How Realistic Are These Jazz Scenes in Films?? Jazz Musician Reacts

[@CharlesCornellStudios]

Use MUSICTHEORY30 to get 30% off! cornellmusicacademy.com/ Also let me know what other scenes from movies we should review!!

[@johanbrand8601]

You're the greatest, Charles!!

[@thevoidanswerswithjazz2215]

Charles my boy!! Most of my knowledge on my future (going into music college) is based on these suuuper nerve-wracking movies. To hear that this isn't always the case makes music feel waaay more doable to me. Thank you for your adult knowledge, Whiplash straight up gave me a tunnle vision stress ulcer 💀🙏🙌

[@ashtonwingate1470]

The Glenn Miller Story, Man With A Horn, A Song Is Born...

[@joshsanders8717]

Our assistant band director was s nightmare about technique and tempo. When teaching new drummers how to hold your sticks, if they moved their pinkies off of the stick he would hit their fingers with a chime mallet. I remember practicing donna lee with the big band when all of a sudden he hurled a nearby bass mallet at an unsuspecting trombone player

[@thevoidanswerswithjazz2215]

@@joshsanders8717 yiiike!! That person isn't smart, they just have a lawsuit on their hands ☠☠☠

[@JackHammer503]

To be a little fair to whiplash, Simmons' character stopping even though there isn't anything wrong with the tempo is kind of the point, he's exerting dominance over the band and the new drummer. I don't really look at the movie from a musically accurate standpoint but more so of a the story of a toxic mentor influencing a young talent

[@SamIAm-kz4hg]

I've never met anyone in the jazz field anywhere close to this, as the guy in the video said. No one I know is like this. They should do a movie about Buddy Rich. now THAT guy was an asshole. But not like this.

[@alejandrodanieldelfino4011]

@@SamIAm-kz4hg Dude, there are assholes everywhere, another great movie about an asshole teacher is "the art of self defense"

[@craigwright2977]

YES! YES! That is EXACTLY the point. Thank you!

[@shakesbeare-gaming]

I respect that, but this movie was heralded as an incredible film bringing music and jazz to the forefront of pop culture, so I think its a valid criticism to turn around and say "its not really about the music aspect." Plus, it's painting music in a bad light since it isn't really like that at all and this is one of the few times people will be exposed to music in this form in pop culture. As Adam Neely said, it's a sports movie that happens to be about music. It's important for people to repeatedly bring up that this isn't actually how music higher education is.

[@P0W3RH0U53]

Unfortunately every "jazz" person who watches this film criticizes it for inaccuracy and it amuses me to no end, because I am a mathematician, and I love the hell out of Good Will Hunting, even though I have never had anyone treat anyone like the professor treats Will in that film. Let alone certain math concepts in that film are actually rudimentary. But I don't gripe about it, because the film is great. As far as I am concerned, I was so happy to see Math being used in a pop context.

[@ToomanyFrancis]

As a drummer that first began studying jazz in middle school, the scene in soul is 100% accurate. That's exactly how my first rehearsal went, I've only gotten worse since then.

[@ndcapitalz3333]

😂😂

[@Kringlord97]

My band teacher was notorious for throwing shoes at us so for me the first clip is like an 8/10 accuracy

[@CRT.v]

Dang, mine just kept a marching plume on his stand during concert season and would start conducting with it when we weren't listening to his directions. "If you're gonna sound like the first week of marching season..." Had an English teacher who regularly threw his water bottle at the back wall of the classroom though. That sure is attention-grabbing!

[@kalamai9753]

Then I think we went to the same school :)

[@lukejohnson6623]

Hey I had sticks thrown at me, that’s why I stopped marching band and switched schools, now I’m gonna minor in music for that choice

[@aidanservis6762]

My high school band director just throws candy at us but like viscously, but not too viscous

[@defnotme4841]

Mr McCown..?

[@matthewjones6786]

I love that in Soul, an animated movie with a potential kid audience, there's so much time dedicated to letting the main character get lost in his music. Check out any making-of videos if you can, the detail in the animation of Joe's fingers as he plays is unbelievable.

Yes, but Soul (and many other Pixar animated movies) are not really "for kids", and I think that´s Pixar´s secret. Parents take their kids to the movies and...wait, this thing is really good!

[@alotofthings3692]

​@I feel like how Pixar did their movies is to incorporate a level of fun for kids, and a level of deepness for adults

[@RJTheCerealGuy]

I can just imagine charles being in the orchestra in whiplash and just laughing his ass off in the background

[@nataleynakata3687]

Fletcher: *whirls around and flings a chair at Charles*

[@GoofBallProdigy]

Underated comment ahahahah

[@UltimateTS64]

I would be 😂

[@randmiller88]

That was him on the trumpet

[@cammejia5665]

what is ur profile pic

[@razordu30]

"I don't think I've really ever encountered many people who would outright be like, 'I hate jazz.'" Oh, Charles; so innocent.

[@PeteMidg]

I'm embarrassed to say that I said this in my personal statement for university applications when I was 18 - but like Charles says I just needed to find the type that was right for me : pat metheny whose album We live here I bought having loved "Follow Me" from a chart rundown, and I was blown away. When I was 45!

[@odjurensland]

I appreciate jazz and the masterful skills of great jazz-musicians and by god is it a cool genre albeit not my go to genre. Personally it can get a bit too busy for me some times 🤦🏻‍♂️ 😅

[@Sofia-nc1tu]

@@odjurensland Have you tried listening to 'cool jazz'; e.g. Bill Evans, Thelonious Monk, Erroll Garner, Paul Desmond? Maybe you'd enjoy that sort of jazz more; it usually has more relaxed tempos and is lighter tone, in contrast to the fast and busy bebop style.

[@dr.juerdotitsgo5119]

I think no one hates a music genre for itself, it's always about something extra-musical, like; dude doesn't like jazz because the fans are mostly rich and hip presumptuous pricks trying to be sophisticated while they can't even differentiate a minor chord from a major chord.

[@tube1971]

This is practically a cliche. Remember Kids In The Hall and "hateful freeform jazz"?

[@Hardymovies]

I guess the thing is with the first clip, the whole thing is that there was never really a problem with the tempo, and that scene was entirely to demonstrate the power games that JK Simmons character played, and would define the characters relationship to the rest of the film. In a way that shows really JK Simmon’s character cared more about character and prestige than the music itself

[@waveymattdavey]

Yeah I always understood it that he was supposed to be an exceptional asshole, like a caricature of a controlling band leader. There's nothing wrong with the tempo, he counts in "5 6 and" because it's harder, he throws the chair because he's justifying his being an asshole will bring about the next best musician. He's an unbelievable jerk and I could watch J K Simmons as him all day.

[@supernova7043]

I remember reading in an article somewhere that Simmons' character that he played was largely based off the directors own experience as a drummer in band

[@TheCyanSqueegee]

Yeah it's the exact same thing as when he kicks the one player out of the band after he interrogates him about whether he is in tune or not and makes him question himself, and then reveals that his playing was absolutely fine after all. His whole character is about how he plays mind games with his musicians and makes them afraid of him so that he can power trip and pretend that he is creating the next great generation of musicians when really he just makes everyone afraid to not live up to his expectations and drove a kid to suicide. I always interpreted the final scene as Andrew finally getting onto an equal footing with him by completely ignoring his directions and making Fletcher follow his lead in the end, rather than the more cynical take that Andrew has fallen into his clutches. I guess you could argue that since Andrew follows Fletcher's directions for the snare takeoff at the end that he has succumbed to him but I always thought he was going to do it just to show him that he had confidence in his own skills and ability to do it at that point, hence them seeing "eye to eye" in the final shots. I also agree with Adam Neely that it feels more like a sports movie that uses the context of music as a plot device than a movie about the feeling of actually playing music. For that, I honestly think Soul was far superior. I'm not a jazz musician though.

[@YouBredRaptorsMusic]

@@supernova7043 yeah. This was pretty accurate to my experiences in marching band. (My jazz instructors were always very chill. Maybe because we were already a lost cause? Hahaha)

[@Euthyphro]

Exactly. Just like how he fires that kid for not knowing whether he was out of tune or not, when he wasn’t.

[@eddielovato6781]

We had a “violently confrontational” band director in 5th grade music class. His beef wasn’t over tempo, but still hilarious nonetheless. His reaction to us unruly children paralleled Terence Fletcher’s in this scene. Priceless!

[@MrJagermeister]

Re: La La Land, he got fired because he was there to play Christmas music. Explicitly, only Christmas music. And he’d already gotten into it with J.K. Simmons’ character about playing other stuff and was met with a *HARD* no, so as beautiful as it was what he played, it was a musical “f**k you, I quit” right before getting fired, lol. Also, it blows my mind (as a piano player) that Ryan Gosling didn’t know how to play coming on to this film.

[@davidvanhorn2493]

I can’t believe he’s playing if he didn’t know cause that’s crazy rapid improvement if he’s playing?

[@luf4rall]

Yea his technique was good in that scene

[@Koffelbourg1]

Well if it seems too good to be true, it's because it is. If you search for interviews of the director he mentions in one of them that the hands we see are Ryan Gosling's, but the sound for some of the pieces is from a professional pianist. Gosling mainly learned to mimic the playing for the most technical parts, which makes a lot of sense

[@fatlord12]

No way he's playing lol he might be ok at mimicking it for the shot but anyone who knows piano can see inconsistencies in the scene at 10:00 between the music and his fingers

[@JohnSmith-oe5kx]

@@Koffelbourg1 You can tell that it's not Gosling playing, but he does a great job. I usually find mimed playing very annoying, whereas in this case I found myself pleasantly surprised.

[@patflynn]

Middle school band teacher would blow his temper and throw his baton at students 😬 So first clip was relatable.

[@VOLAIRE]

JK Simmons needs to be in every movie about music just so that him appearing can be a running gag, haha

[@PuffyOne1898]

He’s an alumnus of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia. Finest men’s music fraternity there is.

[@jackthecommenter2768]

hi Volaire it’s me

[@cliffprowse3341]

@@jackthecommenter2768 No one cares. Hit the road, Jack.

[@aydenduke2556]

no way it's volaire i havent see u in a min

[@PuffyOne1898]

Literally who.

[@nicoomycousin]

I feel so validated when you say the scene in Soul was a 0/10 accuracy for gig auditions. When I first watched it, I remember feeling incredibly anxious and internally screaming, “You’re not listening to the bandddd” And then when he got the gig, I seriously questioned my band experience. So weird when the narrative doesn’t match reality.

[@ruskasielu6261]

Personally, what got me into jazz was deffo the whole low-fi/neosoul movement, japanese fusion ...and your channel of course ! Can't say I'm actually familiar yet with the genre, but I'm interested in digging deeper !

[@darkgreninja8349]

Same

[@ianxe]

Neo soul best

[@spec4085]

@@ianxe Blues jazz on top hehe

[@ianxe]

@@spec4085 perhaps

[@381delirius]

The game "sonic: unleashed" kinda got me into jazz. Especially the night songs.

[@PyrozPlayground]

Dude.. the way you went into that whole chord progression thing around 6:50, reminded me of one of my college professors when I took music theory and piano classes. Our prof used to go into these long progression-filled tunes with his eyes closed and a smile on his face. The same way you did. Thanks for reminding me of those days, man. 🥺☺♥️

[@harryikel3883]

love this! BUT i'm gonna be that guy the whiplash scene is SUPPOSED to be weirdly nit-picky, and neimann probably isn't doing anything wrong. fletcher's using the moment purely and simply to show neimannn exactly how harsh he can be. it establishes the dynamic for the rest of the film, even if it isn't accurate - it's intentional :)

[@case6339]

Yeah, came to say this. He is missing the point entirely. The film is not depicting an 'ordinary' jazz scene.

[@matkolusetic6270]

@@case6339 yes and i dont even know why you would go and criticise it without even watching the whole movie.

[@andybaldman]

He’s mentioning it because it’s ridiculous. Like the whole movie was.

[@upon-a-black-hill]

This is also why he is able to silence the whole band with a wave instantly. The band knows he is going to do this

[@sallysings7766]

@@andybaldman I agree. I think for many musicians the movie was almost unwatchable, at least it was for me.

[@alexanderschwab6408]

There’s an interview with the director of Whiplash. He was a drummer at college/conservatory and the story is an ”over-the top” representation of his experience through it. His teacher actually made him really anxious so I guess there are examples of it

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Barry B. Benson mentioning jazz is the peak of jazz in movies and nobody can tell me otherwise

[@EpicManaphyDude]

kim jong-un mentioning barry b benson mentioning jazz is the peak of jazz in movies is the peak of memes in comments and nobody can also tel me otherwise

[@solfeji]

are you stuck in 2016 king

[@itsweetened]

@@EpicManaphyDude LR210 mentioning Kim Jong Un mentioning that Barry B benson mentioning jazz is the peak of jazz in movies and nobody can tell me otherwise as well

[@kiraoshiro6157]

@@itsweetened (h)acim mentioning LR210 m(e)ntioning Kim Jong Un mentioning that Barry B Bension mentioning jazz is the peak of jazz in movies and nobody can tel(l) him otherwise is the (p)eak of memes in com(me)nts and nobody can *tel* him otherwise is the peak of re(pl)ies to comm(e)nts (a)nd nobody can tell me otherwi(se) as well

[@passionatemelon6627]

i gotta say, all of the middle school band scene was pretty accurate lol. One kid got a container of cottage cheese stuck in his tuba, a phone actually got stuck in someones saxophone, and the drummer was always better than everyone else

[@marksutter182]

I’ve seen a lot of reviews about Whiplash about how over the top it is. I thought it was painfully accurate based on many teachers and coaches I had throughout the years. I’m glad to find out my experiences weren’t typical, but I found Whiplash to be scarily close to real life.

[@LoganGabriel]

I agree, I was in band throughout high school + college and while yea, JK Simmons character might be a tad exaggerated, I've seen enough band teachers get furious at different points and lose their temper that it's really not that hard to imagine tbh.

[@andrewroberts8139]

I don't know about jazz, but conductors used to be like that (hopefully no longer). George Szell was notorious

[@tromboneman4517]

@@LoganGabriel, dealing with my fellow unmotivated peers in high school often was multiple times worse than dealing with my band directors. Actually, most of my band directors (except one, who is nowhere near as bad as Fletcher) were pretty cool.

[@johnlime1469]

I've had someone like a toned down version of Fletcher when I was in an amateur university orchestra (I quit playing altogether afterwards. I wonder fucking why). He was the top contrabass player in the Berlin Symohonic Orchestra or something like that, so he simply had too much value to "get rid of". I did hear stories about him throwing things at students or storming out of sessions multiple times despite us having to pay him something like 10 thousand dollars (conversion rate from yen to dollars asode) every year. I actually had myself put in the spotlight for not playing well enough, and the concertmaster was crying afterwards because he partially blamed it on her for not instructing me enough. On a positive note, I did learn to practice around 15 hours a day during the concentrated practice week (it's just 3 weeks in total. I had it so easy in retrospect) out of guilt. So yes, I can totally see someone like Fletcher existing in music conservatories, where I would imagine that more stress is put on students and the professors' demeanors are more brutal.

[@iunnox666]

You ever get chewed out just before losing consciousness due to blood loss after a car crash?

[@wavy5702]

I actually did have a band director that was pretty violent. So for me whiplash was very accurate as it was something I could relate to.

[@julianjustin3455]

8:16 I remember Chick Corea telling a story about how Miles invited him to play, but there was no rehearsal and miles just said "play what you hear" And without knowing any songs I guess he just played along and afterwards got complimented by him IMAGINE THE PRESSURE

[@brianrinckenberger6265]

Marcus Miller had a great story about auditioning for Miles’ band too. First Miles chastised him for not playing out enough, then he got on him for embellishing too much. Eventually Miller realized it was Miles f’ing with him, to see if he’d back down, or if was thick skinned enough to take the heat and still play his best.

[@julianjustin3455]

@@brianrinckenberger6265 nice one

[@mustashee]

I love that his reaction to Spiderman 3 was directly on par with literally everyone else's reaction lol

[@CheekiTiki]

That scene is so bad that it looped around to being perfect

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@CheekiTiki exactly!! Peter thinks he’s being sooo cool, but the audience can see it all for the cheesy cringey rubbish it is! An excellent use of juxtaposition, by playing it straight in both viewpoints simultaneously.

[@leob4403]

​@@kaitlyn__Lcheesy cringy rubbish? Are you talking about the latest 15 years of marvel movies? Sam raimis trilogy was easily the best thing that ever came out of marvel

[@kaitlyn__L]

@@leob4403 you will note I was describing Peter, especially at that point in the film, rather than the films themselves

[@dr.juerdotitsgo5119]

"Bully Peter Parker" is cinematic gold. If only the movie was only that.

[@brunodays]

Whiplash is one of my favorite films and I love seeing people tear it to pieces. It's always so funny to musician's takes on it

[@lwinter56273]

I love whiplash too, and I am a musician or at least play the trumpet xd and I know other musicians who loved it and I personally don't really care about the details, it's just such an amazing movie oh my God

[@JonahNelson7]

It definitely portrays the passion of the arts well if nothing else

[@UltimateTS64]

Whiplash both cracked me up and left me drained after it was over. I felt like I went through that whole thing 😂

[@carlp3411]

@Ian Laing don’t know about jazz but I encountered a conductor at a major festival where I was the soloist and he insisted to conduct my cadenzas. So yeah, it happens. It’s unfortunate but it happens. To me (maybe because I am classical where this seem to be more common) Whiplash is way too accurate.

[@rwandanstarbux1494]

@Ian Laing You unironically just used BLIMEY.

[@jookie4207]

I think Charles needs to watch Whiplash, he doesn’t get the story because it wasn’t accurate to him, but it’s just the plot of the movie and the character that is very violent and out of control

[@clases_idioma_arabe]

But his critic is about the music. He just demostrates that Whiplash isn't a movie about music at all

[@chipwatford7676]

The reaction to the Bully Maguire clip was actually the greatest thing I've seen in a while

[@conradsmith9441]

Yeah I rewatched him watch it like 3 times. 😂

[@narmale]

omg im crying from it 🤣🤣🤣😆😆😆

[@Liz-nb9rq]

Hey charles i just wanna say i really appreciate your videos. I went to a school where courses are jazz oriented, i love jazz however I grew up playing classical and couldn't find any teacher that taught jazz (I'm from china). And because my major was sound design, i barely had the time to improve on jazz performance or anything in that regard. Some events also happened in school that discouraged me. Now that it's been half a year after graduation, I decided to pick it up again. Decided to teach myself jazz composition and I started to practice piano regularly to overcome this mental block, and watching your videos is a HUGE help to get me in the mood. Yk how sometimes you just need a stimulation to put you in that mental space. I also just listened to your album Tales, the vibe is so warm and beautiful it instantly made me happier. Thank you for all the effort put into your music and videos

[@j.t.9175]

My fourth grade music teacher, Mr. Palmer got me into jazz! He had me playing the upright bass and tenor saxophone when they were both bigger than I was! That movie Soul reminded me of him so much. He told us the story of when he auditioned to play percussion for Miles Davis and he was told he didn't have it. The guy spoke with such passion as he taught us about Thelonius and Duke. Hope you're well out there, Mr. Palmer! I went on to study music because of you!

[@jellycore1316]

Aww, that's so awesome!

[@mikebrueggman6666]

What got me really into jazz were the musicians Sab Irene and Insaneintherainmusic, and the Cowboy Bebop OSTs, especially the Blue album. And that Spider Man 3 scene always gets me

[@MJake]

Please more videos reacting on Music in Movies :)

[@8teenOfficial]

+1

[@Idefilms]

The chord breakdown on Soul, especially, was *amazing*

[@captaindanger13]

2:45 - 2:50 my 6th grade band teacher was notorious for throwing stands at students. I remember people still talking about it when we were seniors in high school even though she left the next year. later on we learned from the high school band teacher that she wasn't like this until after being at our middle school for a few years. idk what it is that's causing this but apparently the next teacher left after only 3 years, and he was a super energetic cool teacher so i was surprised. He left because he noticed that his mental health was starting to decline and so he left to avoid it getting worse and having a situation like the previous teacher. Idk what was up with that middle school cuz when my friends and I heard all that from our high school band teacher, we weren't surprised.

[@c3ru1ean41]

EXACT same here except she threw a chair at our only french horn player…

[@leob4403]

​@@c3ru1ean41stop making stuff up

[@lakritzeslena]

My choir director was like that whiplash conducter. Narcissistic and mean, and did a lot of unfair things to embarrass single singers in front of the rest of the choir. I'm so happy I left.

[@irissagar1080]

Choirs are brutal af

[@lakritzeslena]

@@irissagar1080 they can be, luckily afterwards I had the most kind and caring choir director one could imagine.

[@bellal3167]

Oof, I’m sorry you had that experience. I love choir wholeheartedly, and I hope that the one bad teacher hasn’t ruined singing for you!

[@lakritzeslena]

@@bellal3167thank you! It's the same for me! And no one could ruin it ❤️

[@duncancole1742]

I'm not a jazz guy but I studied music and I felt that Whiplash was somewhat accurate in how some teachers 'feel' from the students point of view. Like I didn't have chairs thrown at me (of course) but I definitely had a music teacher who would really focus in on someone (sometimes me) and said person would be sweating, making minor mistakes etc.

[@darcebader2126]

That scene in soul where he's trying to figure out the tune on the fly is me playing guitar in church service as a kid. Luckily it was just me and a drummer, so I'd play whatever chords I thought made sense with the melody of the singer. Turns out those Sundays were priceless for the development of my ear.

[@thefilipinonerd]

charles’s initial shock and then laugh when the spider-man scene showed up was the exact same reaction i had at that point of this video help

[@davisdiercks]

Love this 😂 Btw, as a jazz trumpet player... 1) The trumpet making a funny noise when the director cuts off (particularly when he keeps cutting off before much happens) is 10/10 accurate 2) My middle school band teacher used to throw things (though usually not directly at students) all the time, mostly pens and batons but occasionally music stands or chairs. He was... Interesting... 3) No you can't suck up skittles with a trumpet, I may or may not know from experience 😅

[@Rasbiff]

I can definitely see middle school band teachers throwing shit when people are not listening or paying attention (which is like 90% of the time in Middle School), but a band leader at a conservatory throwing a chair because a drummer was in "the wrong tempo" despite never getting to play more than half a bar before the band leader shuts him down is just *bizarre.* I think Adam Neely said it best: It's a sports movie pretending to be about music. This whole "pUsH yOUrSelF hARdEr"/"tOUgH lOVe" trope is usually drooled all over by the same people who thinks their team won a particular match because "tHEy wAnTEd iT mORe"

[@NoobieSnake]

During my time in Jazz School (university), there was indeed a very strict instructor there. My friend who studied at the same school with me, we both enjoyed Whiplash a lot because it was very realistic to what we’ve experienced before. It’s one of my favorite movie ever because of how much it resembled my real life experience.

[@ericm1373]

Gonna be honest, i usually don't like these types of "nitpicking" videos. But Charles is so upbeat and positive, i just really enjoyed it.

[@sickening_love1154]

Middle and high school was pretty different when it comes to taking class seriously. The soul scene was similar but the only difference is the kids laughing at someone for getting serious into their playing. In my classes, people would cheer afterwards or the instructor would compliment them. We were more like a family when it comes to trying our best to support each other as a band.

[@Maddie01022]

That soul dude was just referring to that major 7 chord as a minor triad built a major 3rd above the root lol

[@jimwilson5148]

At a rehearsal for a pit orchestra I was playing in (I don't recall the show), the conductor did throw a chair at one of the musicians. Most of the orchestra quit immediately. And I have had more than a few people tell me they hate jazz

[@williamwitt6212]

This was a blast. Some scenes I'd love to see you rate are: The Legend of 1900 - Jazz piano battle Sweet and Low Down - Hot Jazz scenes. The Captains - Avery Brooks playing piano while be interviewed by William Shatner Anchorman - Jazz Flute

[@alexmoore2268]

Love Avery Brooks in that interview!

[@razordu30]

Oh man, jazz flute would be hilarious

[@becauseicangaming2479]

@@razordu30 I was Thinking he should do that Scene too!

[@gustaflembre4191]

Loved this Charles. I wrote a whole essay on the music in La La Land in film music theory and it was so much fun. It's one of my favourite movies because of it. The themes are just so well thought-out and are introduced in very unique ways.

[@leob4403]

La la land was so ridiculously overrated

[@charliecampbell6851]

Fun fact! The guy playing the trumpet on stage is Bijon Watson, lead player for the Clayton Hamilton jazz orchestra. He's a real player, but he's not the one playing in the background track!

[@Sfxfreestyle]

Whiplash is an incredible movie, with great performances and an amazing story. However, the jazz aspect is “ok”. But it’s less about how accurate the jazz is, as much of it being a good movie.

[@SplitHead12]

I had a band director similar to the dude from whiplash. He didn’t try to really physically harm us except for the occasional expo marker, or drumstick, but he was super intense for no reason, and would always over exaggerate to make his point. He was fired and detained for sending his nudes to a color guard kid. Hated that guy

[@KaiserNoire]

Dude, I’ve watched my high school jazz band teacher throw books, cd’s, pens, stands, drop-kick doors and throw chairs. All while screaming at the top of his lungs. Dude was intense. Exactly saxophonist though. I didn’t really learn anything, but I had fun in his class trying to figure out everything by ear.

[@stephanleo]

7:00 Hi Charles: That's the famous Steely Dan "Mu" Chord, e.g. the second chord in the verse of "Peg"! Great video :)

[@justanothergamer7918]

Soul made me cry. That movie brought out emotions i never thought would be let out from a movie.

[@ChaseTremaine]

I have absoluuuuuuutely met people who say they hate all jazz, for real Also La La Land and Whiplash are both masterpieces. For controversy's sake, I'll throw in that The Last Jedi is a masterpiece too.

[@chriskrause6280]

One thing I’ve seen speculated for the first scene: Andrew wasn’t messing up and Terrence was going to do it to him regardless. Terrence is absolutely abusive, and the film definitely is examining the line between pushing/abuse, so I think that’s a pretty likely interpretation.

[@Cinemagic53]

After seeing this I’d love to see a reaction/breakdown of Back to the Future’s school dance ‘50’s jazz group into them playing Johnny B. Goode.

[@EobardFerguson]

I would call them a Rhythm and Blues group, not jazz.

[@kvn120]

In Soul, Jon Batiste was one of the mastermind behind the soundtracks, that voicings and progressions are (similar?) with what he did in Stephen Colbert's late night show with Mac Miller (rip). The band and Mac was performing "Ladders". Jon used that passing/voicing chords in the final verse before the band kicks in. I've watched the live video so many times , when Charles breakdown those voicings i knew it right away, guess Jon really love those voicings 😆🔥🔥🔥

[@shaboiisaiah]

i had a HS band director very very similar to the conductor from whiplash. (including chairs thrown). I will say, i went from 3rd chair to 1st chair so fast! some people need a fire under their ass for greatness but it definitely is not for most people. (Abuse is rarely an effective tool for improving talent)

[@iseetheendisnear2416]

That scene in Whiplash is supposed to play off of how strangely musicians act when they’re microadjusting and fine -tuning stuff in rehearsals, but… it’s obvious the director’s acting unreasonable even on the level of god-tier musicians. It’s a hilariously bizarre caricature

[@maynardewm]

I actually did have a band director in college who was pretty intense. Throwing things and screaming outbursts were not uncommon 😅 Whiplash to me was like, watching it made me feel how intense it felt emotionally in real life. Even though it didn’t go as far as throwing chairs at people (more throwing things across the room but not AT people) it FELT that intense in the moment. Omg the Spider-Man scene. I’m glad I didn’t watch that in theatres because I would have burst out laughing lol

[@marksutter182]

I had a band director that came to our school fresh out of college. He mellowed out a lot in the six years I had him, but he was a real volcano in the first two years. As far as teachers and coaches generally, I can't even tell you how many truly toxic and abusive ones I had. Whiplash rang true for me to a scary extent, so I was surprised to see so many people rip it apart for being "over the top." It's interesting to find that my experiences weren't universal.

[@philmckenna5709]

@absolute zippo Thanks for taking the time to send all these positive and supportive best wishes to all these people who've had bad experiences. Good for you, Zip! And Happy New Year 🥂🍾

[@facepalmdaily4404]

I absolutely had a band director similar to the one in Whiplash. Of course, it's a movie so it's completely over the top, but yea one of my directors in college had CRAZY anger issues. That scene took me straight back to those rehearsals. The starting and stopping, bitching over tempo or tuning.... even the throwing chairs and shit. He never threw them at the students, but I definitely remember a chair or two flying across the room at no one in particular.

[@nwcr_]

6:23 I think you forgot that major 7th chords consist of both a major triad on the root, and a minor triad on the third, so it could maybe be referring to that, but I agree that it is a weird thing to say in this context

[@apothecurio]

I was thinking the same. A super funky way to say cmaj7 is Emin/C

[@j2bigd590]

@@apothecurio not necessarily, cmaj7 has the same notes as emin/c but the c is in the bass, so instead of it being a different root of cmaj7 it’s a completely different thing. What you’re saying makes sense tho, it’s just unnecessarily complex

[@apothecurio]

@@j2bigd590 yeah that’s what I’m sayin. Same notes. different context.

[@digital0785]

I was taking it as throwing the major with the minors previously played is what the wohhh was.. because as he says it's a beautiful voicing and it's what makes it all pop

[@quiwi-art]

halfway through the Soul clip, I paused the video, decided to watch the entire film for the first time, cried, and learned the meaning of life. Now I'm back to see if the jazz was realistic! thanks for the string of events

[@TheCyanSqueegee]

It's such a fantastic movie. Honestly the most mature depiction of death and life I have ever seen in a children's movie.

[@wienerstein2817]

It sent me into an existential crisis.

[@dannywhite8395]

Charles as regards to Whiplash, I can tell you I have been sat in a rehearsal for an hour where we didn’t get through the first two bars of the piece because the conductor wasn’t happy with the tuning and then the tempo. You have had a blessed musical life if you’ve not experienced this 😂😂😂

[@jayneubauer3401]

your description of chords, whether the way you see them as a jazz pianist, or in the literal sense, as a classical musician might, is MOST accurate. As a mostly rock keyboardist (note I didn't declare myself to be a pianist) with classical training on other instruments I was called on to play behind a really talented jazz acoustic guitarist and a sax player once ("are you sure you want ME to play!?"). I was able to take the charts and completely rewrite the chords for nearly half of them to something that I could do "on the fly" and not sound like I was killing the songs. It went ok, I got a few compliments (they were REALLY kind), and I tried to never do that again. Jazz is a vocabulary that you really have to study. Rock, blues, those I have studied. Jazz, not so much.... much appreciation to you and guys like you for what you do, and do well!

[@limeymcfrog1]

Re: Whiplash - it makes a lot more sense in the classical music scene. There are several stories I know of even professional choristers having pencils, etc. thrown at them. The reason they stay in work is because they are a gatekeeper to a relatively small amount of good paying gigs. The toxic perfectionism preached by JK Simmons character is utterly rampant in Classical Music Programs at Universities. Several pianist friends of mine have had gnarly injuries to their fingers similar to the injuries Miles Teller's character has in this film.

[@Borgus]

Can NOT believe the “Jazz Flute” scheme in Anchorman wasn’t included for review!

[@shlumpy_8376]

I’m probably really late to this, but I haven’t watched your videos In awhile and this was a good returning one, I just wanted to say that I’m very glad you hit a million subs and it was very very well deserved, you’re amazing at what you do, keep it up, definitely tuning in to your videos more often again :)❤️

[@tawandamanika530]

"this will take you from zero to something" is the best and most realistic ad for music tuition I've ever seen.

[@originalhazelgreene]

2:12 the trumpet player is saying GET IT RIGHT, DUDE, COME ON...

[@markcooper6855]

Have you ever seen the movie “the Legend of 1900”? You should definitely check it out - particularly the piano battle!

[@jimflys2]

As a drummer, I have been in so many situations with directors, leaders and fellow bandsmen. Never encountered anything like this. Never! But, once I college, we were playing Donna Lee. A big band arrangement. This was like 1984 and a high level band. The alto player was not up to that opening run in the first 4 bars. Director stopped several times. "Let's try it again." After about the 3rd time, the alto player turns to me with that knowing look of "help me out man." I sat back on the tempo a little to help jim out. NO DICE! That director immediately heard that and clapped his hands. "Not my tempo. Come on folks!" The alto player flubbed thru it, but we played the tune at tempo. Alto player hit the practice room and I became his friend for life. Whenever we see each other, we laugh about that time all those years ago as he hires me to clinic his rhythm section and he directs his band. And he has had many winners at the Lincoln Center contest. I don't think hurling a chair would be as effective as good teaching skills. Never watched the film.

[@thegreasygrub5009]

That’s interesting. It seems in that case the director had high standards but wasn’t abusive.

[@JohnSmith-oe5kx]

I seriously nope that you never encountered a bandleader like Fletcher. The point of the movie is that he is essentially a sociopath.

[@VicSinclair2000]

Every jazz director I've played with was somehow both honestly critical and really supportive. The only time I've had a conductor physically flip shit, it was because a student was playing around and knocked into a very expensive drum kit which had just been donated. All he did was throw his baseball hat tho.

[@Skip6235]

In defense of the one-and-three snaps, most likely there was no music on the set, and so that's actually on the editor and not on the extras

[@briannacombs]

When the ad’s music is in the same key as the music in the video *chef’s kiss*

[@latheofheaven1017]

Charles, you've lived a charmed life. Most of the people I've ever known, including many musicians - hate jazz. They don't like anything that even whiffs of it.

[@bradrobbins1521]

I remember our band director pounding his fist on the podium trying to keep us in tempo. He eventually figured out how to hook up a metronome to a 200w amp and 20" speakers. That worked. I can still feel it.

[@OMGitsaClaire]

Maybe those intense conductors don’t exist in jazz but let me tell you they sure do exist in choirs. Even for young children. My middle school choir was one of the best in the state, but being yelled at and having our director slam her hand down on the piano to get our attention was par for the course. And god forbid you were ever late for rehearsal in college.

[@AltissimoMan]

I often think these sorts of teachers are the ones who are teaching because they weren't good enough to make it as performers themselves.

[@jibi9275]

Soul is probably one of the most beautiful, most poetic, most moving Pixar films. and I take great pleasure in watching it as a family with my children.

[@07932dash]

Love this video and would love to see more of you reacting to jazz scenes in movies!

[@camipco]

The face he makes in Soul when he's appreciating that chord on the piano is 100% accurate to the face you make when appreciating a chord...

[@nicksurfs1]

Charles is so innocent. Whiplash reminded me so much of my high school band. There was a lot of humiliation and throwing things and calling our cellphones in the middle of the night

[@Wes_Reed]

My high-school band director was a complete reflection of the director. Still gives me chills.

[@johnwest6083]

I had a band director that was as close to the whiplash band director as you could legally get away with in the public school system. He took a pretty rag tag highschool group to winning state in just a few years. The band had never even been to state finals. He proceeded to get burnt out and quit directing to work for ATT customer service, but damn did he make me a good musician.

[@leob4403]

Someone else made you a good musician? That's pretty sad, I thought the point of music was to express your own personal creativity

[@Abdulrahmanmutwalli]

Hey Charles I want to note that you also Have to consider The plot and the motive of the scene like in (lala land) he was supposed to play Christmas songs but instead he played his own but he begs to stay then gets fired. just to let you know🙂. great video & have a good Day.

[@Pratchettgaiman]

I think that I like jazz similarly to how I like coffee: as a flavoring on something else, not so much by itself (of course as I understand it it's kind of hard to even define what "pure jazz" even is of course.

[@kigamezero8636]

Coffee is good by itself, excuse you 😤

[@junlee7237]

@@kigamezero8636 exactly, you are one of those people who like “pure jazz”

[@jaebird3077]

Weirdly I like Jazz like I like coffee. Pure and in extreme amounts haha

[@JesusOfPaign]

I feel this. It’s not something i’ll sit down and listen to or actively seek out, but when artists incorporate bits of it into their music, i almost always love it

[@THEPurpleEgg]

Adam Neely has honestly a really good video on whiplash (which, if you're here, you probably have already seen)

[@AyeshaShaSha]

This was an absolute joy to watch.. Hilarious moments and I loved your reaction Charles! I'd love you to break down some of Rowlf's music from the Muppets... That dog has some tunes.... 🐶😂

[@NapkinNexter]

When I saw the conductor guy in whiplash in this video, I was like "hmm, he looks similar to the strict boss from La La Land." After looking up the actor, I realized it was the same one.😂

[@SethWadeMelancon]

Loved the whole video, but AS SOON as Spider-Man 3 popped up I laughed loud, hard and consecutively for 5 mins straight. Thanks Charles, now my gut hurts.

[@applejayz1987]

All the pushback I always see whenever someone discusses Whiplash... really wish it wasnt seen as "The drumming movie" or "The jazz band movie". Its neither ofc, like you said its not really trying to be either. Its a movie about the relationship between an abusive, manipulative, opportunistic authority, looking for their claim to fame, and their obsessive, perfectionist pupil. Jazz and drumming were just used as Fletchers "in", a stage for the story to unfold on. When people present it as some pinnacle of jazz or drumming, and expect it to be treated as such, it sets it up to fail whenever anyome tries to actually analize it as such, and starts all sorts of unnecessary drama over "oh you hate the movie" "oh you dont get it" "oh you dont know what your saying" etc. Its like claiming Indiana Jones is true archeology as opposed to a fantastical adventure. You're right that its not accurate band, love the movie, fantastic review

[@AwesomeBoysJPTV]

You should review The whole movie of Soul. Lots of Jazz in the movie

[@icouldholdyouforever]

All great movies, Soul made me cry the first time I saw it. Really enjoyed this video!

[@JoshuaKallenberg]

It's always interesting hearing different musicians' takes on whiplash. My dad is an old jazz musician (jazz violinist primarily, pianist secondarily) and music teacher, and to him it's one of his favourite movies. He's also about as far away from J K Simmons's character as you can possibly get. Then I know some other musicians who really genuinely *hated* that film. Personally, I'm just a classical composer and film enthusiast, and I absolutely love that film (maybe even in my personal top 25 favs), but I definitely get why people react differently and it's fascinating how differently people see and interpret the same thing in so many different ways.

[@Petrolhead99999]

My band director in highschool was like Simmons dialed back to about 1/3... He was very intense and had high expectations. We were an awful band when we started, and by the time I graduated I walked into a scholarship at music school. He was never satisfied, and we were working our asses off until the day of the concert. There definitely is merit to pushing students to their limits.

[@nikibronson133]

I was genuinely wondering when the musician or music Community was going to get into rating how accurately scenes in movies and television are because it's so entertaining and informative to really see how much is real and how much is Just Hollywood stereotypes or make believe

[@alancamarena3061]

Two Set Violin has many of these!

[@gavinclancy2890]

Twoset violin specialise in exactly that

[@DontrelleRoosevelt]

I had a choir teacher that was almost like this!

[@lilmax86]

"Kansas City" by Robert Altman, starring Harry Belafonte and Jennifer Jason Leigh, has THE best depiction of jazz in a feature film. Hands down. Look up "Jazz Jazz Session in Hey Hey Club" on YT for footage. Joshua Redman, Ron Carter and many more recreate jam sessions in a 1930s jazz club that forms the backdrop for this crime story and intercuts it. Exciting and simply gorgeous.

[@rauha38]

I would absolutely love a video series introducing people to the history of jazz and all the different subgenres!

[@Metalpazallteway]

Good análisis.. Although, in all honesty I have seen conductors with volume knobs, they're truly remarkable.

[@NaxoritosG]

The transition to the piano lesson thing promotion was absolutely amazing btw

[@justinmbreedon]

So disappointed that Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy Jazz Flute scene was not chosen as clip for 10/10 accuracy

[@rosielavictoire7009]

The absolute beauty of the thing he played at 6:29 is unmatched that felt like heaven opened my god

[@DojoOfCool]

Well I know of two teachers like Whiplash. One was our high school's Jazz band teacher. One of the sax players ticked off the teacher over a gig they had and the teacher never let the guy play first chair even though the best sax player. Sadly I run into the sax player now decades later and he is still ticked about it. The other was one of my improv teachers from music school. He could really lay into students usually because they either were practicing or weren't listening to what they were told. His rants could be really funny as long as you weren't the person they were directed at. But both those teachers would bend over to help you if you were really trying, they just didn't tolerate people who didn't do the work or didn't follow instructions. As for people one of my oldest friends is a die hard four on the floor rock and country guitar player and he will tell you to your face he hates Jazz and don't even try to play me any. Funny but back in the day that guy and I were hanging with a couple other rock friends at the local music store one night and our "Jazz guy" friend came in and we're all talking and topic of Jazz came up. We said we didn't like it, it didn't make sense. Our Jazz guy friend said I can change your mind if you'll come to this club with me tonight. Having nothing else going on we all went with him. We were blown away it was Jimmy Smith trio. That was my come to Jesus moment with Jazz and been a fan ever since. My I hate Jazz friend liked it for the day or two, but went back to hating Jazz, his loss.

[@tube1971]

I had to get out of first chair sax just to get the focus of our Whiplash-like jazz band teacher off of me.