CRAZY Dominant Chords A La Jacob Collier [Music Theory]
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- Опубликовано: 15 дек 2019
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The lesson of today has been inspired by the music of Jacob Collier.
Whether you like Jacob's music or not (or maybe you don't even know his music, in which case I warmly recommend you check him out), we can all agree that he has interesting harmonic ideas.
Again, maybe not for everybody - but the sheer harmonic competence and inventiveness displayed in his music is staggering.
(Yes, I am fanboying a little on Jacob. Deal with it.)
Today I want to focus on one of Jacob's most used tricks: how to create crazy dominant chords. This is one of the things that I found most attractive in his music at first: how he can write chords that by themselves sound ... horrible ... and yet in context sound smooth.
At the beginning, I thought that to understand this would have required a super-high level of music theory, extreme competence in voice leading, absolute familiarity with chord substitutions...
... but it turns out that it's much, much simpler than that! In fact, as long as you know a few basic chords on the guitar, you can do it too!
In the video, you find the 'general guideline' to create new crazy dominant chords, and several examples played for you.
This lesson is guaranteed not to sound 'conventional'. Have fun!
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Hi, there! Nice video. I'm a pianist as well as a huge Jacob fan and i just wanted to add something that could be confusing to people who aren't used to the thesis about crazy harmonic choices. There's a part on this video where you mention that, basically, you can add any note to a dominant chord because it will ultimately be resolved down to your home key, but I must mention that, as Jacob said, the more notes you add to a chord, the more responsibilities you have; the more voices you have to guide in a certain direction to have them make sense in the context of a harmonic motion. I think this is important: you can add as many notes as you want as long as you can guide them properly. Otherwise you just have bad narrative in terms of voice leading. The reason why Jacob's music is so magnificent and mind- boggling, is because every note is like a character on a tale (or a Bach's composition), every voice has a journey and a development that creates a reason why to have that note there in the first place. Also, there has to be a reason why to choose that sonority in the first place: it's not adding notes just for the sake of it. The emotional background for choosing a certain dissonance or interval is the key for crazy harmonic development. In other words, more notes won't make the chord better, but instead, an idea that supports and gives meaning to many voices at the same time, will make everything come alive. Anyway, I really, really liked the video. I just thought it'd be important to point out that complexity can be dangerously mistaken for randomness, and surely Jacob's shouldn't be that case. Cheers!
PD: The examples are great and they all make sense when analyzed functionally. Would've love to hear your more-in-depth take on them .
Good point, and agreed. Being FREE to choose any note does not mean that the choice is RANDOM.
I've heard him on quite a few occasions say simply "I wanted to add as many notes as possible to that chord because I thought it was cool" Yeah, he's good at creating specific moods and colors when he wants to, and having that aid the arc of his songs, but there's definitely times "I thought it sounded cool" was his justification, and let's be real, that's more than enough. We like stuff that sounds cool.
His music sounds "mind-boggling" though not because every note is a character, but because of his extensive use of chromaticism and not sticking to common diatonic conventions. I do agree with your sentiment that voice leading can make pretty much any chord change "work" but I really don't think it's much deeper than that. Voice lead well and you're good!
While all of that stuff can be cool, in any realistic scenario, most people won't have any practical reason to go that deep into harmony. Tuning even one of his chord stacks on instruments with average musicians would be a nightmare, much less even a single regular bar where he changes chords 4-5 times. Let's not even get into stuff like "Modulating to C half sharp." He's absolutely brilliant, but it'd be pretty hard to meaningfully implement his ideas with anyone who's... not him lol.
@@ARZiehm What a wonderful reply. I think you and I are talking about the same thing. My take on the video is: yes, go ahead and explore. Try all of those sonorities, and craft and expand your vocabulary merely for the sake of expression (as J.C said on a recent comment: "...most of music theory is nonsense..."), but what I think could be mistaken is the idea that if you just play a random cluster thump when a dominant-resolution is around (maybe your narrative needed that), chances are you could've picked at least the idea for the motion and develop it. Obviously we could theorize all day long about Jacob's music without ever getting to the real point of his expression, but the important part is the overall idea that supports and gives meaning to all of the madness that goes along with every song, and the fact that he can tell you precisely the emotion that drove him to the idea, as well as the theory and craftmanship he put into it. "I wanted to add as many notes as possible to that chord because I thought it was cool" does not deny the fact that with every note he adds (or someone adds), you're creating a responsibility (not that you should see it that seriously). I guess conclusions on this field are a very pretentious concept (by the exact same point you made: we're not him), but I'd say, based on how I take my journey onto music, there are two main stages: exploration and synthesis. You first explore freely, you add as many notes to a chord, and you sing the intervals, and you try inversions, and all of that crafting part. Then you carve little by little until you find maybe something as little as a new voicing for a II-V, or as big as a new perspective on harmony. Then, the cycle restarts. At least that's how my musical experience works. Cheers!
I agree with both of you, and I'm loving this conversation.
A comment better than the video
Here’s an old maxim from a theory teacher I think still applies: “BASS IS BOSS”.
Bass? You mean the Guitar with 4 strings which is less cool and hearable than the one with 6?
@@christianlozanoski3035 people like u definitely play generic pop and dun play jazz ahahaha (not to mention has 0 knowledge about chord harmonics)
@@mrdominic7597 hey he was just telling a joke, u don't need to be offensive bro
@@christianlozanoski3035 No, he meant where the bass is, or bottom of da Chord..e/c# ..
I'm just being a Brad..Alohaa
@mark heyne With earplugs in my ear canals, and full drums (me) I can hear and hum the bass in my voice and my Soul
Don't underestimate da Bass.. Alohaa
This is one of the best jazz lessons I've ever seen. Easily top 3 of all time for me. It's fucking shocking to me how easy some things are that cause everyone to loose their mind in confusion when they hear it. It honestly makes me think that all of music is this easy and we just don't have the the correct information laid out to us efficiently enough
..is all ideas...nothing is as concrete as we are taught believe..is a static, non fixed reality we living in..
I agree. I've seen a lot of comments stating that an F# makes the G a major 7th, therefore it's not a dominant 7th, and that means there's no resolution. But I clearly hear that it resolves, and sounds nice. Sometimes technicalities can take away good progress. If it sounds good, it is.
I think we as musicians have to move back towards using our ears to decide what we compose instead of having a rigorous focus on theory
@@matthewhennessey5967 the B/G chord is coming from e harmonic minor Which make the C major like a flat 6 but the resolution is the 2 hs notes while keepin 2 common tones hence the positive effect of resolution...?
Wow exactly man!!!! It’s like secret knowledge in a sense.
"I will take over the entire triad state area with my dominant-inator"
HAHAHA... I think with his chords Jacob destroyed the triad state area though... :-)
😂
@@asapvarg i see what you just did there Dr. Dominantshimirtz :D
"this is a rare cmaj7 voicing"
yeah because no one is willing to extend their fingers farther than the golden gate bridge
JJ Verona Many Metal-core & Djent/Progressive metal bands use this shape because it is so tense. It works well in that style of guitar playing.
Not that far of a stretch at all and I have average sized hands.
Yeah this is no stretch at all and I play this on a classical guitar with tiny hands for a guy. And really, that dissonance played in Maj7 chords is not rare at all. One of the most commonly played drop 2 voicings has that dissonant interval:
3
1
4
2
x
x
*Alan Holdsworth joined the conversation*
It’s literally one finger per fret mr baby hands
In the days of “learn this one cool trick to be good at guitar and impress your friends,” it’s refreshing to have a channel where something like “I want to know the IDEA behind the chord” can be said.
I love how you say hello internes.
I'm a bassist (upright and bass guitar) that has long been confused on what to play over super spicy altered dominant chords especially when the root and third seemed to be the most vital notes to the resolution even if I did a Tritone sub in the bass. My professors and experienced friend who is a jazz guitar teacher basically said if you can justify it in context you can play just about anything over a dominant chord as long the bass voice leading is good which is why I can never find passing tones that I like in my walking lines over altered dominant chords. Your lesson very concisely teaches what they all said quite vaguely really, very well done. Glad I wondered on to a guitar lesson on accident!
This just opened up a lot of new possibilities for me. I didn't quite understand what voice leading was but now I see and explained and practical application a voice leading in a more uncommon scenario and, for some reason, that made the other stuff in voice leading click for me.
Well, that and now I can be incredibly reckless
One big thing I'd noticed this video is that the G7 actually is becoming GMa7 sort of because of the F#, which adds a brighter sound to the chord progression and resolution, which is precisely what Jacob talks about (in regards to brightness and darkness of chords.) Essentially, as he always says, do what sounds and feels right. It may not be a proper iimi7 V7 !Ma7 but if it sounds good, go for it!
Edit: Voice leading is, in my opinion, the most important part of music! Everyone all the way back to baroque music used this.
In truth it is major7 chord because the interval is 11 hs from g to F#. A dominant 7 has a minor 7thinterval of 10 hs. A dominant function in a true historical theoretical context has to have the minor 7 interval but sound and feel or vibe in something today is much freer in cross pollinating musical ideas.
This really expanded my understanding and I feel much freer in composition now.
I've been playing bass since 1973 and I learn a lot of music theory from your lessons. Keep up the good work.
Found out about Jacob Collier through this video, 4 years later now I am so hyped up by Djesse volume 4. Thanks Tommaso :)
That F#maddb9 #IV chord 6:17 is bomb. I like the barrowing of the iii chord from D major like a phrygian pivot to dorian Em iii to Em ii . This is kind of like some of the things that Chopin would do. It implies a sort of parallel bimodality and utilizes a double relation between the ii chord and the phrygian harmony. Putting the b9 in the bass also accenuates this. Since the Dm in the progression is the ii and the Em is then the iii and therefore phrygian, pivoting it then to the ii into the key of D major and taking the iii chord from that as a dominant substitution. The dual angle relation of the ii and iii make it nice and smooth. The one at 10:45 is the same principle in parallel. Using the E Dorian #7 treating the E as the ii and using the IV Lydian #5 harmony Gaug#11.
Yes I agree
Me, a pianist: "why does the staff has 6 lines in it"
:)
it's a strum staff?
Same lmaooo I got so confused (I even play guitar, idk what's wrong with me).
Guys, it's guitar tablature :) But either way, I write the notes close by so you can reproduce it with any instrument.
LOL
This allows ones ears to take the lead more when composing. Always a good thing because it promotes creativity. ^-^
Great lesson as always.
this is one of my favorite music channels. Thanks to you i have a better understanding of voice leading and it's exactly what I needed to know so I can exploit all the weird modal sounds that I like so much but (up until now) didn't know how to implement into a progression that makes sense
Somehow I had to think about about a comment the guitar player of subway to sally, a german medieval/folk metal band said. He also studied lute. Asked about some fancy chord progression he often played, he answer that the analysing the chord with functional harmony gives extremely difficult progressions, but thinking about them in renaissance voice leading cadences just makes total sense and is quite easy. But as he played them on distorted electric guitar, these voice leadings seem so strange and complex.
For me these voice leadings ideas seem so connected to the more complex voiceleading of in the renaissance, where people didn't think about chords but the resolving of voices combined with a more modern concept of acceptability of dissonance and jazz inspired basslines.
So choosing the appropriate music theory can make the understanding and recreation of Ideas much much easier and lets you discover new sounds for your own music. Great Video!
Ironically, this is how Classical/Common Practice period theory should work too. The composers always thought in terms of voice leading more than 'chord sequence'.
There's so much in here for me to learn. Thanks a lot. And btw: Even my kids already know the intro "Hello internets, nice to see you" ;-)
what you said about learning the IDEA of the chord is so true man. love it
Why G7 wants to move to C? Notes want to move by 1/2 step, which is the easiest, shortest jump. They also like to move by 4ths and 5ths, which provides for strong baselines. In the Dom7 chord, there is an interval called a tritone between the 3rd and the b7.
Very unstable! When moving to the I chord, the 3rd moves up a 1/2-step (to the root) and the b7 moves down a 1/2-step (to the 3rd). And at the same time the root of the Dom7 moves either a 5th down or a 4th up to the root of the I chord. So it's 1/2-step tendacies, contrary motion and bass notes moving in 4ths or 5ths that make any Dom7 chord want to resolve to the tonic.
It's also just C's secondary dominant and will always pull for a catharsis towards C, but you explained it well.
indeed
Thanks! And in the key of c secondary doms will always be the V7 of any available diatonic chord. Anything that interrupts a cadence and increases listener interest is good idea. So instead of C to D-, go C to A7 to D-. Use 1/2's in the bass line: C/C to G7/B to A7/A to D- to G7 to C, etc.
I'm not a guitar player but I love your videos. You explain easily hard theory that others explain in complicate way .
This is a wonderful video, and has expanded my understanding of what a V chord is, does and can be. Thank you so much!
You explain very easy understanding!!! 🙌✨
This stuff is amazing. Keep em coming. Thanks!!
awesome lesson Tommaso!!!!!!! you are sooooo the man.....I just went back and starting ripping into the II, V, I,s.... really changing them so they sound interesting... punchy.... different... while keeping their function.... so glad you're on the planet!!!!!! I love your approach and thoroughness on every subject.... you only ever push hard enough to teach.... Thank you!!!!!!!!
I love the fact that you also write the chords in tab. Makes everything easier for newbies like me :^)
Fascinating video with beautiful presentation. Thank you.
Thank you a lot! Very helpful as always
i always open my daw after watching your vids because theres like another ideas coming as a new technique is learn , as always!
Thank you so much! This is exactly the knowledge I was looking for
You're such a hero. Thank you so much for this! 👌🙏🏼
A great lesson! Ty!
Oh, forgot to mention that I absolutely dig the video. Great help to me in a clear fun way. No pretense. I didn't expect the weather to be cloudy with a chance of meatballs. Loved that touch. Looking forward to checking out that "non-book"!
You just blew my mind. Ty
That was mindblowingly good, thank you.
Amazing sounds and a great explanation of voice leading.
I smashed on the like button. I subscribe. Mind Blown. Thank you for this vid. I wish I could like it a few more times!
Thank you very Much for this brilliant lesson
But it's important to note here, that the voicing of the chord matters hugely. If you play these chords in closed position on a piano with no inversions, they sound really really dissonant and don't work so well...
On a guitar they're much more open by default and thus you can get away with much more tension.
Thank you for that little harmony-adventure !!!
So clear, so simply put. I am a pianist I love this guy
Brilliant. Thank you.
Thanks a lot, man! You just made my day!
Thank you very much for this great info and video 👍👍👍
Incredibly well done, Sir.
Thank you!
This lesson is kind of mind-blowing! TY 🙏🏼
Very interesting and you can explain things very good ! 👍
This was great.
Thank you!
I don't know how I stumbled upon your channel but this was an incredibly helpful video.
Loved your videos recently even as a piano player, keep it up:)
Grazie per aver condiviso il risultato dei tuoi studi
Thank you!
Great information along with aural demonstrations.
What I found interesting is that with the Major 2 5 1 examples there was much more of the tension / resolution change from one example to the next.
The Minor 2 5 1 not as strong a tension / resolution change. Noticeable but not nearly as strong.
Great mindset!
Excellent! Thank you 🙏🏾
That's super interesting ! Grazie mille
Really great video! Thanks Tommaso! I believe a good clue to understand voice leading is that in this context, CLOSE ENOUGH could mean a half step or a whole step away from the target note, but no more than that as in classical harmony rules. I hope this comment helps someone, greetings from Bolivia!
What a great video! You are an excellent teacher - clear, concise, friendly, not too fast or slow, bringing more attention to important concepts, and showing examples. My only suggestion would be that if you had music notation illustration in addition to tablature, then any musician could benefit from this video. I am a pianist and couldn’t understand the tablature, but I have a decent ear and could hear what you were doing. But beginner non guitarists without well trained ears just yet would appreciate the sheet music. Thank you so much for giving this great content away for free!
Dude! You commenting here is an absolute honor. I learned so much from your videos - especially about orchestration. That "How to write like John Williams" series you did a couple of years ago was GREAT (the first video convinced me to buy and study the score for Harry Potter).
I'm still debating pros and cons of sheet music - most of my audience can't read and/or are scared by it - but I will definitely take your comment into account.Thanks!
MusicTheoryForGuitar I’m so gratified and happy you’ve enjoyed my content! I would say have the score illustration just in the corner of the video - that way it wouldn’t scare away your primary audience of guitar players who would look at the tablature in the middle of the video, but it would be there for non-guitarists like me who can’t read tablature. Although your channel is called music theory for guitar, videos like these are applicable to composers, arrangers, and improvisers, so it might help some of your non-guitar-specific videos like this one become more accessible for the entirety of the demographic who would be interested in its material. Just my two cents worth. Keep up the great work!
That's a good idea, thanks. And you keep up the great work too! I'd love to see more orchestration videos from you - whether you analyze an existing score, or you orchestrate it and explain the process.
Great video. I remember way back when I came across the Dflat7 substituation for the G7... and it's all about voice leading and resolution. And at the end of the day, if it sounds good to your ears, then that's a rap!
Very nice job! 👍
Thanks, very interesting concept, I really like some of these sounds
came back to say, they sound incredible on keyboard, with a rhodes sound, I like them even better that way than on guitar
Nice explanation. Thanks.
Amazing! A i minor chord is actually a Cm6, as Cm7 or Cm9 is generally considered too unresolved to function as a i chord because of the 7th. Thanks for this video!
Excellent examples Tommaso!
Great stuff!
Actually crazy playing. Good job!!
Very refreshing and new concept for me. I never study proper music education. Your videos helps alot. Next topic i’d love to know is chord substitution 🙏🏻
Awesome stuff man, super interesting
This is changing my whole world
I would also include that you can superimpose basically anything on the bass note a half step above the chord you want to resolve to as well. Half step voice leading in the bass line has such a strong sense of gravity that it can smooth out damn near anything.
Crazy stuff, love it!
Awesome video! Thanks so much :)
excellent, thank you.
Great vieuw on the dominant chord possibilities to use.
Thank you, very useful.
I learned something new once again!
First time I have seen that voicing of C maj 7. Thanks.
Really great video thx a lot
"Mama Mia! That's a spicy meatball!" Oh man, you really made me guffaw with that one. What a blast from the past. I needed that laugh.
Love the content
This is fab! Thanks :))
A+ video!
Going to bed now, but gonna have to see if we can do a similar trick with the tri-tone substitution.
good job!
Gracias por compartir, esta tan bien explicado que hasta un argentino que habla castellano lo entiende . Suscribo.
明快，有趣，清楚，謝謝！
I think the guitar is a more revealing (ie harsh) way to reveal the harmonic content than the layered vocal recordings, which makes everything sound awesome, as long as they are singing In tune. Quincy Jones did a LOT of this.
Mind blowing
Thank you for this video. May you do a video on how to make rhytmically interesting music next please?
THANKS!
Love it!
very helpful
Spicy theory - chordal puttanesca? ;) Love your videos, and this time it was helpful NOT to go into analyzing the chords, instead just focusing on why they work. Thank you!
Using Db in the bass (tritone substitution) also works well for the same reason. You have voice leading with the chromatic descending bass. Often Db9 is used but loads of other note combinations work equally well. Try it kids!
AWESOME
Great video thanks...
The principle you disclose again shows that more variations provide more choices and creative space.
Interesting that you chalked up just 19 examples, without resolving to 20! 🙂
This is the most helpful RUclips video I’ve watched in a long time. Just my speed too. Would you say your other courses are about at this level? Thanks!
Yes. The courses have way more examples and exercises too.
MusicTheoryForGuitar much thanks 🙏🏻 often very hesitant around those because of fear they’ll been too basic or advanced but this feels GOOD hahah
Jesse, write me at www.musictheoryforguitar.com/contacttheauthor.html and tell me more about your level and what you want to learn, so we can see together if the course is right for you. If it's not, I can recommend other resources. I want my students to be happy when they take my courses.
the great thing is that Jacob can play them all with his voice.
Actually tensions usually sound better with the voice. An instrument like the piano is not great for tensions unfortunately.
He has music theory and perfect pitch. Easy for him to sound chords. Hard part is writing those progressions.
@@keremayan452 having perfect pitch per se is not something that helps you more in that kind of situations, afaik