[Chon et. al] - Common Japanese Chord Progressions Part 2

[@Sheol_Society]

You are seriously covering theory that no one on KZbin is. Thank you so much.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Ryj N Glad you find it useful! Lmk what you'd like to learn next.

[@Liipemusic]

please keep doing this kind of content!!!!

[@thenico92]

He's a Rick Beato j-pop version still awesome anyway.

[@loganpaul8246]

Op0l

[@skatan4727]

The band Chon is pictured with at 0:22 is tricot.Great Japanese band I had the chance to watch their show when they toured with Chon!

[@polillarammstein353]

Chon is also on the pic

[@Bball2]

​@@polillarammstein353he didn't say they weren't on the photo

[@creativeevilgenius]

Thanks for doing these! I too grew up loving video game music and have since discovered the world of Japanese composers. I come from a rock/metal background musically and have recently been meaning to dissect and reverse engineer all of my favorite Japanese music to understand what’s going on but found your videos and you’ve done the work for me! Saved me a ton of time and I very much enjoy hearing your take on everything as well so, thanks again, good work, and I look forward to hearing more!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Goofy McFurgison Glad to hear these videos helped you! Consider joining our discord if you want to discuss more!

[@kmkreate2930]

Thanks dude. I love JRock and Anime Music. This helps a lot! Cheers.

[@karthiksathian2931]

Gavin, love your content. Please keep making similar videos!

[@aeralix9423]

Anytime I hear lydian I think of Zelda's lullaby

[@theChon100]

Ayy man, keep up the good work! I swear you're the only person who's covering this topic right now

[@xcbrr50]

this solved my questions for years ! . thankyou man

[@gavinleepermusic]

Justin Ochea Glad you found it useful :)

[@boomamasta276]

This video answered the few questions I had from your previous video, and it also helped me figure out why I couldn't quite crack what was going on in TSPO's "Suikinkutsu," which is probably my favorite song. You're sharing some great content, and I'm looking forward to seeing more!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Casey Chlapek It's a great song, right? Glad I could help you with it

[@MXUguitar]

your channel is AMAZING. I learned some of these chord progressions by playing japanese songs on the guitar over many years, but i learned a hell of a lot more from watching your videos. It looks I still have a lot more to learn too

[@claytongreenwell7850]

Got a treasure trove of new music theory to study and new music to listen to out of these 2 videos. Thank you for your dedication to the content, Gavin.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Clayton Greenwell Thanks for your interest! Happy to teach an eager student

[@ybuenoo]

Another amazing and full of knowledge video! thanks a lot for this Gavin, hope you keep on going with this kind of stuff...really helpfull!

[@Circanal]

I'm really glad you're making these videos. Anything new about the topic or about math rock would be really apreciated. Thank you!

[@gavinleepermusic]

User Glad you're liking the videos :)

[@34mArCoS43]

Gavin, I am following both of your videos with pen and paper. You literally are explaining me most of the music that I enjoy. Cant express how much I appreciate your videos

[@ruggzmusic7269]

Dude, super helpful video! I saw your reply to someone where you mentioned you might fully analyze a song for a video. Maybe you could do Hikaru Nara by Goose House (Your Lie in April opening). They got some cool harmonic stuff going on. Keep up the good work, you’re really helping tons of people!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Ruggz Music Thank you dude! I'll have a look :)

[@Croix1]

Thank you

[@TheMisterSaxy]

I like going 4 to 3 then tonic to flat 7 that way there’s kinda this key ambiguity where you can write in two keys simultaneously

[@leltraco1983]

Man, i wish more video like this in the future. Thank u very much!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Thanks for enjoying it! I'll keep working on more vids like this.

[@leltraco1983]

@@gavinleepermusic and i'll watching it all, also your music is insane

[@simmeonsradiorock]

Love the videos. It's awesome to see somebody cover this area of music from a theoretical perspective helping us expand our harmonic reservoir's. I know it's not rock but it'd be awesome to see a theory breakdown on some thundercat songs like 3AM or them changes.

[@gavinleepermusic]

simmeonbands Agreed! Thundercat is great!!!

[@nikitababurov3151]

Thank you for your content

[@shaerens]

This video unlocked me

[@zachhayes1662]

WELP here’s part 2! Haha awesome, READY FOR PART 3!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Hahaha guess what I'm about to upload?

[@zachhayes1662]

Gavin Leeper YESSSSS

[@skatan4727]

I would love if you could make a video on borrow chords/ modal interchange. Thanks for making these!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Check out my video about modal interchange in Zelda OOT!

[@alexandermastelyakcomposer]

Nice video, Thanks

[@rome8180]

I had written out a long screed about how we could tell it's IV-iii and not I-vii. But you addressed every one of my points. Also, for the ear quiz I'm pretty sure that's a F# minor maj 7. So it's still the vii chord, but with that color note of the major 7th added. The interesting thing is that while the chord is diatonic, the maj 7th is not. Anyway, love your channel. Just subscribed yesterday and have been bingeing your videos ever since.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Good job! Welcome to the channel. Consider joining our Discord :)

[@zoundbiestudio4021]

I think It´s a bII - i in a minor key. At least that´s how it is taught in composition uni, a Neapolitan II chord is a half step lowered II chord. Extensively used since even the barroque era.

[@skatan4727]

@@gavinleepermusic link to discord?

[@gavinleepermusic]

@@skatan4727 look in descriptions of more recent videos

[@zettai_ryouikee]

I don't think it's what you're really looking for, but some of Macross Frontier's songs have a peculiar progression to them that just amazes me. Great video.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Shibe Teal Thanks for the recommendation, and glad you like the video! Any particular Macross Frontier song that sounded interesting?

[@zettai_ryouikee]

@@gavinleepermusic songs like Kindan no Elixir, Welcome to my FanClub's Night, Universal Bunny, Iteza Gogo Kuji Don't Be Late; though they're supposedly "pop", it sounds too trippy/avant garde or something to be pop, but yeah, not really that sure.

[@ignaciovelosobahamondes2744]

Dude... I found a video without any dislikes... that's great

[@gavinleepermusic]

ignacio veloso bahamondes haha they'll come at some point I'm sure. My other videos all have some.

[@SuperheroToyShowdowns]

Awesome, could you break down some of Ichika's music? Great channel can't wait to see more

[@gavinleepermusic]

MrZombieCake I'll check it out :)

[@thetheoristtranscriptions]

Mainly major 7 chord voicings

[@huntermorgan6177]

6:15 While its true that the I chord in Lydian is a Maj9#11, most of the examples you've shown (I'm fairly sure though I'm half asleep typing this) sound more like a Phrygian progression: IImaj9#11 resolving down to a i chord. For example the Zelda song: Fmaj9#11 to Em7 Which, by the way! Interestingly: the Maj9#11 chord can also be thought of as stacking the i minor chord on top of a II major chord, which I guess is another element that makes resolving down that much smoother.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Hunter Morgan Phrygian is totally a valid way to hear it! For the Song of Healing, I think the following phrase is what makes me hear the first phrase as IV and iii, because it continues to ii and then I, I believe. Interesting thought about the IImaj9#11!

[@spirallove5946]

not sure if i am understanding you correctly but i see the VII/vi movement as more of a V/vi movement (or a "bIV" in the context of the overall key), since the 7 of vi is a diminished chord and is really just the upper section of the dominant chord built on the V/vi. for example in C major it'd be E (or E7) to Am rather than G#dim to Am

[@TheMisterSaxy]

The bonus question that was a 6 with a 13 extension

[@sharadaprasad9311]

You are pure genius

[@rudolphdandelion6840]

No thumbs down! Says a lot about this video!

[@toonyandfriends1915]

literally

[@iakanoe]

10:04 isn't that chord a Dmaj7? I would analyse that as walking down chromatically doing bVII-vi-{VII/vi}-IV or actually {bII/vi}-vi-{VII/vi}-IV. Even assuming the perspective from A major as a temporal key center (considering it is the destination of that descent) would make sense: IV-iii-bIII-I (bIII is just a passing chord for chromatism)

[@re_nforce]

Can you cover Yoasobi, Eve, or Psyqui? Some groups with super distinct sounds

[@_DeathDreams_]

Another one, nice!

[@starmechlx]

ゲット！

[@joaquinfreire4255]

This was up the day of my birthday! Whata gif!

[@JeiShian]

I found these chord progression videos to be very interesting and make me want to go try out these new ideas. Thank you! Regarding the topic of notating the chords as 4536 although the tonic isn't played, *what if the IV chord s the tonic* making the 4536 progression actually a 1274 progression in Lydian mode?

[@gavinleepermusic]

JeiShian Music This is also valid! Just like how I've said elsewhere that you can hear all of these progressions in the relative minor, you can really contextualize them in any mode. My sense though is that traditionally, theorists seem to tend to use the Ionian mode or Aeolian mode to make sense of songs.

[@JeiShian]

@@gavinleepermusic I see, I agree that there is a utility in analysing it in Ionian or Aeolian mode. A noob like me finds "4536 in Ionian" easier to follow and easier to remember than "1274 in Lydian". My personal belief however, based on the premise that the tonic should be at least *somewhere* in a chord progression, is that the progression was based on some Japanese scale that would not present us with this "missing tonic problem". I am curious to know if there are other examples of chord progressions that has a missing tonic. Do you know of any? Also, I am glad to have discovered so many bands I haven't heard of before that I really enjoy (eg Chon). Thanks!

[@gavinleepermusic]

JeiShian Music Yeah it's certainly the strongest evidence for a song being in a certain key if it goes to the tonic somewhere, but for me, it's not a hard requirement. I tend to choose whatever model is simplest and explains what's going on. Being in the Lydian mode is really a certain sound to me, and I'd generally reserve that for cases where it's super clear that that's what's going on, namely with the characteristic Lydian chord Imaj7#11. See Jacob Collier's material on Super Ultra Hyper Mega Lydian from his interview with June Lee for a much crazier explanation of such things.

[@JeiShian]

​@@gavinleepermusic I'm a fan of Jacob Collier too, and I've watched many videos of him emitting musical wizardry . I agree with the model you have chosen now after understanding things more. Thanks for the videos! I checked out your music too, good stuff :)

[@SenatorSpider]

I'm just here because your link referral is just a cool playlist

[@gavinleepermusic]

YungHii hahaha nice. Glad someone is using the links I put together

[@silverphase8489]

I know one progression I hear a lot of in j pop is 2-5-1s, never really looked into the exact context but songs like Kotomoi-c by Hyadain and Hare Hare Yukai use them fairly liberally. Figured I'd throw that out there since it wasn't covered at least directly in either of these videos. But otherwise some of the stuff like the bVII are things I know I've heard many times before but never really knew what it was but now it's so obvious lol.

[@silverphase8489]

Another one I just thought of is in Higher Climber by Howl be Quiet, the second half of the chorus has some 2-5-1s aswell

[@gavinleepermusic]

Hey thanks so much for the examples! I've had a sense that 2-5-1s play a part in this music, and even talked about Chon's use of a 6-2-5-1 in my separate video about the chords in Sleepy Tea. I didn't have great examples of this in Japanese music though, and these are super clear ones. I'm actually looking to briefly point out 2-5-1s and general movement around the circle of fifths in my next video. I'll be sure to throw these in as references and give you a little shout out :)

[@davinlee6838]

Love these vids

[@JOASHDK]

Thank you soo much for covering this topic....hope you would cover Japanese metal music theories too.?...😎..tq

[@bray1872]

Fun fact; Koji Kondo wrote the song of healing from Majora's Mask by reversing the notes of Saria's Song

[@gavinleepermusic]

Woahhh :0

[@Rev0care]

kashiwa daisuke goated

[@JeiShian]

I'm a new fan after having discovered Chon from your videos. Would you please recommend me some other bands to check out? Thanks!

[@gavinleepermusic]

JeiShian Music If you like Chon, a few bands to check out might be Uchu Conbini, Toe, JYOCHO, Town Portal, Via Luna, Floral, and Zoo Strategies.

[@JeiShian]

@@gavinleepermusic I've listened to all of the bands you have given me and I loved them! That was by far the best recommendation I've gotten for someone looking for more of CHON-like sounds. Thanks!

[@gavinleepermusic]

JeiShian Music yay! Glad you dug those bands!

[@areku2017]

Ever since I first saw Kimi No Na Wa, I've been in love with Radwimps. Any chance you could analyze some of their stuff? Thank you for these 2 videos, they're teaching me a lot!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Alex Falkenberg Yeah I like their OST. Gotta give their other stuff a listen. Whohooo glad they were helpful!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Please see elsewhere on this channel, I've transcribed and analyzed two songs from the Kimi No Na Wa OST!

[@SvintMvrcus]

For the ear quiz at 8:17 what’s the answer o_O it doesn’t sound the same as the vi played right befor

[@rocketvelvet]

I come to this just for that jaa nee ending

[@nakual2032]

Hey guys! Im a big big japanese songs. What music theory should i learn in order to make and write good musics?? I wish to be a pro musician. Tons of jazz player that my ear are very good for harmony. But my music theory are super trash. Its better to list down what should i learn and ill just go practice for few months

[@KLBoringBand]

For harmony, I’d start by understanding triads and be able to spell them super well. Then look into the Roman numeral system and how it relates to diatonic chords in any key. From there, you can try to harmonize a melody by understanding it’s chord tones. If you like jazz, you’ll want to know about tertian extensions of your chordal vocabulary, including the 7th chords (and more) that are diatonic (share the same notes as) your key. Then you can look into ii-V and so on. It’d be good to have some at least basic ideas of how meter works as well. :) But tbh, just go start writing music! Speaking as someone who studied music theory & music comp in college and a masters, there’s no need to wait to “understand” theory first. Just start messing around. :)

[@MaxxBR721]

I think the {bII/IV} in the context of the Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra song is a wrong analysis. The chord they play seems be a Cdim triad (or maybe C half Dim but its definitely not fully diminished) because harmonically and melodically over that chord you can hear an Eb note where as the {bII/IV} would have an E natural. You can hear it if you listen closely to the piano and the horns play a melody of Eb-Gb-Eb(up octave). Then considering the bass is on a C note its gotta be a C Diminished triad. What do you think?

[@projects5460]

very good! can you make a video about how to make a anime song (Melody and the chords) :o?

[@gavinleepermusic]

Motoharu yeah that could be fun! I think in this video and my previous one, I've covered most of the chords part, but melody would be interesting to add too. I've long wanted to get more scientific about why Japanese music is considered "melodic". Like from a theory perspective, how do we get specific about what we mean by melodic in the first place? Will think more on it. Lots of people have covered this subject on KZbin, but let me see if I have something more to add.

[@ads99nrg]

I need some help understanding {VII/vi} and {bII/IV} Let's say we are in C maj, then how do I figure out the {VII/vi} chord ? Is it the VII chord in the key of A minor, i.e, G maj ? If so then why not just call it the V ? And as for {bII/IV} , is it the bII chord of F Major, i.e, F# maj ? also, when extending these chords by adding 7ths, how do we determine whether it would be a major 7th or a dominant one ?

[@smileworld6241]

Is it possible to make content on how to play guitar with a focus on jpop songs? While there are a lot of guitar lessons on youtube, those lessons focus on old English pop and rock songs (Not that there is anything wrong about those songs it is just that I dont have motivation to keep learning the type of songs I dont listen to.) I always see ppl playing guitar covers of anime songs on KZbin and those are the type of songs I want to learn how to jam to. The problem is that there is zero content on youtube on how to learn guitar with jpop examples after teaching certain chords in the english language. This channel is the closest thing to what I am looking for and I'm sure there are other ppl willing to post guitar covers of jpop & rock songs if there is someone who is willing to teach them.

[@dmosey604]

the "bII/IV" in the Tokyo Ska Paradise song is definitely not a major chord like you described when you introduced the bII/IV device initially via a Gbmaj to Fmajor chord. It's a diminished bII/V, which sound a lot smoother to my ears for these types of progressions. Same thing with Chon - Waterslide, that bII/IV sounds hella dimished and not a major chord which sounds really off going back to IV. Am I wrong?

[@IvanGarcia-tc8dl]

Can you do Korean ballads next?

[@nicholasmetaxas7971]

I have a huge question that maybe you could explain in a future video. When it comes to guitar chords in Japanese music, do they voice them significantly different than we do in the west? I’ve been listening to songs like “Broken Youth” by Nico Touches Wall and bands like Tricot and there seems to be a major difference in chords voicing that makes their music sound distinct alongside mature. I can’t tell if it also has to do largely with guitar tone and emphasis on particular notes within chords.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Nicholas Metaxas Hmmm the only thing I'd really say there is that there's just more common use of these more colorful and extended voicings. Minor 9, major7#11, these things are more common in most contemporary Japanese genres than they are elsewhere. Broadly speaking, it's a culture that's still really into harmony, and I think it's awesome!

[@johnporf9546]

Hey man, love your videos. Do you think these chords would work for electronic music like electro house , future bass etc ?

[@gavinleepermusic]

John Saliai Why not? Go ahead and try it! Glad you like these videos :)

[@MrShagification]

8:16 - if it's a vi chord then, I think I'm hearing F#mΔ7. What chord is it? I'm still feeling it more like a flat 6 chord, or something like the VII/vi.

[@gavinleepermusic]

I believe it’s minor maj7 yeah!

[@Fkjlh]

I wouldn't be surprised if you've already come across them, but it would be awesome if you and your beautiful mind could take a look at paranoid void and see if there's anything to talk about with them. They're quite amazing.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Fkjlh y'know, I've heard of them, but never given a proper listen. What album should I start with?

[@Fkjlh]

@@gavinleepermusic They've only got two released, so it wouldn't take too long to listen to all of them. Though if I had to choose just one of the two albums, I would say their first EP "POP MUSIC". The first track on that album is especially special.

[@lowlight1063]

In ZUTOMAYO - STUDY ME i found these: IV III vi VI IV III vi I (this one kinda strange ngl) And i think none of them were in this video so idk what to think about them. p.s Ok the last song in this video was a IV iii vi but not a IV III vi, and i don't particularly remember you talking about it. Im just trying to understand the realtionships and why through many years of music THOSE chord progressions were chosen to be popular.

[@gavinleepermusic]

lowlight Notice how E is the fifth of A? III in a major context can also be thought of as a secondary dominant, {V/vi}! My next video, which I'm hard at work on, covers this topic. For now, I'd go learn a bit about secondary dominant chords. III is often {V/vi} and likewise VI can be {V/III} and II can be {V/V} depending on the context

[@lowlight1063]

@@gavinleepermusic Ohhhh yes it makes sense, since iii is right next to vi. Thanks!

[@aaandy25]

Yo dude, I tried to analyze Suda a while back but couldn't really figure it out. I thought it was in the key of G#. I tried to notate each chord as well. You labeled the second chord a V7 chord in the key of B, but the notes of that chord are c#, a#, and d#. Is it a F#13 chord then? That would also mean the second chord, which is made up of a#, g#, C# a D# 11 chord? Can you help me out in understanding your analysis a little better? In the key of G# I wrote the chords something like VI - ? - II - I - VI - iv - II - I - ? - VI - VII - V - I - VI - ? - II - I. Some of those are 7th chords but just wanted to keep it clean, haha.

[@gavinleepermusic]

aaandy25 Replied to you on the Discord? Looks like you hear it in G#- and I hear it in B. Both work just fine!

[@kyarypamyupamyu7756]

I would love if you use examples from animes nice vid

[@gavinleepermusic]

Kyary pamyupamyu I actually did in my first video of this 2 part series! kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3y5ZmuMi6yJb80

[@meheranand7852]

Would you be able to analyze some of Hiroyuki Sawano's pieces? These 2 videos have been very informational.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Meher Anand Glad the videos have helped! Are there any of Sawano's pieces in particular you recommend I check out?

[@meheranand7852]

@@gavinleepermusic He works on soundtracks but has his own singles too. Like aLIEz, Barricades, o1, Pretenders, A/Z, scapegoat, sh0ut, Gravity Wall are few songs that are pretty good. Of course his soundtracks are also something that are worth listening to but, its better if you know the context behind it

[@fabulousk9014]

Its so crazy how mich i love These chords and Harmonies in japanese music and hate them in Jazz 😅

[@RizkyGusna]

9:40 can anyone give an example of this progression in C major scale? because i don't really understand the theory of it

[@3001jl]

@@user-pq3qm7kp5zupgsogys the g#aug is from lydian sharp2?

[@rmoreno1826]

Its the lydian mode. Its so cool.

[@HikariKrome]

IV-V-iii-vi 😐 IV-V-iii-vi-IV-V-I 😲 IV-V-iii-vi-ii-V-I 😃 IV-vii°-iii-vi-ii-V-I 😍

[@brianmullen7364]

This may be a total pleb question, but why not call the IV V7 iii vi progression a VI VII7 v i in the relative minor key? I suppose I am used to identifying V-I movements as a indicators for resolution. Any tips /educational points would be sincerely appreciated

[@lowlight1063]

i think he just like everything to be in major

[@zoundbiestudio4021]

I think this is a better explanation. It´s at least easier to understand than way for me

[@markop.1994]

Im meditating on this topic rn. I will have my final opinion before the day is done

[@fernandoschmid2458]

I think it's due to the functions of chords. Like usually, a chord progression goes from the tonic (the I, iii or vi), to the subdominant (the ii or the IV), to the dominant (V or VII°) and the cycle repeats. With the latter progression, the functions of the chords would be tonic, dominant, dominant and then tonic, which would make less sense in the end.

[@mikl376]

Ah yes, Ionian Chemical Bonds

[@bsharpmajorscale]

Or covalent progressions: each of the keys share a note each into the joining chord.

[@leltraco1983]

I miss you :(

[@gavinleepermusic]

Hmmm guess I don't know your screen name or you're wanting to see another video. If it's the second item, I've filmed another one! Just editing it down currently. If it's the first, let me know your name. Chances are I miss you too

[@leltraco1983]

@@gavinleepermusic i miss your videos... and you :3 We dont know us, im just a subs

[@gavinleepermusic]

LeL traco Hold tight, my friend! Just been really swamped lately. I'm excited about the next one. Will hopefully find time to finish in the next week or two

[@evansuniverse5237]

Salt of the earth :)

[@lowlight1063]

at 8:16 was it diminished or 7?

[@Sawat]

quality content! btw where did you get that shirt?

[@gavinleepermusic]

I got it in Akihabara. One of the upper floors of gee store!! I think

[@Sawat]

Gavin Leeper that’s probably the best place to buy Stein gate merch!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Sawat Yeah they had so much stuff!

[@lavanyasingh2532]

u look like an actor from a series i can't remember

[@haydenkwok]

8:00

[@jayhu2296]

9:04 isn't this example simply vii°/vi (i.e. V/vi without the root) as opposed to what you're labeling as {VII/vi}? I might be missing something.

[@gavinleepermusic]

That sounds about right. I wasn’t as far along my theory journey when I made this one

[@naomisalama430]

Wouldn't it make a lot more sense to analyse the examples in for example "C major" that are based on the "IV chord" so that they're in F lydian mode instead? I guess that just makes more sense to me, may be that others aren't as used to thinking with modes though...

[@gavinleepermusic]

Totally! Just like some people think it makes sense to analyze it using the relative minor (i.e. the Aeolian mode), there are 7 potential framings of it corresponding to all the modes of the standard minor scale (i.e. not the modes of the harmonic or melodic minor). I've just chosen Ionian since (to my knowledge) it's most common to do so.

[@naomisalama430]

@@gavinleepermusic yeah that makes sense definitely! Thanks for the answer! These videos are very cool and I'll probably try to write something with these proggressions today!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Jami Salama Awesome! Do share anything you end up cooking up :)

[@TheViliukas]

I assume that you have seen RyanChan's video "The Most(?) Common Chord Progression in J-Pop/Rock"?

[@gavinleepermusic]

Cheeser Yeah I'm familiar! I've not heard much of the progression he talks about there though. Might be more of a jpop thing whereas I've been covering anime music, jazz, math rock, etc.

[@ZdrytchX]

the japanese captions confuse me sometimes. For example 8:27, he says "yatta!" but the caption says "Detto!" (which sounds like de-to, which is as in to go on a date with a girlfriend) Also, the chord notation also confuses me somewhat

[@GrooseyGroose]

He said "get!", written as ゲット ("getto"). Japanese people use it as a loan word to mean "got it!"

[@oforsberg]

I thought he said "ghetto" (reading the ゲット) :D Had to google to understand the idiom behind the loanword.

[@DreamlessSleepwalker]

You are missing a lot of the more modern tropes still. You should mention how the iii is often a V/vi for example.

[@DreamlessSleepwalker]

Also it can be in F lydian.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Sure thing. Any other tropes I should check out? Looks like I already have some homework from your other comments :) I still have to check out Oster Project on your recommendation.

[@DreamlessSleepwalker]

@@gavinleepermusic This isn't a harmony trope, but nearly every pop song/anime op I hear found starts with a snippit of the chorus instead of starting out with a verse or intro. This I would argue is because you can have the Chorus "bigger" than when it isn't teased because you know exactly what to expect when you get to the section so you don't have to worry about it sounding out of place. I would argue also this is one of the main reasons why Japanese pop music tends to use more chords and modulations than western pop music, because you don't need a consistent chord progression, which makes a lot of the other factors in it make much more sense.

[@gavinleepermusic]

@@DreamlessSleepwalker Oh wow, you were right. I checked out Oster Project and she has a lot more harmonic stuff going on. Not quite so Japanese, but are you familiar with a group called Tennyson? They have some super bright, light hearted sections that reminds me of these arrangements. open.spotify.com/track/0LdJczHaFVW5nkQa6kgT84?si=lSJqYK9gQR-s6oVK8VMdzw open.spotify.com/track/2PulWYqnqleNbyweJL04w9?si=H3BNyM2qSPSVTUXck4_BKw

[@gavinleepermusic]

I wanna start doing song breakdowns where I fully go through and analyze this or that song. Is there a certain Oster Project song you'd recommend for that?

[@joerivera3222]

B’z music?

[@Mr.Nichan]

Do you think it would be fair to say that your analysis is mostly agnostic to the question of what mode things are in? I.e.,, what you call IV-iii-IV-iii, as if the Ionian (major) mode is being used, could just as easily be bII-i-bII-i in Phrygian, but the point is that it's the same sound. I think there's a certain merit to this type of thinking, in that it still acknowledges the fact that this music is based around the diatonic scale, but it doesn't try to force it to look like tonal music. I.e., it doesn't force us to figure out what the "tonic chord" is, when a single tonic chord might not actually meaningfully exist. (I think you could call this a "pandiatonic" analysis, though perhaps that might wrongly imply a total lack of tonality.)

[@gavinleepermusic]

I speak to this in my Modal Interchange video. IMO, all modes are technically valid reference frames for analysis. In later videos, I use minor as well as major, but it also turns out that many theorists and musicians in Japan default to using the major reference frame

[@FlashUltra_]

Is that paprika on ur shirt??!!

[@Cvsnbtheabstract]

Bro you just help me created Anime japanese music bro thank you!

[@gavinleepermusic]

Abstract Ent That's awesome! Do share when you're done.

[@Cvsnbtheabstract]

@@gavinleepermusic I gotchu you! is there anyway to contact you ?

[@gavinleepermusic]

Abstract Ent I wish YT had DMs. Care to DM me on insta? I’m @leapah

[@Cvsnbtheabstract]

@@gavinleepermusic Ight thank you!

[@kainoafaremiro482]

I cant reproduce the sound of japanese songs no matter how many times i tried...

[@AnimeUniverseDE]

While I enjoyed your last video, this is filled with mistakes and not very fun to watch. For example, bII/IV is completely wrong. As an example of this type of chord, you showed us a section of Chon's Waterslide (around the 0:55s mark in the original song; here at 10:07). This progression does not start on the IV chord, nor does it end with a bII/IV. It is actually a I-V/vi-vi-VI progression in the Key of E major. A bII/IV (also called bV / #IV major) can only be borrowed from the Locrian parallel key, and therefore it sounds really really dissonant. bII, bIII, bVI, and bVII chords, on the other hand, can all be derived from some kind of consonant parallel key, Phrygian or Aeolian. Also, a #iv° chord is typically associated with the Lydian mode, and therefore typically of diminished quality and leads either downwards to a normal IV or the V chord. I'm not saying that a bII/V chord is impossible - if you use it in the context of a ii-V-I jazz harmony chord progression it can still sound very good. But even for jpop harmony, a bII/IV chord would be too dissonant if you just throw it towards the listener without a preceding chord. Another mistake is your use of "... chord over ... chord". This is normally only used to tell where a chord leads to. Something like VII/vi -> IV (10:05) is not possible. This VII/vi has to follow up with a normal vi. And in your example it doesn't, so you have to rename the chord. (Also, on a side note: Your chord progression there as well as for the song from Tokyo Ska Paradise is also wrong; and a VII/vi chord would be the normal V chord. You probably meant a #vii°/vi) Hopefully, you understand my points. I'm not trying to hate you or anything, I actually really like your music and also your previous video on Japanese harmony. But here you presented some very questionable points. I'm sorry.

[@gavinleepermusic]

AnimeUniverseDE Hey there! No need to worry about hating on me here. I've got a lot to learn about music still, and am open to being wrong about this stuff, so I appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. It's actually my favorite when someone volunteers to teach me something, or present another perspective or "model" for a song, so thanks for doing so. Let me review this and respond more properly when I get more time.

[@gavinleepermusic]

Ok so you've got quite a bit of stuff in here haha. First, I agree with you that "chord of chord" should be used when something leads directly to another chord and here I'm incorrectly using that to describe non-diatonic chords that are a half step above or below a diatonic chord. #IV or bV is probably a better description of what's going on here. Duly noted, and I'll make that correction here and in the future. I need to read up a bit more to understand your other points. I generally know my modes and get what you're talking about with regard to modal interchange, but any recommendations for where to learn about some of this non-diatonic chord theory? You seem to have some knowledge there.

[@AnimeUniverseDE]

@@gavinleepermusic I'm really really sorry for not responding for over two weeks, I kind of forgot that you answered, I'm sorry. I learned music theory through music channels on KZbin, mostly Ongaku Concept and 8bitMusicTheory and their own communities (for example OC's discord server). Therefore, I'm still learning stuff and picking up "more western" and traditional ways of learning harmony, and especially melodies, because that is a topic I need to study a lot more on. Anyways, I think you have trouble understanding my point about how you could potentially use a bII/IV chord in an ii-V-I jazz progression. I probably meant a ii-bII/I-I progression. The bII is essentially a subV chord (the tritone substitution of V), and if you would want to modulate to the scale of the IV chord for a short period of time something like this would make sense. That would mean in the context of C major: II/IV or V - bII7/IV - IV; GM7 (Gmin7b5/Gø, Gdim7 or Gm7 would also be possible) - Gb7 - FM7. Hopefully, that clears up my very poorly conveyed point. I also wrote some nonsense, a #iv chord is typical of half-diminished quality, so it uses this symbol: ø. That is because a #ivø is basically a rootless V7/V or II7 chord. Because it lacks its root it can be used to easily connect IV and V for example (there would be a smooth bass line with one semitone motion only). That's also the reason (at least I personally) associate the #iv chord with the half-diminished quality. Thank you for your answers and for accepting my feedback!

[@dausl9570]

I really want to learn Japanese chord progression ...but I don't know what chords should I play

[@karenruiz3869]

City pop 80$

[@oddcube1088]

Hey Gavin is there a way I could contact you? I am really interested in these videos you made but I am confused on something. Thanks so much

[@lightsleepr]

F Lydian

[@itaxevasixn8808]

Bro didnt listen to the entire demo, obv. It’s literally anime shred guitar music😂😂