Songs to recognise different scales by ear

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Charles Cornell on the mixolydian scale in The Sims: • The Sims Soundtrack CH...
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0:00 Introduction
0:30 Major
1:02 Natural Minor
2:01 Harmonic Minor
3:01 Minor Pentatonic
3:56 Major Pentatonic
5:14 Whole Tone
6:03 Octatonic
6:53 Blues
8:10 Dorian
9:00 Mixolydian
10:03 Chromatic

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Start learning how to play the piano today with flowkey: go.flowkey.com/davidbennett 🎹😁

[@NBrixH]

Based supportive creators

[@tiyenin]

Lydian: American national anthem, "Star-Spangled Banner" (first two verses) Dorian: Imagine Dragons - "Radioactive"

[@ldgaming4213]

@@NBrixH o

[@wyattstevens8574]

Another song for harmonic minor: "We Don't Talk About Bruno" (only need to listen to the montuno bass loop to establish that)

[@aaronclift]

This whole video could have been about King Crimson, as they’ve done practically every scale you can think of. “Fracture,” “FraKCtured,” and “The ConstruKCtion of Light” are pure whole tone scale magic. Also, the beginning of “Indiscipline.” “Red,” “One More Red Nightmare,” and “Larks Tongue in Aspic” all feature the diminished scale. “Thela Hun Ginjeet” and “Discipline” are minor pentatonic. The middle section of “Starless” features one of the most tense and explosive examples of the chromatic scale I’ve heard in music.

[@shma1israel]

I agree, but then David couldn't have used any original clips because of their label's restrictive policy. King Crimson's music could have a much wider audience if they'd allow reactions.

[@Bronco541]

yep basically king crimson along with a bunch of other artiats are ensuring that younger generations will never know about them

[@Arycke]

Frakctured after the intro in thr next part deviates from the whole tone stuff, but yeah.

[@ChrisOwenGuitar]

In George Michael’s “Careless Whisper”, the saxophone runs up the A Phrygian scale over the Am chord in the intro, and is repeated throughout the song. Thanks for this helpful video.

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

David, what I most enjoy about your presentations is that you neither treat your viewers as idiots, nor as accomplished musicians. You strike the balance really well. I was very blessed in my early introduction to music by having teachers who enjoyed teaching, and their enthusiasm encouraged their pupils to want to excell. William McKie was master of the choristers in my day, and George Solti directed us, trebles, at ROH performances, and in singing Melia, Hyacanthus, or one of the Three Boys, the enthusiasm and steady encouragement of such as Vitorio Gui and Colin Davis helped nervous boys enjoy themselves rather than become frozen. You seem to have a similar gift, David. Perhaps a future as a organist/choir director beacons?

[@TheJonaGaming]

Found this while randomly looking through a playlist before it even went public haha :D To me, Pyramid Song's first chord progression has a very distinct Phrygian sound to it with the exception of the tonic chord being major and not minor (i think of it as borrowed from phrygian dominant), nevertheless a very phrygian sounding progression. Great video as always David!!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Haha! Good job! If there has ever been a time to write “first” on a KZbin video, this is it!

[@TheJonaGaming]

@@DavidBennettPiano well yeah i guess i cant miss the oportunity. First :)

[@TakeTheFallActHurtGetIndignant]

"Comments to help you recognize the warping of spacetime by sight" How was this comment left 9 days ago when this video was released today?

[@polibix]

@@TakeTheFallActHurtGetIndignant if you read the comment you can probably find out lol

[@sjaakankersmit6510]

@@polibix I read the comment and understand what happened, but how the hell was that possible?

[@victorwilburn8588]

Just about any Muddy Waters song is a master class in how to get the most out of the blues scale (usually either E or A).

[@ricardosierra749]

Dam right!

[@Adri-li6ye]

I think a very good example of chromatic scale is Habanera from the opera Carmen by Bizet, and it is also very famous

[@illwobble]

Bah, you got there before me! :) Yes! I used to get this one mixed up with Ravel's Bolero in my head but hope I've straightened that out now...

[@ChrisGarmon]

A fantastic example of a descending whole tone scale in action is in Pink Floyd's "Dogs" at 13:55. That's one of the weirdest yet most fascinating parts David Gilmour ever played.

[@garycitro1674]

DUUUUUDE!!!! Holy ____, you are correct! I've been listening to that album since the day it came out, and I absolutely love that part of the solo and I never noticed that! Five stars!

[@uppastmidnight9061]

Wow! Just blew my mind. can't stop listening to it now

[@cakemartyr5794]

Really good observation, thanks

[@kobealegendforever1310]

Never picked that up before, that’s an awesome touch

[@kevfreeman5482]

Late to the party, but....good grief! How have I never noticed that! Especially since it's a mile away from his usual style! Nice one!👌👍😊

[@emilyrln]

Great video! "Joy to the World" is a good sung example of a major scale. I was low-key expecting to hear some of the Phantom's _Don Juan Triumphant_ for the whole tone scale 😂

[@genekelly3961]

Great examples. I’ve got one for minor pentatonic. From Paul McCartney‘s Wings album, “Band on the Run” uses an ascending A minor pentatonic at 2:05. The note sequence is: g a c d e g.

[@coriolanvs443]

When you started playing B harmonic minor, I immediately thought of Hotel California! The chord progression has even an E major, but there's a straight-up A# in the melody and in the F# major chord. Or, for example, E dorian reminds me of the last part of "Time" by Pink Floyd.

[@calvindewolff9177]

The end of time is actually a reprise of a song earlier on the album, 'Breathe (in the air)'

[@Sok710]

Background melody in the chorus of The Man Who Sold The World - is literally ascending major scale

[@snakey8095]

sounds to me as C mixolydian into F major scale

[@andrewlowden322]

"Joy to the world the Lord is come" is the major scale in reverse

[@Laurasiana]

I believe King Crimson’s Fracture uses a whole tone scale. And Crimson’s Red opens with a climb up an octatonic scale.

[@jan_Travis]

Man KC always doing something fun and crazy! My favorite is prob Larks Tongues pt 2.

[@michaelsodde]

Another good example of the whole tone scale is the intro riff to One More Red Nightmare by King Crimson. 👍🏼🤓

[@samuelfreeman5483]

I love that album. Killer guitar, bass, drums, vocals, cellos, sax, everything. Just a fantastic recording

[@torg3481]

9:39, David, I always respected your musical theory and analysis, but including that Sims build theme made me appreciate your work even more!

[@TheKiddo2468]

That’s me with the Elliott Smith song

[@romainducreux310]

You also have "Red" by King Crimson for the Octatonic Scale.

[@wyattstevens8574]

For Dorian, (sticking to the Beatles) there’s "I Me Mine" (key of D, sometimes temporarily switching to A, although I never notice- maybe it's in the hard rock section?). For the blues scale, here's one of my favorites: "Change On the Rise," by Avi Kaplan (former member of Pentatonix), which actually stays in C minor pentatonic throughout except for a one-off F# in the bridge. If you want to hear the minor pentatonic, you only need to listen to a verse of this.

[@kekemartinm]

The beginning of "Riders on the storm" played by Ray Manzarek (The Doors )is a clear reference of the Dorian scale

[@mendonca.marcos]

Thank you very much, David! I'm Brazilian and your videos have helped me to develop my English and multiply my musical knowledge. Keep doing this hard work, besides being an admirable job it changes the lives of a lot of people like me :)

[@dejamoocathy]

David you are a gem. I watch your videos and have learned so much. I play bass guitar and a little guitar but I can’t read music at all. I was in an all girls band in the sixties (who wasn’t?) and have played along to Beatles records ever since. You present your videos such that us amateurs can learn from them. I just love you to death and had to say so.

[@sicilianmammalian]

My bass teacher and I used to always try to find songs and scales to relate them to using them it’s always nice finding more examples I think one off the top of my head is Simpsons uses Lydian scale

[@ivmusic_4]

I rarely comment on videos, but this one deserves it. This cleared up for me the difference between scales in less than 15 minutes when ive struggled with being able to hear it for a while. Thank you!!!

[@aardvark77]

The Man Who Sold The World by Bowie has a section that alternates between the Myxolydian and the Major Scales. Don’t Bother Me by The Beatles (including the guitar solo) goes up and down the Minor Pentatonic Scale.

[@composer7325]

Another excellent video, thank you, David.

[@rileybishop8480]

I absolutely LOVE these videos man! Keep up the great work :)

[@US-wc1rv]

Hey, I'm a bassist and binging your videos, theory gets much more understandable thanks to you. Keep going man

[@reillywalker195]

A folk song worth mentioning in regards to the major pentatonic scale is "Camptown Races" by Stephen Foster. Its melody spends much of its time working up and down the major pentatonic scale, and it also features an arpeggio of its tonic chord at the start of its chorus.

[@kevinmccaughey7011]

Absolutely love your all-augmented piece, David.

[@brusselssprouts560]

Always enjoyable videos David!

[@colinliaubass1712]

The composer of Mario theme songs if fond of the chromatic scales

[@reillywalker195]

Yes. Koji Kondo used chromatic movements frequently in Mario music for presumably two reasons: to make it sound fun, and to create a strong sense of motion since that's what Mario games are about.

[@doctorscoot]

aww man these videos get better each one, thank you 🙏

[@mikehesan6706]

Your channel is a gem, David. Excellent work!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you!!

[@NBrixH]

I think Pink Floyd's Echoes has a bit in it that is Chromatic. In the solo after the first bit of lyrics. Phantom of The Opera sounds similar to that bit of Echoes.

[@pogchamp7983]

duh duh duh duh duhhhhhhhhhh

[@NBrixH]

@@pogchamp7983 Duh-duh-duh-duh Duhhhhhh

[@colinslant]

Strangely enough, quite a lot of Andrew Lloyd-Webber's music "sounds similar to" somebody else's work...

[@NBrixH]

@@colinslant Maybe he had a bit of a habit of being ''very inspired'' by other artists.

[@bobnewton1064]

@@NBrixH rodger waters actually sued him over it

[@kennethbrein2037]

George Benson’s “Breezin” is the mixolydian scale. Best example I know. Great video. Thanks

[@TheArchiveOfWonder]

Norwegian Wood by the Beatles is very distinctive in my mind. Or Dark Star by the Grateful Dead.

[@Simon.the.Likeable]

Bobby Womack's Breezin' was first recorded by Gabor Szabo in 1971.

[@shyamgopal2296]

Great video my dude! The intro riff of Metallica's Master of Puppets is another good example of the chromatic scale, I use it as a reference.

[@modernmusicofthedarkages296]

I’m just in the middle of the process of training my ears musically and this video will help a lot! Thanks!!

[@Reliquancy]

I like this ear training playlist! I see this is the 7th in this series, cool.

[@maxplus6]

Great video, as usual 👏👏

[@cardboardguitarplayer5086]

Another brilliantly presented video David

[@calebeschutzerlasso5707]

It’s impossible to think about the Whole Tone Scale and don’t remember the cello line in She’s Leaving Home, by The Beatles. But maybe the cello in my photo says that my opinion isn’t quite impartial…

[@cakemartyr5794]

Really good run down the scales, thanks :-). Thanks in particular for the Bowie/Wakeman example. More of that please!

[@Jimmyjames738]

As usual, dynamite video mate. Love your work ✌️

[@happyron]

Man these videos are so good. Like all the dense music theory videos I've studied brought to life. Hope someday you'll review one of my songs on your other channel.

[@joedurantguitar1447]

The iconic Good Times bass line (also Rappers Delight) just does a full run of the E Dorian scale. This always seems to be overlooked.

[@babylemonade2868]

Soon as you did the whole tone scale I thought of that Stevie Wonder song. You explain things so well David

[@Mettle_DAD]

Playing in pentatonic and blues is easy and fun. Good place the start. Both sound great.

[@JoeForrestart]

Love the final example of the circus music being Chromatic! I never knew that, but makes a lot of sense! Reminds me a lot of the Super Mario theme, which is very chromatic as well! I've always thought that's why it has such a sense of fun and cheeky joy to it, very mischievous, something which the circus music also shares. Super Mario also opens on a tritone, which is incredible, but the tritone is actually the closing phrase/end of the piece, which is why it can loop forever because the beginning is the end. Maybe do an analysis of the main Mario theme next, it's really incredible 😂😂

[@espadrille14]

I always think of the opening acoustic guitar riff of "Mrs Robinson" to lock into the Minor Pentatonic.

[@meadish]

I humbly take off my hat. Your content is amazingly useful. Thank you!

[@LTDLimiTeD1995]

Hella Good (No Doubt) and What You Want (Evanescence) are my go-tos for describing basic Phrygian motion since both spend so much time vamping from the i to flattened ii.

[@dt5273]

The iconic and memorable opening melody from Miserlou is the Gypsy Minor scale (which has many other names also)

[@wyattstevens8574]

Is that just a mode of double harmonic? He's mentioned this song before (in "songs that use this scale") for it being erroneously labeled as Phrygian or (and this is closer) Phrygian dominant instead.

[@ottolaakso1944]

Habanera from Bizet's Carmen has a chromatic melody

[@fionnmcd9929]

10:03 Flight of the bumblebee uses the chromatic scale

[@DJaycerOfficial]

A song I made called icicles uses the pentatonic scale for a while, changing into a normal minor scale. Though I also abuse the fact that C minor is the same as E flat major with the main melody. If you want to find this song easier, then just go to my Elementals playlist, it should be the fourth song.

[@whatever2045]

Yesterday by The Beatles is a great example of the Melodic Minor scale.

[@jasonkeith9317]

Yes!!

[@calebeschutzerlasso5707]

About the Myxolidian Mode, there’s a Brazilian example: Asa Branca, by Luiz Gonzaga. This song has a accordion line playing the Myxolidian Mode in thirds. In fact, that musical genre (baião) is largely based in that mode.

[@colinliaubass1712]

The whole tone scale evokes a dreamy atmosphere

[@colinliaubass1712]

I like to call it the "dreamy scale" this is my nickname for it

[@chicolofi]

Love the whole tone scale. I wish it were more used in pop music.

[@seiph80]

The song "María Lionza" by Ruben Blades in the beginning has a piano riff that is the whole tone scale.

[@chicolofi]

@@seiph80 Thanks, I'll listen to it.

[@bernardvandelft1591]

Sunshine of your love is perfect for the blues scale. Uses all the notes in the riff.

[@halfindy]

1:21 It‘s weird that I can hardly hear the „sadness“ when you play the melody on the piano but it‘s super obvious in the bandsound. I realise this when using ear training apps too. Just the minor third in a clean sound (no blues smear or context) is really not sad at all to my ears. 🧐👍

[@brightoneasterling9304]

Your doing gods work David

[@nathancox3126]

Keep on keeping on

[@scottrim143]

love the video

[@sholtorock5904]

I think there's a Dorian scale in S Club 7's Reach when they sing the line "I've got you and you've got me"

[@rickjones4114]

Great video, thank you! The (modern) archetypal, instantly recognisable tune that throws me for a loop harmonically is the Simpson's theme!

[@leiocera2433]

Another great example of E Dorian is "Death By Glamour" by Toby Fox. Another great example of the chromatic scale is "Flight of the Bumblebee" by Nikolai Andrejewitsch Rimski-Korsakow.

[@illwobble]

Thank you. For chromatic I think of the main theme from Bizet's Carmen, that descending chromatic sequence which I often fall into by accident when doodling on the piano. Not sure the "Long Long Long" example is so helpful. I love the white album and thought I knew that track but still didn't really recognise that (quite quiet) part when you played it!

[@seiph80]

"TNT" by AC/DC, at the end, goes full chromatic; "Panama" by Van Halen does so in the break.

[@rp7773]

Major scale (Ascending) is in Magic Position by Patrick Wolf too

[@Zenthex]

major and natural minor are essentially the same scale but starting on different notes. you can do the same thing with the harmonic minor scale and the results sound really cool.

[@originalvonster]

Thank you

[@JoelSyverud]

As a philistine desperately crawling around in the world of music theory, you are a godsend ☺️

[@Miamibeachdoc2008]

Hey David. Love your KZbin channel. And, I really appreciate the way you teach music theory. Regarding the recognition of a major scale, you missed a great song from 1988, Lita Ford's Kiss Me Deadly. Her melody and vocal line is the major scale from C to C (C5 down to C4). Keep up the great work. It's fun learning this stuff!!

[@MarcGallagherMusic]

I believe the guitar melody in the chorus of the Man Who Sold The World by David Bowie is in C mixolydian

[@KarstenJohansson]

Before I knew modes existed, the very first fast guitar riff I learned was from Over The Mountain from Ozzy Osbourne. Randy Rhoads' riff is entirely in Mixolydian. Actually a lot of his riffs are, but I didn't know that yet. But in Over The Mountain, it descends the Mixo scale in a broken pattern that he surely got from classical music (a pattern that Yngwie made forever famous, but using Phrygian and Harmonic Minors instead).

[@Musicsharmony]

thanks perfect

[@scottmatznick3140]

Thank you for the cathedral image. I was confused until I saw that. Lol

[@JuanDavidArtal]

For the Dorian scale there's a song called "La Despedida" by Fito Páez. It uses the scale from bottom to top

[@ChrisRalph007]

Brilliant video - these should really help those scales stick! Be curious to know what plugins, sounds you're using for these songs, or what others might recommend. Great stuff!

[@jasonkesser]

What a great video

[@garycitro1674]

The classic piano part in "She's a Rainbow" by The Stones is in Dorian mode.

[@aardvark77]

It’s a Dorian scale but it’s not in the Dorian mode. It’s in a major key, not a minor key.

[@garycitro1674]

@@aardvark77 I want to understand what you're saying. If you take the piano Melody alone it seems to be in Dorian mode (you could even transpose it and play all of the melody on white keys starting with D, which I understand as Dorian mode.) Are you saying that what the accompaniment does is what makes it in a major key? Interesting...

[@minaees]

Fantastic video! The piano line in the Wu-Tang Clan's "C.R.E.A.M.", sampled from "As Long as I've Got You" by The Charmels, is another example of Dorian (pitched up to ~F) in both directions.

[@guyedwards22]

Not as common nowadays, but another one worth mentioning since you included the standard blues scale is the Major Blues scale! Just a major pentatonic with a flat 3rd in between the 2 and the 3. Used a lot in older happy-go-lucky jazz tunes from New Orleans, "Bear Necessities" from the old Jungle Book movie, a more recent example would be 'Sunday Morning' by Maroon 5 I dunno why, but improvising and chord building feels a lot more relaxed and uninhibited if the song is in Major Blues rather than Minor. The I and IV chords sound wonderful as maj6, maj7, or dom7, and the V chord can be messed with by making it a sus4 or a #5, or even a maj6 in ballads. The iii7 chord is there in all its glory. Minor blues feels pretty chained to the 12-Bar format unless you start doing wild stuff with it

[@GizzyDillespee]

When I think of Hugh Laurie playing piano, I'm hearing a genteel major blues jam. It feels like daytime blues, sitting on the porch with sweet tea. Minor blues feels more like trouble brewing. I disagree that it ties you to the 12 bar form. You can expand turnarounds, do secondary 4ths, move in 3rds, all kinds of things. Thinking about it, all of those are "ways of breaking out of prison" once you've established a 12 bar pattern as your prison, so I see what you mean. Once you start playing 12 bar minor blues, it really does set up a momentum of expectation, at which point you have to essentially do a musical jailbreak to get out of it. You can't just up and play some glam boogie-woogie right in the midst of it. Not because of what people would think, but it just wouldn't work, unless it was like a psychedelic melange.

[@preposteroussvideos]

This was sooo ueful

[@Simon.the.Likeable]

"Fill Your Heart", written by Biff Rose and Paul Williams, is the only track on Hunky Dory not written by Bowie. It was his first recorded cover song in six years. It was also the B side of Tiny Tim's "Tip-toe Through the Tulips with Me" released in 1968.

[@genuinefreewilly5706]

There really is nothing odd or complicated about even interval scales . They have always been part of music and solid melody. Its the difference between quantum physics and classic physics, they meet together to create reality how and why is up for debate and forever will never meet and be understood. I am seriously happy David has the naming conventions to causality, ie a musical story to the calculous of events/over time

[@philippospratsos4198]

I approve of the violin in the background :)

[@Sh-ws5jd]

Classic example of going down the mixolydian scale : AC/DC thunderstruck intro

[@walterwebb1622]

Muse's Hyper Music literally climbs the Dorian scale in the bass line, then resolves to the natural minor, my fave point of reference for Dorian.

[@deep_cuts2019]

My choice for major scale will always be "Hello, Goodbye," that part where they go straight up the scale.

[@Itheadon]

Major penatatonic run example - Stevie Wonder's "Isn't she lovely", the run between the verses

[@artrogers3985]

Thanks

[@sarahbird7398]

So happy you mentioned The Sims!! I grew up with the original game, and listening to the build themes last year made me get back into learning piano. Such great pieces, especially the one you mentioned.

[@LukasBolini]

My favorite major pentatonic scale example would be the intro to Chloroform, by Phoenix, that is basically just ascending the C major pentatonic scale (and the song is a banger, tbh)

[@pentatronic]

My mnemonic for the blues scale is Black Sabbath - Iron Man. The riff right before the guitar solo is a descending C# blues scale.

[@northfoxone]

A surprisingly funny example of the blues scale is Among us Drip theme

[@luftballoonno99]

In “Maybe I’m Amazed” by Paul McCartney, the piano run following “Maybe I’m afraid of the way I love you” at 0:25 is a good example of the chromatic scale. I think it’s a full run of C-C. Love these vids, David!

[@jasonkeith9317]

I was thinking that very same thing!!

[@antoniomarine1567]

Was going to mention it also. It’s from Bb to Bb. Also, all the background organ music in Benefit of Mr Kite. Tons of chromatic runs. :)

[@stoatystoat174]

Bass line of 'The Man Who Sold The World' chorus is my major scale reminder

[@Fungaricum]

David Bowie`s (or Nirvana`s) The man who sold a world the bass plays an F-major scale during the refrain, alternating with C mixolydian. Awesome video, as always!!

[@theFriendlyGhst]

There's probably an infinite number of examples but a good one for minor pentatonic is the opening riff of "Nobody Speak" by DJ Shadow and Run the Jewels. It just descends the scale in three octaves.

[@marctang3802]

Great video David! Your videos are such a good source of theory and have taught me a lot of the stuff I now know. Like the new animations as well :)