Down the Rabbit Hole: The Hidden Connections of Music | Dave Madden | TEDxNapaValley

Dave Madden shares his idea on Music Theory as he takes you Down the Rabbit Hole as part of the TEDxNapaValley 2015 "Redefining Success: changing direction mid-stream" event.
Dave's Event Photos are here - www.flickr.com/photos/tedxnap...
Find out more about Dave and his work here - www.davemaddenmusic.com/
This video was produced by 360 Kreative Services (360kreative.com) in conjunction with 3 rock marketing (www.3rockmarketing.com)
Dave Madden is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who plays with confidence, versatility and musicality. Dave was voted Best Arranger at the 2013 AMP Austin Music Industry Awards and in 2010 he won Best Austin Record for his pop-rock release, Open-Eyed & Broken Wide. He has played to audiences across the country. Dave also served as the on-stage music director for the National Youth Gathering concert at the Alamodome in San Antonio, preparing and performing music for a crowd of 30,000. He is an alum of Berklee College of Music in Boston.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@lawrencewang2020]

It begins with the heartbeat in our mother’s womb...

[@tigerlily0569]

This is officially the most mind-blowing TEDx talk I've ever seen. And I'm wondering why, even with many years of music instruction, I never heard that whole music IS frequency thing. Wow!

[@JonesJr876]

Same!

[@user-vn2jk2mx5y]

I'm a teacher who love make music with high school student's band group in Koea. Thanks to invite me to that wonderful rabbit hole. I've never heard such a impressive music lecture like this. And it also a kind of great drama! I'm eager to attend your master class someday! :)

[@odemba936]

I love how he can narrate a story while playing relevant music that evokes certain emotions with his knowledge of modes(I assume he knows that). Just brilliant

[@navypinkdesign]

I wonder if after 7 years he got around to including microtones, all the stuff in between those 12 notes, and Eastern music theory. I’d love to hear an updated lecture!

[@-whiskey-4134]

I literally only use theory when talking to people or watching a video to follow along lol. If you were to ask what I do when I play bass or guitar, I couldn’t tell ya. I just play by ear and have the fret board mapped out to what patterns sound good together. I dont think about what I’m doing though, idc what note I start on, what chord I play, I dont even pay attention. In a way I can kind of just see what I want to play or think of how I want it to sound and yeah..I just keep trying different things until I’m satisfied with what I’m hearing. Theory just makes things difficult in the sense that if I think about it, I become more focused on the theory than actually playing the instrument itself for fun. At least when you get down to the really technical stuff.

[@MrDanimal42]

Nice work Dave! Glad to see that your love of music is still taking you new places.

[@EileenPCarryEPC]

I understand ... why I not only love music, but am in love with music.

[@meadowbriar]

Preaching the gospel of music theory and finding music at the bottom of the rabbit hole! Artful, interesting, and good!

[@ekulda]

Awesome so much depth to his presentation. He didnt spell it out that the most lowest note was the same rhythm as the heart beat :) Great going :)

[@EddiePunched]

What a beautiful song A Beautiful Night is.

[@Di4B7O]

When your heart beat syncs with the frequency before the piece of magic begins just makes this ted talk so pure...

[@JonesJr876]

Blown Away!!!! The video starts out slow, but that synthesizer part was radical on my interpretation/ music theory learning. It was always discussed that music relates to our heart beat, and I've studied somewhat the relationship between the notes and the octaves, but never came to mind to hear the these lower frequencies. It gives me questions now, can human life be reduced to twelve states of the heart, twelve beats, the twelve notes of music? Blown Away!!!!

[@philmaturanodrums]

Hi Dave! really great work! We need more people in this world that really understand the depth of what you are saying. This is all cutting edge stuff. I like that you are making it digestible for the average person out there. Its a good thing you are doing!

[@jobero5769]

"What tempo are you playing in?" "E flat"

[@dockunkle8555]

It's roughly 75 bpm at quarter notes

[@friesiamans1966]

but i can´t play it on that guitar, it´s too red...

[@monika1234ify]

Absolutely beautiful presentation.

[@thetruthyeshuahamashiach16]

I am a singer-songwriter and you have just give me the passion I need to start learning music theory thank you!!!

[@ascensionofaeonsband5413]

What a beautiful song, and such wonderful message behind this talk. Thank you

[@MsJamesDino]

"beautiful night" made my night beautiful.. and i like your theory

[@jaytea42]

beautifully done Dave!

[@The22on]

Nice. Good to hear a musician explain his passion.

[@willowwren9519]

You just nailed it the deepest my Brother. You're one of the greatest Legends of my lifetime. There's som much to learn from you. Big Cheers Forever...

[@KitsuneDeshi]

Wonderfully presented. Thank you.

[@bountyhunter6180]

Best TEDX presentation for sure. Mind blowing.

[@sparky9279]

Very well presented. Admirable!

[@sobreaver]

Inspiring metaphor. That E frequency though, never thought it sounded like that, like rhythm =] Thanks for sharing!

[@LorettaCheeks]

Excellent way to demonstrate the connectivity and beauty of music and math.

[@diyanything4939]

That was freak'in beautiful !

[@barbrarussell4568]

Absolutely awesome!

[@superapex2128]

And so we should think of harmony as including rhythm... It's a continuum of sorts. This is blowing my mind!

[@JonesJr876]

Exactly!

[@superapex2128]

@@JonesJr876 Has anyone ever tried harmonizing the beat with the melody and what we generally understand as 'harmony' - or is that too subtle to make a difference? Perhaps a subliminal difference?

[@louiealcala3623]

fantastic work

[@Iampowerful8]

I loved it!

[@nicholaswoolfenden5254]

Nice touch thankyou

[@roberthillier80]

That was great - thank you.

[@slowjosfarm9917]

Great lecture!

[@dominitian94]

This woke up the concept of rhythm to me. Thanks on to the next lesson.

[@JonesJr876]

Exactly! Maybe now I can find rhythm. Has me remembering how each key has it's own feel, now i get it - the keys come from a certain rhythm. wild!

[@SuperVendetta9]

That song as an instrumental only would be great!

[@aims1687]

Very well done. Nice.

[@lingua-multiga]

I enjoyed it. Thank you

[@JJ-qz5gv]

Brilliant 🤘

[@OliFreke]

A quick definition of hertz as 'number of cycles (or repeats) per second' wouldn't have gone amiss.

[@JonesJr876]

Sometimes too much information at once can overload, can leave stuff for the listener to later research after digestion. I studied physics for 9 years, and it never crossed my mind what low frequencies are, as this video explained. So they will pick up the meaning very soon, with this great of an introduction.

[@Haonshh]

6:50 is beautiful

[@cowl6867]

It would've been cool if the Eb note kept playing

[@reme7903]

3:53 incorrect. there are different tonal equal temperaments.

[@odaydrums]

Cool little 7/4 idea at the end there

[@DaveMaddenMusic]

Thanks!

[@virginiamalone4345]

Dave Madden? More like *Dave Madman*

[@mamaslostsoul]

while its an amazing talk, felt he slightly mixed frequency of sound, with frequency of generating a note, when he was explaining Rhythm. Yes, everything in the world is a cycle or wave. but just because they are measure in cycles does not mean they have the same be compared in same way. Life n Death cycle is different from the number of cycles you visit your office. he making 1.215 Hz at 10.25 mins, and saying that we are hearing it not the right argument. He was make a sound note that was played at an interval of 1.215 Hz. thats it !! feel free to update me so that i can further my learning. Btw, am in no way demeaning the talk., its really amazing and learnt a lot. only wanted to get the few seemingly rough edges smoothened 🙂

[@thestonedpizzaguy]

educational and spaceball reference. you have my axe.

[@bobwrotenstien315]

That you can make a sound with a frequency (number of times per second air is being pushed to your ear) down slow enough to hear the oscillations of the air pressure as a pulse does not relate rhythm to melody in any meaningful way simply because the pitch of a note can be defined in frequency. Unless you want to believe houses are related to cars because they both have air in them, or unless you just smoked a big joint.

[@sonicboom1970]

(see question below) or even how to work out the precise bpm. Thanks all.

[@notgiven3114]

Dave, is there a way to get the slides that you presented at this event?

[@saulgoodman1390]

Dave: Every melody you've ever heard has been a combination of some or all of these 12 notes... King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard: We'd like to introduce ourselves

[@thericolifemusic]

Great

[@superapex2128]

We think of the tonal note as being the basis of the whole edifice but what really constitutes the foundation and what all other frequencies (notes) must abide by is the rhythm! Ideally, a masterpiece would build upon the rhythm and extend to higher pitches using the Fibonacci sequence all the way up to the highest note, would it not? That would be a TRULY harmonious piece in the Pythagorean sense, yes/no?

[@woofpuppy]

I don't know what Timothy is talking about, but I like it. And Fibonacci's "sequence" is a new-age-spirituality lie _-sorry about that-_

[@nusphere]

How is the Fibonacci sequence "a new-age-spirituality lie" it's a mathematical sequence that uses feedback to generate exponential values!?

[@lucassiccardi8764]

You're looking for spectral music. Check Grisey's "Vortex Temporum", for example.

[@OliFreke]

Fibonacci won't generate you much, I'm afraid. Take 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,22. The actual musical scale is generated by using whole number ratios, so: 2:1 = an octave; 3:2 = a fifth, 4:3 = a fourth, 5:4 = a major third and so on. The first couple are 'found' in the Fibonacci series, but the rest - 8:5, 13:8 22:8, will generated pretty unpleasant intervals not found in the western tuning system. Lots of inaccurate stuff is written about this mathematical series. I guess the principle is easy to understand and the temptation is to apply it to EVERYTHING. My advice...don't!

[@lucassiccardi8764]

Fibonacci numbers are relevant exactly because they define the ratios between integers. So they are key to every temperament, like pi, phi and e are. This doesn't mean that one has to generate the ratios of values already on the fibonacci scale, like "22/8"... what would that mean in any case?

[@lostkiddie]

Well, Mridangam - a Carnatic percussion instrument is tuned to a pitch.

[@mikebennett5743]

musicinmyopinion willbe universe to understand everyonebinuniverse

[@rodrodriguez460]

Frequency is a property of music. Rhythm uses any frequency. Melody must have rhythm that is either strict or free within the use of tempo. Western music is only part of the whole of "Music". There are more than only 12 notes.

[@JLHunter61]

Very true, but I believe that he was simplifying the concept down to later, western-influenced music, starting with classical music from the 1800s on up. There are infinite frequencies, and thus notes, hidden between the keys of a grand piano, but most western "ears" have not learned how to listen to them, let alone to enjoy the resultant tunes. I, for one, love almost all music, if not all songs, but the rest of the world, for the most part, does not.

[@sonicboom1970]

anyone know what bpm that E flat 1.215 frequency is? I tried to match the tempo in cubase. I got to about 75bpm (roughly) but i`m looking for Exactly, say 75.???. .. if anyone gets my meaning?

[@CrumbCow]

The frequency is in Hz, which is essentially beats per second. So I think you can just multiply by 60 to get your bpm. 1.215 beats per second x 60 seconds per minute = 72.9 bpm

[@sonicboom1970]

Thank you for the reply. I have been trying to figure it out all week. I am assuming that, that 72.9 bpm E flat, would result in richer natural harmonics, when used as a set tempo in say Cubase.? That clicking sound almost sounds like a kick drum, or sub kick sound. which should compliment a kick drum at least. Very interesting. Thank you again.

[@Phiiphayden]

1.215 Hz = 60 x1.215 bpm = 72.9 bpm

[@HABLA_GUIRRRI]

be careful with leap years which actually reduce the duration of the minute by some .17628% in which case you could find yourself tearing ligaments trying to keep time properly.

[@danielmontesomething6056]

Does anyone know which piano that is? It sounds amazing.

[@DianeLouiseRoy]

That is a Steinway..

[@Ryan98391]

There are notes between the notes.

[@bruceruttan60]

There are frequencies between the notes.

[@OfAngelsAndAnarchist]

Bruce Ruttan no... those would be the same thing if you made the notation for it If you didn’t need that, it is already Call it what you like ...

[@superapex2128]

Actually, rhythm is everything - which is something any good hypnotist would agree to.

[@dawnbroadbent]

What happens if you play a "G" repeatedly at the speed of "B"?

[@Darqice]

@1:04 Anyone, where can I find this bad-a*s "cheat sheet" to music theory?

[@DuckInRow]

feed your head :-)

[@therealawakener7]

Drums always win. God is a drummer.

[@marcuslinkerhand1415]

God is a DJ

[@alfredogerman8739]

Famous marches Change to famous march music T

[@superapex2128]

In other words, all tonal notes are not equally well-fitted to the underlying rhythm, right?

[@alexwilder8315]

superapex21 what i was wondering too

[@bruzrcruzr2004]

Thought he was going to mention triads.

[@billyperry3059]

:) You went plaid.

[@ALoonwolf]

Does the guy not know that most other instruments also play the expanse in between those twelve notes? Including the human voice??!?

[@unknownfancy]

let me just say it with all humiliation only on me, Beautiful night sounds like, been here all night been here all day, and I-i-i-i-i'm swinging here from side to side.

[@pavetheworldlovely]

rhythm is the basic element of music. Pitch is extra. For example: dat dat dah, dat dat dah, dat dat da du daaah. This is the beginning of what song?

[@joaquinpercusses]

Jingle Bells!

[@pavetheworldlovely]

It's all about rhythm!

[@HABLA_GUIRRRI]

it'z odd but when people ztart talking ''the rabbit hole'' like they were the firzt wee genius on the planet to think of uzing that clever wee analogy i go ztraight off to zlee .. z z.. ..zz

[@melindamullins9971]

👍🎼💛

[@SIrLoneRabbit]

...except there are absolutely more than 12 "notes". Well-tempering excludes some intervals that occur earlier in the overtone series, plus some others. This is demonstrably untrue.

[@malcolmbryant]

SPOILER: There are 12 notes.

[@bobloblaw9690]

lol, yeah that was technically the ONLY educational aspect. It was still inspirational and entertaining though.

[@farmerfreakeasy9577]

The problem with music theory, is that it breaks down something magical, and turns it into something mathematical; in order to produce cliched formula. If you want to be a magical musician, then it's a good idea to break down the cliched formula; thus turning something mathematical into something magical. After all, the best music is spontaneously magical, not strictly mathematical.

[@stevonico]

Farmer Freakeasy That’s your perspective. For me, studying and understanding the underlying processes which define musical sound, provides a deeper appreciation for the intricate complexities that constitute musical magic. Theory is not a prescriptive template like a mathematical formula, but a descriptive process of how musical structures unfold and why they function the way they do.

[@PeterThoegersen]

Well...we're not together, but we're suuuure out of tune!

[@nathanjacobson7661]

that was weird

[@believerornot]

jesus . it's like listening to beatnik jargon.

[@cowpunkability]

Not much on theory at all mostly just point that it's all from just 12 notes.... then a lame song, I guess that he wrote...Not to demo anything in a specific way.... any song could have been used but what was point of song? annoying... This person could have done so much more - you can tell he's a gifted teacher but his song ate up too much of the talk with little purpose for supporting the main topic? Song is great for what it is, but putting it in this topic diminished song, and didn't serve purpose of talk. Any song w several instruments could have been put in....

[@elcbk460]

THERE ARE MORE THAN 12 NOTES!!! Pianists are stuck in a 12 note system - not string instruments!

[@jmitterii2]

Ode to Joy has a portion that's played in Eflat rhythm. You know what's creepy, there are no vowels in the English word rhythm.

[@1Pineapple]

except Y, Do'h xD

[@JLHunter61]

Y-y-y-y-yeah!

[@indian23hhs]

..sometimes "Y." That letter has a interesting role in this all

[@bryanbarajasBB]

No.

[@ljubog]

A banal message used as a pretense by a singer-songwriter desperate for any audience for his music. :))

[@victoriasalter5265]

If you’re jealous just say that lol 😂

[@newplanman9836]

Great lecture however, in this global information age your talk would be more complete if you preceeded it with a "Western Music Perspective" disclaimer. Our music is only a fraction of the other types of beautiful music around the world...e.g. the note A and harmony means nothing in Chinese music. Good talk though.

[@bruceruttan60]

He should take singing lessons.

[@SCM]

if only that song wasn't so horrible...

[@JJ-qz5gv]

Yea the lyrics killed it for me.

[@-IYN-]

bla-blah... gibberish