helping! 👍
Kudos Michael!! Great stuff here. Those upper extensions (color) are so much about jazz theory and you do a masterful job of explaining.
🙏 Thanks David, I appreciate your kind words.
It's so nice to nerding out with you. You take us on a journey of testing and discovery. Thank you
Hey Ashley, I’m glad your along for the journey! Cheers for the comment 👍🏼
This is masterful teaching. The deeper you went, i started giggling like a school kid. Id never seen the interplay between tritone subs and resolving. This is nuts. I'll have to watch it a few times to really cement the whole concept.
And i guess this becomes a perfect modulation tool also!
And improvisational tool.
Really appreciating your comments, thanks for the support and encouragement. Glad you’re finding some value in the videos. 👍🏼
lord your good at explaining shit and your voice/delivery is buttery. Thanks for the content good sir.
🙏 Thanks! Appreciate the kind comment. Glad you enjoyed it.
The more I go on on my journey of music theory the deeper it gets. Thank you for the information very insightful.
Tell me about it! It never stops, but I'm ok with that! Thanks for watching 👍
Woooooowwww !!! So much insights, thank you so much for sharing openly. Can't wait to try all these different textures and pathways. Feels like freedom !
Awesome, really glad you found it useful! Thanks for the kind comment 🙏
As a guitarist, I've learned more from your channel about the way music works than anywhere else. Thankyou for your calm, thoughtful approach. No'sensationalism.'
Thanks Greg, that's great to hear. Really glad you're enjoying the videos. Thanks for the kind comment 🙏
Your demonstration, explanation and insight are so helpful and musical - thank you
Thanks Ruari! Glad you enjoyed the video 👍
Ok I knew that, but you explained magistrally 🤩 really top
I had to look up the word ‘magistrally’ but thank you! I’m pleased you enjoyed it!
Great thought provoking lesson , calm ego less presentation . Wonderful , Thank You Sir .
Thanks John, I appreciate the kind comment. Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks 🙏
Best explanation of a tritone I have seen on RUclips. Thanks, Michael!
Cheers John, I appreciate you're kind comment 🙏
So a diminished chord resolves to the four notes of the diminished chord one tone below! :O (e.g. C Eb Gb A resolves to Bb Db E and G, which make another diminished chord) - mindblown
How’s this channel not got more subs?! It’s like soothing therapy whilst learning music coz of how chill the vibe is. Love it deffo subbed
Ah, cheers! Really nice to hear you feel that way! Thanks for the encouragement 👍🏼
😮😮😮 Absolutely awesome!! Thanks you so much for sharing your comments
Thank you Corentin! I really appreciate your kind words.
3:15
Yes exactly, I've noticed that twenty five years ago when I played B7 chord on "where did you sleep last night" instead
of B sharp as the majority of guitarists did.. I didn't know it was called a dominant chord back then.. 👍
Near the ending, Bm ->Bm7b5 -> A, the Bm7b5 (iim7b5 ) can be thinking as Dm/B , it is iv minor on B(ii) back to tonic chord A , similar as Dm to A. Thanks for your free music lessons, they are excellent lessons ! I am a guitarist and teacher, I don’t play piano, but I enjoy to watch your videos. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing Peng Chen! I'm glad you're enjoying the videos. Cheers 👍
The answer to your question about the resolution of b5b7 to the chord 1 tone below is actually in your video: it is just not the same pattern as the resolution of the triton when it is in a dominant chord. Actually the triton can resolve in many ways and the way it resolves in a dominant chord to the tonic chord progression is just one of them. That's all. And in some cases, it can even not resolve at all, for instance when it is used in the tonic chord of a minor key. Let's consider the chord A C M F# in the context of A minor: it is very stable as the tonic chord. It gives a "cabaret" flavor to the 1 chord, without resolution, despite the C/F# triton.
Thank you. Great comment! 👍🏼
Every time I login to RUclips, I want one of your videos to pop up. I’m going to see if I can customize my page to do that. I love your teaching method.
Ha! If only RUclips would do that for everybody!
Thanks for the kind comment. Glad you're enjoying the videos. Thanks for the support 🙏
Great video! I always wondered why the m7b5 resolved to a whole tone below. I guess I should be happy I am not the only one wondering. 😂
One of the best articulators I’ve found 🙏🏼
🙏 Thank you Malina, I appreciate the kind comment. I hope the video was helpful.
Been hopping through your videos and you think through music in a similar way as I do, and it makes it really easy to understand
Thanks for watching, I'm glad you've enjoyed the videos. 👍
I see so many "cringe" at the sound of a tritone - I think it's a beautiful perfect sound.
I was just thinking about this recently while in my personal rehearsal with regards to Dom cords(except Maj7 of that key as you have stated) and now you have really widened that thought process. Thank you!!!!!!
Given that b dim7 resolves to F#,A,C and Eb I can see that those four keys stacked together also all have a diminished relationship 😂😂
Thanks for the comment, really glad you found the video interesting. Cheers!
Found your channel yesterday.
Love your approach.
As others have said it's so relaxing and informative, interesting and enjoyable, so that means you the creator of this content are giving that in full and generous measure. Many thanks.
Ah, thanks for the nice comment. Great to hear you feel this way about the videos, really appreciate you leaving a comment 🙏
You can even get away with the major 7th in there in the context of VIImaj/V7 (B/G7 in C). On the piano that would be G and F between pinky and thumb on the left hand in the bass register with (ideally) a root position B major chord voiced by the right hand, voiced a tritone above the left hand thumb. It sounds wild but resolves beautifully to any kind of C major chord with it's 5th on top, facilitating a half-step resolve. So, C, Csus2, Cadd9, C6, Cmaj7, Cmaj9, C69. It can also resolve to any kind of C dominant chord with G on top. That can set you up for fun motion like G7 B/G7 C7 E/C7 F7 A/F7 Bb7, etc. to move to any new key from any other. Like a less traditional version of G7 G7/B C7 C7/E F7 etc.
Awesome, thanks for sharing Geoff!
wow! Thank you for these videos. I've watched several videos on chords, but yours are so easily understood. Thank you! You're an excellent teacher
Thank you very much for the kind comment. Glad you're enjoying the content. 🙏
This is really great stuff and exactly what I need to learn right now, thanks!
Cheers Tom, really pleased it's found you at the right time! Thanks for watching and leaving the nice comment 🙏
very good info
Cheers man! I appreciate the comment. 👍🏼
I took a look at this and charted it out. Eventually, I found a simplification. It works like this, every diminished chord can resolve by playing a Major chord based on any note up a semitone from ANY of it's notes. In this example: B diminished = (B, D, F, Ab) has the possiblity of resolving to C maj Eb maj,F# maj or A major. An observation that simplifies this even further is the notes C Eb F# A are actually another diminished chord a semitone up from the orginal (don't play this chord just think it for mapping purposes) - ie. if B dim is the original think a major chord starting on any note of C dim, which are again C, Eb, F#, Ab. That's C major, Eb major, F#(Gb) major or Ab major.
Hey Steve, thanks for sharing your breakdown 👍🏼
@@michaelkeithson Wishing your site well Michael and keeping a close eye. Working on iib5, Valt, Im at teh moment. Really trying to nail down impro over them. For that you need to have at least one scale absolutely nailed in 12 keys for each chord. I have chosen a Locrian raised 2nd, followed by the altered scale, followed by Aeolian. Lots of wonderful ambiguities in the minor world. Loving it all, trying to keep it super simple. Thank you.
@@Notmehimorthem Thanks Steve! Nice choices. Happy exploring!
Another brilliant explainer. Thank you.
You are very welcome! I appreciate you working through my videos! Thank you 🙏
Seems like the possibilities are endless 🎵🎹🎵🎹🎵🎹🎵😀
From Kingsville, Ohio
Hey Cynthia! Thanks for your comment!
Yeah, that’s the best/worst thing about learning music, it’s never ending!! 😂
Great food for thought.. and practice....i am a guitar player and try to visualize these concepts on the fretboard.....thanks
Cheers Michael, glad you’ve found some useful bits in there! Thanks for the comment 🙏
Fellow pro here…Love your approach and teaching style man! Nice work. Subbed!
Cheers Chris! Just checked out your stuff, sounds great. You can PLAY man!! Good to have you here. Subbed to you too. 👍🎹
@@michaelkeithson thanks dude! All the best
Very interesting stuff, once again 😊
Thanks Dad! 😉
Major 7 as a "dominant chord" sounds great imo. For example in G7 - Gmaj7#5 - C(maj7) or as a kind of tritone sub in D7 - Dbmaj7 - C
The ii7b5 to I works because it has the same gravity to I as V7 (equal amount of semitones and tones resolving). Same for iv6
Great video!
D tô bm7flat 5 tô A …. The Bm7-5 is working as a D min 6 a pretty regular cadence .. liked the video 👍👍
Yeah, I think was getting hung up on trying to work out which notes/interval was pulling us to that resolution in the same way the 3rd and 7th of a dominant pull to the 3rd and root of a tonic chord. Cheers for the comment, glad you liked the video. 👍
Just dis you, what a super approach.
you can add a maj7 to a dominant chord if youre careful. I quite like B7 over G7 shell (G, F, B, Eb, Gb, A) which resolves nice to C maj 9
Love the content… thanks as always 😊
🙏 Thanks for comment, glad you enjoyed it! 👍
It's because the Bm7b5 is an extension of G9,(still containing it's tri tone) and as such, the third, and weakest resolution of a Dominant chord is up a whole step(deceptive, but pivoting to relative major). Up a fourth (Down a Fifth), Down a Half Step, and finally borrowed from modal tonality up a whole step. Also I wish you had explained that if you take a G7, that the addition of the Db and the Ab from its Tri tone sub become the b9 and b13, thus its kind of the "Big" version of both of those chords together.
fascinating stuff, great video
Cheers!
Thank you! You’re an amazing teacher
And thank you for the kind comment, much appreciated! Glad you enjoyed the video 👍🏼
The Bm7b5 resolves to A - probably because you’re borrowing the Bm7b5 ii chord from the parallel key of Am
Plus the F note is going to an E - and the D note is going to C# - the A note stays the same
Another incredible video, Michael; thank you. I'm learning so much from your lessons - please keep it up!
Maybe you already knew this, but does it feel so good to resolve it to A because the Bm7b5 contains the iv minor triad?
Cheers Andre, I appreciate your comment.
Yeah, I think I was getting too hung up on the lack of leading note to the A and trying to identify which notes were creating the pull to the A, it didn’t seem to match up with the other examples and fit into that reasoning. The iim7b5 definitely contains those IVm tones but also the iim7b5 is an example of modal interchange too. It’s fun pondering this stuff! Cheers!
I think last thing works one afew levels. A B7 wants the E maj which A is the 5 of. So the half Bm7b5 has the f you technically resolving from the F# next to just doing the chromatic step down then doing the 37 resolution to the relative minor.
17:33 … as for why Bm7b5 to A ‘works’, if you put Bm7b5 in its third inversion, isn’t it effectively an A(‘double-Sus’)#5 … so, the Sus4 resolves down a semitone to C#, the #5 resolves down a semitone to E, and the ‘Sus2’ kind of just melts away … ❄️😊
For that end example that you can’t quite figure out at the end, I was thinking it has something to do with a IV iv I resolution. In A major it would be D major to D minor to A major. It might serve as a sort of replacement to the IV-iv movement where it is just one chord instead of two that wants to resolve to A. Just my thought. Great video though!
Hey Evan, yeah it does contain those qualities of the iv minor but also is a simple modal interchange borrowed from the natural minor. I think I was getting hung up on trying to work out which notes of the iim7b5 were pulling us to resolve to the I chord.
Thanks for the comment 👍🏼
brilliant videos! I love the approach of understanding by hearing, feeling and just doing with the theoretical part being more of a side note. Someone called it "experimental" which is unfortunately true, many more people would play an instrument nowadays if this is was the standard way to teach it. ❤
Thanks for the great comment 🙏 really appreciate it and glad you’ve found some value in my videos. 👍🏼
great video!
Thank you!
Hey! Absolutely love your work and have been binging your channel for the past week or so. A thought on why the 2min7flat5 resolves well to the 1 chord - it sounds to me like a substitution for a minor 4 - 1 cadence - which is very common, and one of the most common extensions added to a minor 4 chord is the 2 from the key (or the 6th of the chord) which is essentially the same sound as a 2min7flat5.
Hi Bhavishya, thanks for the comment, I'm really pleased you've been enjoying the content.
Yeah, it's an example of modal interchange from the natural minor but I think I was getting hung up on which notes were pulling us to the resolution in the same way the tritone of the dominant 7 chord do. Thanks for the watching 🙏
Mind blowingly great channel.
Cheers man, really good to hear you're finding some value in the videos. Appreciate you leaving a comment 🙏
I have yet to come across anyone reflecting on the cultural base of the notion of tension and release as the foundation of western music culture. It seems to me that we tend to treat this as a godgiven, or a truth that is self-reinforcing through math and sound frequency explanations. I think we are piss poor at examine ourselves from a distance. Given that many other music cultures don`t steer by these rules, we must assume that western cultural expressions like any other, are part of a taught language. A language that we are immersed in from birth, enculturated into as we grow up within our cultural borders. Don`t get me wrong, I love this video, I love this kind of intellectual opproach to harmonies. We grow up in a very rich musical culture, and jazz is definitely my favorite genre. But I always have this nagging feeling that we regard our approach as some kind of eternal truth, not something thought up and taught on. Anyone seeing what I grasp at here? :)
Barry Harris talks about these relationships extensively. Thanks for your info..
Thanks for the comment. I’ve heard lots of people talk about Barry Harris and watched the odd clip but never really jumped in to his stuff. Could you recommend a starting point for studying his work?
Cheers. MK
@@michaelkeithson ruclips.net/video/59iooHhigmQ/видео.htmlsi=G92nYXlp9dcliH9a
ruclips.net/video/zDBOs-HGj6U/видео.htmlsi=O2EmPUR9uCrdXTdP
Also George Shearing block chords
@@michaelkeithson ruclips.net/video/KQgBnh9vUgI/видео.htmlsi=9aN6jBXM-AIL86xZ
Great stuff. When you pointed out that anything but a major 7th goes nice with a dominant 7 chord, I was thinking of tritone substitutions and expecting that a 4th might also conflict. But then 7sus4 chords are possibly the best thing ever. It does conflict a bit if you play the major 3rd too, so e.g. G F B C sounds weird... but revoicing it as G F C B sounds nice in its own way.
Oh yeah, I love a good sus chord!
Concerning your question why the last chord progression works: to me it sounds like a plagal cadence in contrast to all the authentic cadences before.
I think the half diminished 2 chord works because if you add a major third below, it would act as a back door dominant to the tonic. 😊
Yeah, I think you're right. I was getting stumped as to which notes we dropping/raising a semi-tone to resolve to Amajor but I think its the D and F of the Bø that both fall a semitone to the 3rd and 5th of A. Just like in a backdoor dominant it would be the 7th and 5th (D and F) of a G7 that leads the resolution to the A. Thanks for the comment and the other comments too 👍
Hi Michael Kiethson ☺️ I am digging the fluff out of this vid son your coming hard in the paint.
Ha! Cheers Joe! 👍
Good morning big Maestro.
Ciao dall'Italia.
Morning! Thanks for making your way through my videos, I'm glad you're here. Hopefully you're finding them useful!
Turning the ii chord in m7b5 feels like borrowing from harmonic minor. Resolving back to the key of A makes the parallel minor interchange works. While the harmonic minor interchange creates good tension.
Great stuff❤
Thanks David 🙏
..very good explanations..
Cheers for the comment, really pleased it came across clearly. Thanks for watching! 👍🏼
such a great video dude, thx alot
No worries Dexter, glad you enjoyed it 👍
Interesting / intriguing !!!
Really great instruction, I will watch all these videos.
Thanks Tim! Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and leaving a comment 🙏
If you apply negative harmony to a V7 you get a iim7b5 which can explain why it works
Amazing!
🙏
Great job 🎉❤
Thank you! 🙏
Another great vid. Thanks!
That last min7b5 works because its an inversion of min6 on the iv chord.
Bmin = substitute for IV maj6
Bm7b5 = sub for iv min6
If musings like this fill your days I wonder how you sleep at night!
😂 Ha! Tell me about it!
Mind blown.
Fireeeee do more advanced theory in every key
Some additional thoughts. The Bm7b5 is also the diatonic chord of C major. Also, i heard somewhere that these diminished 7th chors actually resolve to any major or minor chord because of their highly unstable nature. And i think they really do. Not as nice as the natural resolution, but they still do kind of.
Thanks for sharing!
Fun fact: @4:30, it's called a tritone because it is 3 whole tones (up or down) from the root.
It makes sense the a full diminished B would resolve to A. Is it just close enough to work?
My thoughts for your bit at the end, in the key of A major a B diminished chord resolves to A major, and substituting it for a Bm7b5 (half-diminished) just raises the Ab a semi-tone to A which is why it still works very well leading into A.
It's also a borrowed ii chord from the parallel minor, which you already know since you have a whole video on it lol.
Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I think I was getting too bogged down in trying to work out which specific tones of the chord were pulling it in that direction and couldn't work it out. Cheers!
@@michaelkeithson Of course, I know that you understood it, was moreso curious on if my analysis was in the right direction.
Btw I love your videos, I watched your vid on modal interchange yesterday and have been working my way through all of your chord theory vids. I especially like the videos on dominant, diminished, altered, secondary dominants, tritone subs, and modal interchange.
If I may make a suggestion, maybe a video on augmented chords in the future?
@@TheEpochCompanion Yeah, you're right, it has all but one note of a Bdim or E7susb9 which both resolve/pull to the A major.
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll add it to my list! Nice to hear you're enjoying the content, I appreciate the support 🙏
Very expository, thank you.
You’re welcome! I hope you found it interesting. 🎹
Hello Michael. I landed on one of your videos about modes by accident and have subscribed to your channel since then. I'm a total novice to the piano/keyboard and have just learnt the C major scale and the chords related to C major all by myself. I'm absolutely terrified to incorporate the black keys. Could you please make a video series for people like me so we could quickly build up from this basic starting point and slowly help overcome the fear of the sharps and flats? I don't quite understand how it sounds so nice when you play the C major or F major and it doesn't when I play the exact same chord. Haha.
Hey Jezreel! Thanks for your comment and thanks for watching my videos! I hope you’ve been finding them helpful.
Did you see my video about learning to improvise on the piano? It will be similar to some of the stuff you may have already learned but I think there could be some extra bits that you find useful.
I’ll have a think about what I could offer to help.
My first suggestion would be to do the same as before, working out the major scales and chords for the keys of G major and F major as you’ll only be adding one new black note in each key and you’ll learn three new chords in each key that will incorporate the black note. There’s also a lot of crossover of notes and chords between those keys and C major. Then practice playing some songs that are in those keys.
It’s really just familiarisation with the chords and scales that incorporate the black notes. If you became really familiar with a Db major scale and the chords related to that key, you wouldn’t be afraid of playing black notes anymore! Hope that helps a bit!
@@michaelkeithson thank you for your tips. I will definitely try to explore the G major and F major scales.
Great Stuff !!!!! PS Does anyone think Paul Mcartney was getting as deep as this in his latter years ,,,?
In the key of A major the bm7(b5) resolves to A major because its a rootless V7(b9) .
Hey Don, thanks for watching til the end! 😉
Thanks for your comment. I guess it’s more like a sus b9 as there’s no third and a 4th instead. So could be described as E7susb9/B.
My confusion is in what elements of the chord want to make it fall to the A, we don’t have the tritone of G# and D that want to resolve to the root and third of A. Is the D alone strong enough to pull the ear to A or is there another combination that’s pulling us to A?
@@michaelkeithsonMinor fourths keep popping out to me when I'm thinking about this stuff. I think a less complicated way to think of it is the Bm7b5 contains a Dm (it's a Dm/B basically), so then the question of why might be the same as asking, why does the iv like to resolve almost as strongly as the V? I'm becoming more convinced that negative harmony is a great explanation for it: the minor third of the iv chord is a flatted sixth degree in the key, which in negative harmony terms is a "leading tone" down to the fifth.
Actually, on top of that, in A major the negative of Bm7b5 (scale degrees 2, 4, b6, 1) should be scale degrees 4, 2, M7, 5... oh hey it's E7. So I guess we figured out that iiø is V7's negative harmony equivalent. (Also interesting that it's a borrowed chord from minor.) I guess we'd call your mystery chord a "negative dominant seventh" then? Like stacking another "downward third" on a minor fourth.
Anyway, I think this video connected some dots for me. It makes sense to me that Bm7b5 resolves to C since it's the diatonic viiø. I've heard it described as dominant in function but I hadn't noticed til now that it shares the same tritone as the V7 so that's easy to explain I guess. And the "substitution" resolution Bm7b5 to F#, well there's another iv-I situation, cool.
To anyone trying to understand this the cheatsheat is take the chromatic intervals from b7, 7, 1, b2, 2, b3, draw a line, then continue 3, 4, #4, 5, b6, 6. They're reflected across the line, so 1 changes places with 5, major thirds with minor thirds, b7 with natural 6, etc.
Or take a circle of fifths, slice it in half between the root and fifth of the key, and reflect across the line you drew. Or, take a note and instead of stacking thirds up, stack thirds down but invert major/minor and dim/aug. It's all the same.
@@silphv Dude! You're a fount of knowledge, please can I get you to respond to all my comments 😂, you seem to be more versed in weeds of this stuff than me. Yeah, I hadn't connected the dots to negative harmony. I need to spend some more time on Negative Harmony, I understand it in theory but yet to really get to grips with its practical applications. Thanks so much for your contributions to the comments, I really appreciate it and it certainly has made me think harder on these points. Cheers! MK
I was under the impression, perhaps mistakenly, that the tritone got its name from the three note equal tempered scale. A three tone interval makes more sense and seems more descriptive.
now i see why some musicians drop that Db chord at the end of the 2 5 1 progression on c major
😂 I'm glad you found it illuminating! Thanks for watching
A lady recently said she wanted to be my dominant. Well i said “aw that’s lovely. I feel like a tonic!” She looked a bit disappointed but then she brought me a refreshing drink, so I suppose she must have been happy.
😔 Oh dear 😂
G7#9 sounds great with the 13 to the C6. Why dont cats resolve the tritone?
D E A D B A. E (B-7b5 (5 7 b9 11)) Hip hip hooray! Thank You