Democratic Chord Writing - Music Games with Adam Neely and Ben Levin

[@Nessthegreat]

"Eh, no one's getting pregnant with that one." God I love this channel.

[@indigotheindieghost7214]

Nessthegreat where'd they say that?

[@tummur]

Hilarious indeed.

[@garretburrow]

Wanted to press like on this comment; OCD won't let me break that pretty round "900" number...

[@leonapoleon3673]

(plays chord) me: yes! Adam: No. me: no

[@NicolasPL_]

XD

[@pattyluss]

when that sax drops 👌👌👌

[@voyagerjs]

Seriously! So damn good.

[@Rhapsolin]

I thought that was a trumpet 🤣

[@elkwoodarrow]

this is the coolest fucking thing I've ever seen

[@gavinhughes9050]

Radiohead is gonna steal this chord progression just you wait

[@angjohnsyin9517]

Why? I don't get the joke

[@Rhapsolin]

@@angjohnsyin9517 maybe they're known to make extremely similar songs to others and "rip off" Songs. Also this chord progression does kinda sound like radiohead

[@teehundeart]

@@angjohnsyin9517 because it sounds like radiohead

[@fcukingalien]

@@teehundeart The difference is that Radiohead is forget to make any chord progression sound great and not so shitty.

[@radiofloyd2359]

@@fcukingalien What?

[@ChopinDolphy]

My best guess is A - maj7 E7 E-9 G-9 Eb whatever. Adam is playing so low and Ben is playing so high that the distance is great enough for literally any note to not sound dissonant. A teacher of mine in college played for us a chord C E G B D F# A C# called the Maj7#15. He said after two octaves, our brain has trouble hearing the relationship so the C# doesnt clash with the C

[@AndyChamberlainMusic]

if you play a block Cmaj9 #11 13 #15 all at once it sounds quite dissonant. Arpeggiating it is a different matter, since the lower notes have time to decay, but more importantly, your brain has enough time to process the switching of major and minor thirds. I actually made a video on this concept that got like no views strangely haha Bottom line though is that the switching of minor and major thirds as the chord goes up and your brain being able to hear that is the most important thing. If the reason Cmaj9 #11 13 #15 sounded ok was that after 2 octaves the dissonance of the C and C# is unnoticable, you'd expect a natural 15 (just another C) to sound even better right? Absolutely not. Whether blocked or arpeggiated, that natural 15 will sound *really* dissonant. That's because when it's played, the top two intervals are both minor thirds, and have two thirds of the same size next to each other in an extended structure is what sounds bad. That's how I've come to understand it at least.

[@UndecimeBeatitudo]

@@AndyChamberlainMusic, I personally kinda interpret that in a way that the relationships between intervals of these huge chords are based more and more on higher extentions, as we go higher. So, F# an octave above the tonic of C doesn't relate that much to the C, but more to the B and forms a perfectly consonant perfect fifth. Same with C# 2 octaves above the base C, where it's much closer to the F#. And so on. It's quite cool, I guess

[@Andrei.Christop]

Then i have some pretty good ear for dissonances

[@aidantf8]

that chord is just Dma7 / Cma7!! Super lydian jacob vibes

[@insanedrummer89]

Damn ur friend on that melody though.

[@ramboruiz]

Man that was super neat! I love the sax on top of it and that slow beat boxing too.

[@janfejt3428]

My first thought on Chord 1 was like: what kind of chord is A dam?

[@markmarkovich6618]

Yan Yeomen it's an Aminor(major 7) it's a pretty nice cord

[@LukeBeadles]

DEFGECD

[@emmywillow6599]

A daminished

[@mk_rexx]

Jack Rota A damneelyshed

[@PedroKrebs]

Haha same

[@mikaelattebury4956]

Holy shit. I forgot I sampled this like 2 1/2 years ago for a beat I never did anything with. The loop is just super hypnotic.

[@tomepsilon]

give us the beat ‼️‼️

[@JoeS-lg2tb]

I come back to this video every once in a while just to hear that movement at 1:35, so good.

[@toomuchcyan]

why is this gorgeous??? wtf. y'all are turning me on to music with much more dissonance but with colors that are still so vivid through melodic ideas 😍

[@thesuncollective1475]

Wow blown away ..would never thought to have done that...like your chord selection I agreed 80%.so I guess we have similar bent

[@ayzack2361]

That was so strange, beautiful, and it brought a big smile when I listened to the melody added. I loved the video.

[@jugu10111213]

That was fucking awesome. I came here because I saw Adam in the thumbnail but, this was such a cool idea, I'm gonna subscribe. Keep it up!

[@gabrieltafarel]

THIS IS GREAT!! such a haunting and beautiful progression, it reminded me a lot Kayo Dot stuff, especially from their Choirs of The Eye album

[@Josh-it6uy]

Literally something from Kayo Dot or Maudlin of the Well.

[@AFlyingFish]

Gabriel Tafarel yesss totally sounds like somethin out of Kayo Dot's first álbum

[@osmark86]

very much so. fantastic band.

[@csscszcsgv]

Sounds like something out of the Taxi Driver soundtrack. Awesome.

[@montyhaltiner739]

The Naked Ant indeed, it would also be cool in Blade Runner

[@adancein]

This needs to be a song!

[@scottthedick2815]

I'm honestly blown off my mind at this idea. Great job guys ! And Thanks !

[@macabre2007]

Jon Damian was my first introduction to learning composition with his 'palette chart' of chords in his book: the Guitarist's Guide to Composing and Improvising - I've written notes throughout my copy it was such an influential work.

[@pulpogaraje]

"Eh, it's not blowing to make money." "Eh, no one's getting pregnant with that one."

[@Mr.Batsu12]

I love these videos. At the start I'm thinking "Ok, crazy wacky BS music incoming." A few minutes later and I'm loving what you come up with!

[@PeanutsandWaffels]

please continue doing videos together! Highly entertaining and educating :)

[@exedeath]

Wow, didnt knew this idea existed. I had this idea before, a program that would allow someone that is not a musician to compose songs. The program start by playing one note (or combination of notes played at same time) or silent part, that the user will give an score from 1 to 10. Then it play another note, that the user will also rate. After X random notes, or when the player rate something with a score of 7 or higher (whateaver happens later), the program would play the best voted note and a new random note and user would give a score to it. New random notes would be played to the user until he receives X notes or give an score of 7 to this part. And this goes on, after the first note is selected by the player the program have a chance of not giving a note to the player, if this become the best voted thing, the song ends...... and the file is created with the music sheet or sound file.

[@drawntothefire]

I actually loved the one at 2.26 that you both didn't like- sounded beautifully discordant!

[@SteveGouldinSpain]

That could be turned in to a money-spinning mobile phone app where the phone plays one of the parts and stores the results, perhaps as part of a larger compositional suite.

[@umTeacher01]

That'd be awesome!

[@brujua7]

The spirit, i think, should be more like "Lets build and crowdfund an opensource for this".

[@Felipera_]

Professional App Builder here. I'd love to see that :p

[@benjaminenders8762]

dude I'm wating for it

[@Felipera_]

Start a discord server and let's get to work!

[@sigurdfyllingkarstad2694]

So the three first chord you just chucked in the bin was actually VERY beautiful. I'm going to compose something around those chords! ;)

[@StephenLewisful]

"It's so romantic. You'll really find the One that way." Adam is on fire.

[@ahorseinahospital]

The way you came up with this beautiful melody right on spot made me doubt myself as a musician and inspired me in the same time

[@forgetful9845]

that melody was amazing

[@zilkov_ae]

Отличная тема!

[@jumill]

aaahhhh!, Both of you guys drive me nuts! Specially Ben. He's got such far fetched, far out concepts. I have not heard such a great idea like this before. That's crazy good.

[@stelisklados]

One of the most influential videos ever ! Nice one guys !

[@patrickjaroch5084]

im not sure about those chords but your muted trumpet player is awesome

[@452]

Saxophone :^)

[@matheushhhhhhhhhhhh]

First chord: A C with major sixth, augmented fifth and the 10 for the major third. so C#5(6 10) The second chord is a E7 with only the doubled fifth and a minor seventh. The third chord it`s a major seven with the sixth and fifth so it is a G6(b9 12). The fourth chord we have a A7(b9). Like the previous chord here we have one with a different voicing from the first so it actually makes quite a difference. This A chord its the seventh degree of the melodic scale. It can make u go to lots of places. The fifth chord its a Eb6 plus a 5 and #5 which is something that is actually possible. Besides some comment down here that told us something very nice that i didnt know: that difficulty of the brain to hear clearly some weird stuff after some octaves. What i think of it is that this looks like a melodic sugestion to anyone who is improvising. Since it is commom to interpretate chord with normal fifths into augmented fifhts with the minor harmonic or melodic scale when we are soloing, the highr octave where the #5 is played by ben looks like gives a hint of the melody of the song. But this kind of melodic intrusion I`ve seen when we dont have fifhts in the chord so it only echoes within the harmonic series -dont know if the name in english is correct- of the root note. Finishing up my thinking... C#5(6 10) E7 G6(b9 12) A7(b9) Eb5(minor6 #12) .... I tried to do a bit of an harmony analysis but got wrecked... my brain is hurting... Thought a litle bit about melodic or harmonic scales but idk... the composition could have jumped other parts like when we have that E7 and then a G chord... it looks like the possible D7 chord there its washed out of the harmony... idk

[@dubswarner]

Just discovered your channel through Adam Neely, and am loving it. Thanks for sharing knowledge.

[@ojdoubleyou]

This is an incredible lesson and tasty progression, three full thumbs up from London, keep up the great content, much appreciated!

[@Wachnin13]

Fantastic! Thank you both so much.

[@josephmerrill2686]

Great game. Just deliberation alone can help so much

[@Vojife]

The second chord actually sounded pretty sweet to me!

[@allofthemmilkingwithgreenf7493]

What a great but also easy concept. Really like the series. I hope there's more to come.

[@leolovsen1448]

Such a wholesome video, thank you

[@devbrozz]

what a beautiful piece! pretty stoked to have found both of you guys.

[@darkglory19]

this is such a cool idea and it sounded so interesting and actually worked really well

[@venahtmusic]

Those first few chords you guys played almost sounded like Kayo Dot's "The Antique". It's not exact, but the vibe is there.

[@jonKowalski3210]

please make this into a full song lol that progression is sick!

[@seanscott2063]

you certainly body swerved the "butter notes" with that one

[@sibannaC1992]

You're awesome, both of you. I've learned a lot from your videos, and there are so much more I haven't seen yet, thank you.

[@burroughs334]

I love this exercise and I love this channel. Such a well of inspiration. Thanks!

[@arlingtonguitarist]

Very interesting sound, love it! Also thanks for sharing the game, can't wait to try it.

[@robertvilleneuve8272]

Very cool chords progression guys...

[@JohnDoe-dh8xc]

I really hope you guys make something of this chord progression in the next video. Also I think you guys work too well together to not make these collaborations a more regular thing in the future.

[@jamesnadeau9009]

I’m blown away

[@jameswebber-salmon4295]

Really interesting. The chord progression sounded lovely at the end. I like strange progressions like those, as they work, but they sound as if they shouldn't. Thanks for sharing :)

[@Chadosaaan]

Very different, but I really like the concept. Love your videos! They bring a very new feel to music for me. Keep 'em coming.

[@sukigetablow]

How did you get this cool? Wow. You both rock.

[@shastafay4992]

Great work !!! This process is so interesting and it's a beautiful way to compose with friends :) Thank you guys !

[@bouffantmoose]

This works so, so well! Got to try this one

[@themennissvids]

I love this idea so much. Nicking it and taking it to a few of the groups I play with.

[@Tommat194]

I'm nicking the idea and taking it to a few of the girls I date.

[@benjabum23]

a few of them ay?

[@themennissvids]

@benjabum23 Eggs and baskets.

[@michaelinglis567]

This was actually really great, cant wait to try it with someone.

[@Rivca2626]

such a great job this game is awesome

[@BenLevin]

I agree!

[@Setri123]

i need more of this. please

[@nyhyl]

This is by now my favorite video of yours. This is incredibly cool and I find it extremely inspiring! That's such and clever idea to do. I'll definetely keep that in mind and experiment with this kind of approach to composing.

[@JarodJesus]

"You can say no" it's something I'll start to say more often

[@justinbouchard]

I'm so glad I found you Ben. It was from a video from Jake, Signals Music Studio. This was a n awesome video and I completely agree about the first date. Even if your date wasn't a musician it would still work without a doubt.

[@OfficialSiriusmusic]

Awesome video !

[@spottedstar1123]

OKAY SERIOUSLY THOUGH DEMOCRATIC CHORD WRITING WOULD BE SUCH A GOOD DATE IDEA 10/10 ANY BOY WILLING TO DO THIS WITH ME IS A KEEPER

[@lextrip123]

so great!

[@frmcf]

Now I know how bossa nova chord progressions were written.

[@aalvim27]

lol

[@Gnurklesquimp]

This is a cool idea :D Actually seems like a good way for alot of people to train their ear for more dissonant chords. Love how these chords sound on guitar

[@StninkyBoi]

sounds quite like Opeth's acoustic stuff! Great stuff guys

[@louisjamin7195]

I wish I had someone to play games like that with. Great one :)

[@taquitoburrito6335]

Love Ben's sense of humor

[@NathanClearyMusic]

I LOVE THIS!

[@nickyelovich3872]

BEN LEVIN I love your channel why haven't I found this good mine earlier!?!!?

[@lpcamping6197]

That was so amazing, keep making videos like this guys

[@saulo4302]

"Haikus are easy But sometimes they don't make sense Refrigerator." - Adam's shirt

[@Medddler]

This is pretty cool

[@davidsimpson2560]

That was simply fantastic. This gave me so many musical ideas :)

[@joelanttila7927]

this is so inspiring

[@TheeSlickShady_Dave_K]

I liked it Ben really saved it with the melody 🏆

[@babsdiamond]

This is brilliant!

[@Spritofjazz]

Remember when this came out. Wild. Miss these two weirdos doin weird stuff but glad they’re still around makin their own weird stuff

[@iosephantonivs4262]

Pretty cool!

[@InnerCityZoo]

found this really interesting as someone who writes chord progressions often but can get stuck there. I liked elements of this chord progressions but didnt really like it. Once the entire thing came together i liked how the dissonant progression complimented the other instrumentation. Gonna try and practice that with my own compositions, see if i can use that to get passed the writers block i get when i get too caught up in commiting to a chord progression. Sick video

[@nazariy9208]

nice autumn leaves cover

[@emotionalrelation997]

What an awesome video idea! I agreed with every choice except the last chord. I really wanted a clean resolve ahahaha, that's typical of me, however once they post-produced the vocal and sax on it, it did sound very nice. I see some people commenting on whether it's truly random or not, and the truth is, it's like educated guess random. Both and neither. These guys know their way around their instrument pretty well - but that doesn't mean they can't just pick a couple notes out and see what happens. But it also means they know how to slap some paint in the viscinity of where it wants it, and see if the color works. Aka pick some notes that are a little bit away from good notes that might work and see what happens. It's kind of interesting. What they are doing is DEFINITELY not TRULY random, like a computer might do, but it isn't them always choosing, based on knowledge, what they think will sound best, either. It's highly educated experimentation followed by taste refinery. However, there are probably a million ways to do the game. But just hypothetically, somebody HAS to know something, or this game will not be very enjoyable ahaha, think about someone who doesn't know any scales, I mean in theory they could do this, but it's gonna be a while before anything sounds that great ahahahaha

[@ViloSpice]

Awesome!

[@IcyMidnight]

That was a cool thing!

[@muntificator]

This is the kind of chord progression I want to use in the verse of a metal song and then drop into some fat distorted minor and sus chords. Smooooooth stuff, I might try this with some of my higher level students

[@MakeWeirdMusic]

Man what a great video. I love this!

[@QjoWilwolf]

I still wish this was turned into a full song

[@ScifiSaints]

Reminded me of Kayo Dot. Nifty.

[@hel5060]

Guys, this is awesome...

[@MrSmithy500]

This is a game changer

[@mildlyacidic]

This is very late, but you guys need to turn this into a jazz noir song!

[@efebezmez6386]

holy shit id definitely pay to hear that please make it a song

[@evanschmuki8197]

Dang, you guys are freaking cool

[@visitur4914]

Did they ever develop this idea into a full song? I watched the whole vid twice and listened to the "song" twice more just for the pleasure of it.

[@smellsfishi]

so smoooooooth