How to Modulate to G 1/2 Sharp (Jacob Collier-style)

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Really brilliant explanation and discussion... Jacob Collier really is some sort of musical superhero!

[@DBruce]

Thanks David - and many congrats on your excellent channel!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks David! You too!

[@FairyCRat]

Yeah, I have no idea how he does all that stuff.

[@Qaptyl]

LOL theyre both named David! 💀💀

[@benjaminmjones5021]

Jacob Collier And The Half-Sharp Prince

[@moscamuerta]

The Fresh Prince of Half-Sharp

[@twkotb]

Sebastián Hernández Hero in a half-sharp - Jacob power!

[@kitcutting]

I'm gonna be that one enharmonic pessimist and go with A-flat-and-a-half because screw everybody else

[@ConwayBob]

Jacob the Tone Wizard.

[@commentfreely5443]

so that's 50 cents then? my tuners all go to 10 cents.

[@ChudLife]

Being Jacob must be like playing Minecraft on Creative Mode.

[@670839245]

... Even with creative mode you can't place a block not aligned to the grid...

[@VideonMedia]

So, more like playing Minecraft in real life on creative mode with commands?

[@670839245]

@@VideonMedia Playing MODDED Minecraft with creative mode and commands, to be exact.

[@theatog]

@@670839245 I agree. this is an understatement. I would say "be like playing Minecraft on real canvas and paint."

[@darltrash]

More like coding his own game

[@carloscamejo391]

It also helps that June Lee is as brilliant as Jacob Collier. Anyone crazy enough to transcribe Jacob Collier is

[@XanBcoo]

Agree. I'm usually just as impressed with his ability to pick out all of the details in Jacob's songs as I am with Jacob himself

[@carlosandres7006]

June is a talented musician without identity

[@josyfalcon5442]

"As brilliant as"? That is absurd.

[@danielfisher8393]

@@josyfalcon5442 Maybe just as brilliant with musical knowledge. Maybe not as brilliant as far as creativity.

[@jonathanbaron7650]

pretty easy transcription for anyone who's taken theory (this one at least)

[@ThreeUnremarkableWords]

Jacob be like "I know a spot" and then take you to G half sharp major.

[@cyanhallows7809]

@@ValkyRiver Nobody cares

[@ListeningIn]

This is fantastic. And particularly interesting to see the harmonics in the frequency analyser. Such a good idea to include this!

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

Damn, so much dissonance in a minor key then.... or is it? The blues, some middle eastern music and especially Indian music all use 1/4 tones and often use minor keys and modes. It's extremely common for a blues player to modulate between Major and minor thirds, and also the 1/4 step between them. I agree, this topic is fascinating, and I also particularly enjoyed seeing the harmonics on the frequency analyzer.

[@ListeningIn]

@@aylbdrmadison1051 Hi Aylbdr! Good question. Blues and Jazz are interesting as you have to use equal temperament for these (otherwise transposition is impossible), but they use small microtonal inflections to add colour. Eastern music, including middle eastern music, uses completely different scales to western music - ones we would consider 'microtonal', so they don't match up with our equally tempered, or justly tuned, scales. But you are right about minor keys - technically they are more 'dissonant'! The harmonics that are produced by notes in a minor chord do reinforce the fundamentals, but they aren't technically as pleasing to us as major chords. Major chords are a little bit more consonant!

[@michaelclarke6984]

Most of the time when people talk about the emotional difference between songs in different key that are equal tempered it's nothing more than woo. The constant debate about 440 Vs 432 is a painfully cringeworty example of this. However, Jacob uses these tunings to create different sound worlds that compliment each other. In hideaway the gradual pitch inflation changes almost like the slowly evolving instrumental textures of minimalism but for tuning. Really inspiring stuff.

[@bragtime1052]

I completely agree with you. As you said (and probably already know I assume), there’s that one psychological phenomenon where something slightly flatter (aka something silly like A=432) sounds more mellow in comparison to A=440. I think all that’s very very silly though because it’s literally just the concept of pitch inflation but in reverse. I really do agree in that I find his usage of chords/keys ”unquantized” to the standard equally tempered 12 notes really cool. Personally, I don’t have perfect pitch, but I have pretty strong pitch memory and so when I’m playing/listening to a song each key has different qualities similar to what Jacob describes. Because I don’t have perfect pitch, my mind thinks of it in more of a spectrumy way of how many sharps or flats each key has. Aka most of the time even if I can’t name the key I could instantly tell it sounds very characteristically sharp or very flat or very plain and natural (aka Eb minor vs B major are like polar opposites). The most interesting part of it is that it seems to be in part simply due to my naming conventions for notes. I was raised with the relatively traditional A Bb B C C# D Eb E F F# G Ab so when I consider Eb minor flat because of the “amount of flats in it”, someone raised with the name D# might consider it a very “sharp key”.

[@twkotb]

I wonder, though, if you need to have perfect pitch for different tunings to inspire different moods, emotional atmospheres, etc. E.g. if I can tell the difference between two foods just by taste alone, then maybe I’ll make associations between those tastes and life experiences that I’ve had. But if I can’t really tell the difference between two or more foods just by tasting, then it’s less likely that I will create associations between any of those individual tastes and particular life experiences.

[@34672rr]

Well all music and indeed art is "woo". The entire western harmonic theory is woo to me, save the actual science of overtone series and a few other areas. But the assumption that music has to have harmony is just philsophy, even religion, or woo. Anyway, this stuff is just novelty, it's nothing special, the music is not deep or moving nor does it feel like he has the soul or mojo or creative charisma of the talented musicians I have heard, instead it's like he is one of the guys saying "look how smart I am". But almost anyone can make complex music that others cannot understand. but that makes you more of a technician than an artist

[@bacicinvatteneaca]

440 vs 432 is actually just a matter of memory. We all have decent memory for tuning, even non musicians can remember the first note of popular songs most of the time (and when they don't, they generally just get it flat by a semitone), so lower tunings feel like a more homely, less tense version of the same note.

[@bacicinvatteneaca]

@@juneyongpark3543 again, that's false. Everyone remembers 440. It's just 432 that is not special, but the idea of downtuning to get a moodier sound works and that's abundantly proven.

[@torinstorkey]

I love the effect the g 1/2 # gives the piece. It is very bright and alive but there is a slight feeling of uneasiness whilst listening to it as it feels off but just barely. I love the effect and definitely think it is valid and not just about showing off.

[@pepijndeputter8892]

New challenge: try not to envy Jacob Collier.

[@kiren3168]

i dont. i dont really like his style or music

[@apothecurio]

@@kiren3168 his mixes are REALLY dry.

[@pawel198812]

All I wanted was to sing to God. He gave me that longing... and then made me mute. Why? Tell me that. If He didn't want me to praise him with music, why implant the desire? Like a lust in my body! And then deny me the talent?

[@jossmotley-nash1377]

@@pawel198812 your getting confused. Your god doesn't exist.

[@pawel198812]

@@jossmotley-nash1377 It's a quote

[@wil3630]

Simple, just modulate from c half sharp

[@havokmusicinc]

Yes, or Ab as well. A dominant resolving downward by a quarter tone is incredibly powerful - I respect what Jacob does there with gradually chaining 15¢ modulations (which is 80edo, or 80 distinct and equal notes to the octave) but I personally think it's a little much for those of us without absolute pitch.

[@paxmaniac1]

It's not necessary to have perfect pitch to get something out of it. Most musicians would be able to perceive that something remarkable has happened and that there is a new brightness to the music. Same with the much slower relaxation of the pitch back to G.

[@34672rr]

@@havokmusicinc has nothing to do with absolute pitch. in fact people with so called absolute pitch are just remembering tones they heard before. So in scientific tests, it has been proven that someone with absolute pitch will say that a=442 if the last piece they heard was at that reference. This is simply BS. the music doesn't sound great nor does it stand on it's own without some explanation. But anyone can make complex music that no one understands, even themelves. Very few can make simple music that sounds both good and different.

[@34672rr]

@@paxmaniac1 Nothing remarkable happened. if there wasn't visual cues and explanations, it would be nothing. the music doesn't sound special, it doesn't have beautiful textures or expressions. it's simply a mathematical curiosity like tone rows or computer music. And also, perfect pitch doesn't have anything to do with enjoying it, as perfect pitch is simply memory of the last pitch. If you played an entire piece of music in a=432, or slowed down a piece in a=440 to a=442, if the person with perfect pitch hears it, they wouldn't know it unless they just heard something in a=440. that has been proven with scientific studies, look it up. So he is just using nonsense explanations to justify arbitrary mathematical choices,

[@paxmaniac1]

@@34672rr that's like saying Bach would be nothing of you don't know the rules of classical harmony. It's a choice to modulate to G half sharp, and it can be appreciated whether you understand how he did it or not. You don't have to like the result, bit many people do.

[@macleadg]

I’m a violist. We do microtones all the time. Oh, wait...

[@realnigga19]

Ooof

[@qqleq]

Whats the difference between the first and the last desk of the violas?

[@macleadg]

qqleq2 A quarter tone?

[@dhu2056]

Try the first movement of Ligeti's Viola Sonata

[@danielmeirsman]

I have a strong impression you missed the point. Playing out of tune is something totally different from what is being discussed here.

[@tobyzxcd]

I’m going to play in half sharp keys just to piss off people who flex their perfect pitch

[@6squall9]

But jacob has perfect pitch. You think he is pissed off by his own compositions?

[@OsvaldoBayerista]

@@6squall9 Yeah, going in just half maybe can be even delicious for perfect pitch people. Better go on notes a little fraction of heartz near (up or down) to the correct note randomnly, that gonna be painfull.

[@tobyzxcd]

Squall Leonhart he is the type of madman to transcend his own biology and love the sadistic dissonances of half sharp keys

[@soportetecnicohigoversomas3451]

Play in 19 or 31 TET! Did it with my perfect pitch friend and he was suffering the entire time

[@lyramsr]

@@6squall9 to me anything that’s far enough from A=440 still sounds like the note it’s closest to, just actively “off”, in a sense. this probably isn’t the case for jacob since he can accurately reproduce specific frequencies whilst my perfect pitch seems to be bound to A=440 in that I cannot sing something like “G half sharp” without a reference point

[@diadrite]

The thing I like most about Jacob is it feels like amidst all of this theoretical genius and complexity, it all still serves to enhance the emotional effect of his music. Like he said in the masterclass, he wanted a sound brighter than E major, and found it with G 1/2 sharp. Especially with Djesse, even though it's perhaps some of the most complex music ever written, at least to me, it never felt like he was doing anything "just because."

[@classicalbanksy4908]

Yup - definitely got laid, and it was a HUGE climax...!

[@Finetales]

I totally agree. Although sometimes I don't emotionally connect with some of the more complex things he does, it really feels like he's doing everything from a genuine emotional place and not just to show off. Most other experimental and especially microtonal music out there feels exactly the opposite and isn't at all pleasing to listen to. Jacob takes all this advanced theory technique and makes it music.

[@BjerkeRobin]

I think it's also important what Bruce pointed out toward the end regarding Colliers perfect pitch. I wouldn't claim to have perfect pitch, but something close to it and I think had I been trained at a young age I would have developed it. A result of this is that I fundamentally experience different keys differently. Music has always been a very full bodied, viceral experience for me and Jacob's music illicits that in a way I fond frutratingly hard to share with many of my acquaintances. Like the G hakf sharp transposition. My wife is like... "that sounds nice" whilat my brain os going "dude!!! Do you fcking FEEL that?! That tickles so tastily and colourfully" and I am pretty certain a straight 12tet transposition to G major would not have felt that way. It's as David poibted out. The microtonal shifts in the approach chords are actually MORE in tune. A lot of what Jacob does with just intonation is for this effect.

[@George14215]

What do you call two trombonists playing in unison? A minor second

[@cab88888]

That joke is also valid with two fretless bass players. And maybe a little more...

[@michaelmuggli1848]

There's also "how do you get 2 flute player to play in tune? Shoot one"

[@hirokokueh3541]

because one learned in Bb. damn it, stop pretending you played in European brass band

[@NatHsu11]

funny because when you get to a certain level the trombones are more in tune than everyone else

[@ChaotikDawg]

Fuck youz

[@michaelbailey8541]

I am wowed by Jacob Collier - his musical ability and his character - even if much of it is over my head! Thanks for explaining some of what he does in terms I can mostly understand!

[@longhaulblue]

"In the bleak midwinter" is one of my favorites of Jacob's. Reharmonizing standards is a staple of jazz piano playing and watching and hearing him weave his magic is jaw-dropping. I do find some of his music overly dense harmonically but I chalk that up to the exuberance of youth and his obvious enthusiasm for exploring every nook and cranny of this harmonic landscape. There is no denying his enormous talent.

[@RobCabreraCh]

The first time I heard Jacob, it just destroyed my mind. I remember feeling like all sense of a reference frame that I had created for myself just got crooked in the first few minutes, and then it just went down by the end of the song. He is truly a musical genious, and I for one have learned a lot by just listening to him and trying to comprehend his music.

[@monkyjamman]

Why I personally love Jacob so much is because he isent just technically smart, but uses his technicallity and insane knowledge of music as tools to bring out more emotions. As he said he wanted the song to be even more bright and for him the only thing more bright than E is G 1/2 sharp. This shows that he is not just showing off. He is during it to bring more emotions in the music. You can also hear this in the June Lee interviews. Before during anything with the technicallities he thinks about what emotional impact the certain idea has.

[@34672rr]

there is nothing wrong with showing off, as long as it's musically, not mathematically. Anyone can make sonorously complex music, that doesn't make it good. The choice of changing reference frequency is an arbitrary one, just like the keyboard with 36 or whatever notes per octave. It's a crutch rather than a substantive artistic idea. Really there is nothing left to explore in music (at least as far as tonal notes goes) that hasn't been done or is worth doing. The only thing left is creative, imaginative, and inspired playing of what is already there. If you are relying on novelties like this, then it kind of shows you are unable to play with soul or mojo.

[@GollumSmeagol]

@@34672rr Of course there everything wrong with showing off. I see humble people in every field talking about how they are pushing the boundaries of their field. No one has to be arrogant about it. J.C. is very arrogant and his music isn't very "ear pleasing". If you like that, more power to you.

[@34672rr]

@@GollumSmeagol Read my post again, it's saying basically exactly what you did

[@spacevspitch4028]

@@34672rr Musical = mathematical. You can't separate the two. And there is plenty more to explore in music and Jacob is exploring it. It really hasn't all been done before. Maybe the limits of our 12 tone equal tempered scale have been reached but microtonal music truly adds infinitely more colors to the palette. And Jacob is exploring that stuff. Not for the sake of it but because there are sounds there to be found that EXPRESS things he wants to express.

[@34672rr]

@@spacevspitch4028 There is plenty left to explore microtonally, but not in the way he does it which is arbitrarily mathematical and not musical. If mathematical= musical, then music doesn't need to be played by humans anymore ,we can just have math equations making our music. but we both know that's bullshit, you just misspoke because you haven't thought it out

[@MandrakeGuy]

i just love the fact that even on stage he still acts like a kid this may sound like an insult, but its just amazing how hes able to do this at SUCH a low age, good job collier how do you function

[@MusicTheoryInAMinute]

Great analysis. Thanks for breaking it down. As a classical musician myself, I find Jacob’s musicianship more inspiring than any other living composer (that I’m aware of). His ability to fuse extended/avant-garde techniques with pleasant, joyful and uplifting work is inspiring and refreshing. So much of the boundary crushing literature can be so exhausting to listen to. I find it interesting, but I rarely find myself just putting it on for a listen. In contrast, I can’t get enough of Jacob’s music.

[@heartofodds]

Aydin Esen

[@achenarmyst2156]

Absolutely agree 👍

[@TheRacePig]

Something I find really useful that I learned from Collier is the way he describes all music being just about movement. We tend to think of it as this note resolves to this and such, but he instead says that you can move to any tone, whether it be a weird quarter step modulation, as long as the movement makes sense, and all his little tricks with shifting imperceptibly from equal to just tuning is a means to that end. It's all just darker and lighter movement based on where you land on the circle of fifths, in tune or not.

[@corsaircaruso471]

I love how excited Jacob is. He’s sharing his joy with us!

[@jd-ju3vr]

Small correction at 10:14 : The just intonated fitfth and the 12TET fitfth differ only 2 cents (1.96 to be precise) from each other, not 5 cents.

[@timc.9703]

is that a professional opinion or just your 2 cents :-) ?

[@georgesecor3229]

@@timc.9703 It's an acoustical fact: an equal-tempered fifth is exactly 700 cents, whereas a just fifth (exact 2:3 frequency ratio between pitches) is approximately 701.955 cents (log(3/2)/log(2)*1200).

[@HanifAmanullah]

@@georgesecor3229 r/woosh

[@calebdehn7399]

This is correct, jd712

[@andrewzhang8512]

@@HanifAmanullah ?

[@nicholasbattaliou5882]

He is annoyingly brilliant. Thanks for explaining what he's doing so clearly. It's like he is developing musical linguistics, widening vocabulary. An evolutionary step.

[@MarcoJoJocom456]

I’m about to graduate from music school and that’s the first time I’ve had cents explained to me

[@achenarmyst2156]

Had a little nap now and then? 😉

[@arinetic5538]

I recently saw him live in Victoria, BC - hands down one of the most amazing and mind-blowing live performances I've ever seen. What's interesting is that before seeing him live, I had been in a bit of a compositional rut and was somewhat expecting to feel *worse* after seeing someone who was so innately talented with composition and improvisation, thinking I would feel uninspired to create while comparing myself to his abilities. In fact, I felt extremely inspired after seeing how down-to-earth and genuinely ecstatic about music Jacob was not only in concert, but in his masterclasses and livestreams as well. His way of viewing tension and resolution as a fluid concept that can be applied to almost everything in music rather than a rigid set of rules as to what sounds you can and can't use in tonal music is extremely freeing to introduce into composition. I'm so excited to get back into composing now that I can experiment with the myriad of new techniques and devices he uses in his works. He really is an amazing example of the musician we all strive to be.

[@classicalbanksy4908]

Ah... Sounds like he's got laid then!

[@achenarmyst2156]

👍

[@wokeil]

I've just started learning theory and I love this type of content. The science of feeling is what music is for me

[@classicalbanksy4908]

That is a FABULOUS phrase!

[@Herbert.]

This was such a brilliant explanation. Thank you! I have studied a lot of the principle behind overtones etc., but your manner of visualising the overtone row on a piano was brilliant. Thank you! Also how this ties in with Collier's music was very enlightening. I can only repeat myself: thank you!

[@Sincebrassnorstone]

Thanks for great explanation. The first time I heard" In the Bleak Midwinter ", it BLEW MY MIND! I was walking in th woods and immediately played it again. Now we know how it works instead of just saying" he just did it on complicated chords to hide his tracks..."😅

[@Sincebrassnorstone]

@Rob Bannstrom true. The quick response is to run away from myself. I am imbibing much less media now and listening to myself and th natural world much more

[@goaheadheart9485]

I love how David's chosen to analyse In The Bleak Midwinter in mid-July! Fascinating video - thank you!

[@classicalbanksy4908]

Same time of year that "White Christmas was recorded, wasn't it...? Or was that August..? And a Leap Year..? lol

[@dr.guyshkolnik_composer]

Thanks, David, I really enjoyed this video. Great explanation about the harmonics. I was about to write that Jacob loves harmony so much - it's almost like he's making love to it. He just doesn't stop at chords and counterpoint, he bends harmony, he stretches it... outstanding.

[@jamesmelendez6851]

thank you for your contribution. very concise yet very detailed. everything properly shown and explained, seemingly no detail missed thanks to the numerous audible examples of each step in the learning process. the world needs more videos like this!

[@box-of-chocolates]

Oh, wow! I didn‘t know Jacob Collier. This blows my mind! Thank you so much for introducing us to ever new kinds of music 🙏🙂

[@timmah4476]

Really nice video - I love how you just honour the ridiculous talent that Jacob Collier has and break it down just sufficiently enough that we recognise how much fun he is having with his unique talent coupled with the boundless energy of his youth - the man is incredible and I respect you for putting this out there as an homage and by way of explanation for us mere mortals bobbing along in the stardust he leaves in his wake!!

[@Steinwaytoday]

Gotta love Jacob, pushing the limits like no one has in a long time.

[@manolitosanchez]

In the field of jazz, maybe...

[@manolitosanchez]

As a performer for sure, he’s mindblowing

[@rutgermuller]

Do you know Giacinto Scelsi?

[@juliusseizure591]

Do you know Georg Friedrich Haas?

[@manolitosanchez]

I think, like with many other outstanding musical figures, the genius of J. C. comes from his synthesis of elements from different fields...

[@paulriccio5333]

This was an incredibly clear explanation. I just cannot fathom how he does all this in real-time. It shouldn't be possible. It truly is superhuman.

[@firstnamesurname6550]

Not superhuman, just nurtured by parents musicians for listening pitches and music from gestation up to early years and so on ... Then, the brain deploys the neural networks that can discern those temporal and 'pitch' nuances in the sonic material ... The thing is that If the Human is not exposed to the adequate listening feedback looped rich environment during the gestation phase and his/her early years ... The Brain will not deploy the required networks for discerning sounds with precision ... Then, relative pitch and polyrhythms become 'learnable' ...but 'perfect pitch', - practically - near to impossible after 8 -18 years old ...

[@paulriccio5333]

@@firstnamesurname6550 Google: hyperbole

[@MikeKobb]

I have pitch sense that is pretty darned far from perfect, but the stuff Jacob does, both in this piece and in Moon River, is extremely affecting emotionally. Although I couldn't have told you that he was not in equal temperament or on A440, the effect is absolutely there in my opinion.

[@gregghanson6095]

Thank you for exposing Jacob to your audience. I have become a bit obsessed with him lately. He is everything you say he is, but i also feel that he has a true sense of expression beyond the harmonic tricks. As he describes the esthetic of the sounds he hears, he is also very capable to holding an audience in the palm of his hand with his presence and depth of energy. I reference two of many: the concert he did on tour at the Fonda Theatre in Los Angles attended by Herby Hancock, one of his mentors. The audience was simply electrified for the full performance Also his performance at the North Sea Jazz Festival with full orchestra and his tune, "Hideaway," a vocal/keyboard solo that is highly emotionally expressive. As you say, it will be wonderful to see his growth and maturity. The differences between his early KZbin covers till now is dramatic. Love your channel.

[@kenzuercher7497]

Thank you for decoding what Jacob did, David. Talent like his is a rare thing! I was speculating that he was using Just Intonation and that some of the higher overtones ended up being upwards of a quarter tone sharp or flat and he used that to make the key change using a form of common tones. After your analysis, I guess I wasn't that far off.

[@justingarcia7722]

I have a very naive grasp of theory but I'm infinitely fascinated by Jacobs approach. I played a gig in Egypt (I'm from the states) and had a really compelling conversation with a local musician about microtones. From what I gathered, which is limited, is that it's a much more inclusive system with regard to variables in tempered tuning. It started making a little sense when I thought about how prior to our modern tonal system composers would stay in a certain tuning that worked relative to a key. So using 432 versus 440 or 465 to 440 as an expressive tool really opens up music and makes it sound fresh and new especially when in the hands of someone like Collier. I plan on studying as much as I can to use this to deepen the type of music I want to make and appreciate

[@CoucouMachinchouette]

I give thumbs down because he didn't say "hello my name is David Bruce" and that's the main reason I view his stuff

[@DBruce]

I know, I'm so sorry! (-: I actually did record myself saying that, but I sounded kind of lame this time so I cut it out!

[@Mortyst]

Yet the video has 0 thumbs down, hmmm.

[@MobiusVideo]

Morten Lohne He didn’t say he hit the thumbs down on the vid, only that he gave a thumbs down. 👎 👍 😉

[@DBruce]

I've long wished I could find myself a catch phrase. "hello my name is David Bruce" seems a bit...lacking in imagination...? (-:

[@CoucouMachinchouette]

@@DBruce it's not about the phrase, it's about the delivery. Was the iconic "Bond... James Bond" so imaginative? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@joyrobinson4585]

I am not a musician. I simply love music and several months ago I fell in love with Jacob's music. I am truly grateful for this since he's added a new level of joy to my life.

[@usuitakumi8179]

Boi... 50 Cent has a new meaning for me now lol

[@Leonecta]

I was there, in that mastercass in Buenos Aires, when he explained all this. A moment I'll cherish forever. What a genius!

[@Miro55Gaming]

you should do something like Adam Neely's How to not suck at music series

[@musicachilling]

Imagine a collab

[@juuus2764]

@@musicachilling he did but only 2 episodes. its called „wrong notes“

[@afellar4464]

I recently started playing the banjo. My intent was just to learn a few things here and there and then just a dash of music theory to help me when I needed to convey a feeling. When I started watching your videos, I found myself loving music theory because it’s more than just a set of rules to follow but also a set of rules to shape and bend and even break sometimes. I never looked at it that way before. I started my journey a bit later in life than I really wanted to but I’m glad I started at all! Thank you so much for the work you do because it looks like from the comments on all your videos, you seem to inspire people just like me wherever they are on their musical journey!🙏🎼

[@hanswinkler4976]

"50 Cents" would be an awesome name for a half-semitone-composer.

[@albertloan396]

Jacob's music and the joy with which he shares it give me hope for the human race. Your videos, Bruce, are also an inspiration. The love you have for your craft and its history really comes through.

[@bragtime1052]

Utterly spectacular video! I think every topic you talked about was incredible, captivating, and very well taught on your behalf. Thank you for making this very fun and interactive content (by interactive I mean when you take hidden/abstract concepts like the overtone series and show a spectrometer (sorry if I used the wrong term). The only one very minute thing I’ll nitpick (I’m sorry to nitpick but I just have to) is that you said an equally tempered perfect fifth is off from just intonation by about five cents, when it’s actually off by just shy of 2 cents. Overall, I really liked this video and all the others you do on unconventional topics like microtonality and the like! Thank you and please keep up the incredible work making music theory fun and easy to understand!

[@benjylamb]

I wrote a response on this also - he seemingly implies 5ths should be closer together in just intonation. Which is the wrong way! (If you are trying to get rid of 'beating'). I enjoy this channel also.

[@douglasjensen8986]

My all-time favorite of your videos, I come back and re-watch frequently.

[@benjylamb]

Hi mate, not trying to be difficult - just wanted to point out that in Just Intonation major 3rds are lowered 14cents (-14) & perfect 5ths are raised 2cents (+2) compared to Equal Temperament. At 11:55 you mention Just Intonation 5ths should be smaller by 5cents (-5) than in Equal Temperament? I would like to know how you came to this conclusion. I've never heard of this in Just intonation or Pythagorean Mean Temperament. If the B is acting as the 2nd/9th of the Am9, it is fine to treat it as two stacked 5ths in either Just Int. or Pyth. Temp. but in both cases it would result to be sharper by 4cents (+4!), which contradicts what you are saying. Applying this to the Am9, to achieve a Justly Intonated 'Pure' 9th/2nd he would either: 1)lower the A by 4cents (cumulatively). Or 2)raise the B in the by 4cents (cumulatively). In neither case would he make the interval closer, it would sound as if it were 'beating' & 'wrong', like it does in Equal Temperament. I appreciate you and other channels that dive into the different temperaments, thank you for delving into the topic. Just wanted to help clarify. They do say Equal Temperament was the greatest compromise in all of musical history. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_intonation kzbin.info/www/bejne/mGibf6Kll6-Be9E ) 00:44 - Jacob explains how he views Just Intonation.

[@DBruce]

Good spot - see correction in description

[@bigogle]

Glad to see this exchange. I did a wot at that moment too! Singing along with the B during a replay confirms it's the B that's pushed.

[@mikumiku2971]

@@bigogle Oh my goodness i also did that because i was doubting my accuracy in singing notes XD

[@classicalbanksy4908]

I was about to comment "there's always one.." when I started to read your message, but having read all the way through, I think on behalf of us all, if David doesn't see this - your comment is SO concise, and clearly authoritative, that I'm prepared to say "we stand corrected!" Do you think Bach - whose imagination like Jacob's knew no bounds - ever predicted we'd be having such discussions?! My understanding, from my tutor at school Tim Rishton, was that ET came about as a result of necessity, rather than as an aesthetic or intellectual pursuit. Pre ET, tuning was so horribly off, it had become quite irritating, apparently. According to Tim, if I recall, that's why F minor was often chosen for 'death scenes' in pre ET operas - it was the MOST out of tune key there was! Feel free to correct anything I've not remembered accurately!

[@classicalbanksy4908]

@@DBruce Ah! You saw this lol

[@mirensummers7633]

so glad you talked about this! I remembered being in vocal ensemble rehearsals and trying to explain what I meant by the sharper or flatter sides of a note when we were working on tuning. Even if each of the notes in the chord were correct individually, they didn't sound in tune relative to each other, and melodicaly it sounded better to sing some notes sharper or flatter in phrases. It worked and sounded right but I didn't know why

[@georgehiggins1320]

World's best ears: Jacob Collier VS. Dylan Beato!

[@lennarthedlund9783]

Or rather Beato´s son...

[@jakegreene4313]

That is beatos son ya goof

[@bingbonghafu]

Vs Mom

[@karu6111]

They’re not the only people with perfect pitch yah know

[@georgehiggins1320]

@@karu6111 True but they both have an incredibly well developed sense of hearing harmony.

[@RKNsword]

I've been waiting SO long for this video. Thanks so much!

[@thomasmichaels1671]

Brilliant. My understanding and application of music theory is nowhere near the level of even starting to mess with tuning, but I find it absolutely fascinating nonetheless.

[@saoirsecameron]

Interesting to see so many admirers of Jacob that don’t actually enjoy his music. I must confess while I was never in that camp, my enjoyment of his ability was greater than my enjoyment of his music until I heard him live. On the internet it’s easy to lose the life and soul of the performance in all of the technical aspects, but I promise you all when you hear his music live it all comes to life so vividly and beautifully.

[@DojoOfCool]

What is weird for me I enjoy hearing Jacob talking about music and playing/singing examples more than hearing his recorded music. To me his recorded music tends to be too Pop-ish, polished and a lot of the amazing bits just get lost in the process.

[@WombieFerguson]

I’ve heard it described as Disney music in weird time signatures

[@classicalbanksy4908]

@@WombieFerguson That's a bit unfair, but I'm wondering whether Quincy Jones - who's been a key part of his rise to fame, IS actually the best exec producer for Jacob for now. Don't get me wrong, I'm a HUGE Q fan, and whatever the personal dramas that were going on, have no intention of stopping listening to albums like Thriller, because it's a masterpiece. I've remixed Billie Jean, and the only thing I could think of to bring to that party was to to do it in F sharp HARMONIC minor. Q had done it in F sharp MELODIC, and basically EVERY other possible permutation of the bass, or harmonic sequence was either noticeably substandard (which is why Q hadn't touched them) or he'd included at some point or other in the production. When you start to deconstruct Quincy Jones, and it's the same with the work of Sir George Martin, you get to appreciate the extent and subtlety of their genius! Is Q right for Jacob today, I ask myself suddenly...?

[@metube7332]

Make sure to check out with the love in my heart or woke up today for something a little less popish, some really thick syncopation on those

[@ddgryphon]

I'm 61 years old and individuals like Jacob, yourself and Adam Neely among others make me ask not only what have I contributed to music, but what can I even hope to bring to music. In short, I truly understand the feelings of the fictional Salieri in Amadeus. I've been to premiers by Eaton and listened to new music concerts at Indiana University, Blooomington in the 70's, studied works by Elliot Carter, Boulez, and others and feel like a dinosaur struggling in tar. Please, to all of you, keep challenging me. I love music too much to stop writing, even if I end up in the dustbin of music history.

[@alekzamonski1179]

He’s definitely one of the most incredible musicians/composers of the modern era of music, unfortunately I just hate his voice and most of the music he makes isn’t my cup of tea, except the more classical jazz like the clip you played from a video he made when he was 17. That being said I have an incredible amount of respect for him, and I can take a lot of inspiration from him as a musician. Great video!

[@classicalbanksy4908]

That's a great comment!! Collier is Marmite, folks!

[@Sedyon]

I agree to be honest, I've listened to a few of Djesse's tracks but I didn't like most of them very much. I don't like his voice either. That being said, he's an incredible musician, and I love the song analyzed in the video, as well as (as you said) some of the jazzy stuff he has done. Surprisingly, I haven't heard anyone talk about him in my country (I live in France).

[@10freekie2]

Very helpful to understand! So he actually makes use of the not ‘in tune’-ness of the piano and the equal temperament scale.

[@frednow]

The natural overtones explain why minor sounds subjectively more “sad” ... it’s the dissonance caused by the clash between the minor third of the chord and the major third that is the fourth overtone of the root’s fundamental.

[@achenarmyst2156]

Thanks for this explanation. This appears very plausible to me. So minor means „being out of tune with the natural world“.

[@frednow]

@@achenarmyst2156 well, not "out of tune" exactly, but dissonant. And we know that all good music needs a balance of dissonance and consonance.

[@Ali-AbuShahad]

Scientific, accurate analysis and objective criticism, excellent work. Thank you

[@arxaaron]

Thanks to great music theory resources like yourself and Adam Neely, I've grown to a level where I can appreciate the truly astounding talents and awesome music of people like Jacob Collier. I've listened to a lot of his pieces with my jaw on the floor. Jacob is such a phenomenon that it is difficult not to be demoralized by my limited music knowledge and modest playing abilities, though I'm hoping to instead use these gems as inspiration to more fully immerse myself in the sonic oceans surrounding us at this transformative point in human history.

[@gavinmackinney8484]

Wow. I never realised that about Jacob Collier. I love his work too. This reminds me of what I have been learning about Middle Eastern music over the years. The different scales/keys are called maqams and while some of them are based on semitones, many are not. Western musicians sometimes refer to these different intervals as quarter tones, but really they are 3/4 tones. Eg the maqam “rast” typically is like an a minor with no sharps or flats, except instead of a B, there is a B half flat, which means the interval between the 1, 2 and 3 of the scale is 3/4, 3/4 and then then back to normal for the rest of the scale. One of my musical goals is to develop some songs with Western music chord progressions (where there is an important tonal shift in the phrase structure - like 12 bar blues) but use the 3/4 not maqams as well

[@austinglover8311]

this is great as always. So you know, a 3:2 relation is about two cents wider than a 12EDO P5 (as opposed to five cents).

[@qzxerty]

Fantastic video. Not only because it serves as an explanation of the black magic Jacob did in In the bleak midwinter, but also as a guide/reminder of the differences between equal temperament tuning and natural harmonic tuning.

[@chentiangemalc]

I like Jacob Collier, love his voice and find his music interesting, inspiring and fascinating to listen to and analyse. however I can only take it in small amounts I find it mentally draining to listen to. I wouldn’t listen to an entire album in one sitting. I recently showed some of his stuff to my sisters and they couldn’t stand it at all, thought it had no taste and was over the top. I’m interested to see where he goes with more experience if he keeps pushing the limits and makes music even harder to listen to/appreciate or develops some more subtle ways to present his songs, at least some of the time.

[@classicalbanksy4908]

I have to agree - wonderful, but at half speed and in small doses... Where he's heading is as clear as a bell to me: atonality. Without wanting to sound trite - I'm actually serious about this - but Trump, and now Boris "God Help Us" Johnson - both scream atonality to me. I'm a melodist, being a former singer. But I find myself - much like the 2nd Viennese School - unable currently to express myself adequately tonally, melodically. And a bit like Jacob, I'm reluctant to let go of all points of reference that have hitherto been sacred.... Who cares about cents, if the key is gone, ET is gone?

[@Bass-dude]

Thank you for doing this video !!! He is fantastic.

[@johndoily9407]

The thing with Jacob is that he treats music as if everything is hunky-dory. If everything is amazing, is anything? That being said, he should write a theory book, it would be an enormous hit.

[@MuzoSTEIN]

FANTASTIC SCHOOL!!! - Music challenges getting beyond familiarity and stability of 12 Tone Series (western harmony) to that of The Harmonic Series governmental realm. THANK YOU, MR BRUCE.

[@tz64nk41]

*Jacob Collier speaks* My brain: "I'm on my gap yah"

[@classicalbanksy4908]

Ah - then he's not got laid yet...

[@quibbbo]

Great video and very informative! I so glad I've been discovering Jacob, it's incredible watching him perform and talk about music

[@Eflatmajor7sharp11]

I hear microtonal playing all the time in Guitar Center.

[@corsaircaruso471]

That four chord change absolutely changes in color every moment, and the microtonality of this piece really bridges the gap between pitch and timbre.

[@kumoyuki]

Music theory based on 12-TET is bunk. Not to detract from JC's work, but these are ideas that have been well-known in Barbershop Quartet singing for a long time. Props to JC for making it work in larger contexts, for sure :)

[@StephenRCar]

So happy to have found this video. The business tonal tempering when it was invented had to do with microtonal adjustments between each interval in the 12 tone scale so that all the keys major and minor could be played and sound in tune. I'm fascinated by what Jacob Collier can do with the spaces between established notes and how he can perform below most of our abilities to discern what he's doing. Would love to pick his brain on how he sees and hears sound. You alluded to dark and light but my guess is, it's a lot deeper than that. Thanks for posting

[@GwenNathan]

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Jacob Collier. On the one hand, his joyfully (puppy-like?) enthusiasm is a breath of fresh air - he just intrinsically 'gets' concepts that are at the particle physics end of music theory. On the other hand, his Prom from a couple of years ago was a hot mess of nervous energy. I wonder if anyone has ever said "No" to him? Like a lot of people (I guess) I first heard about him through that Wired viral video on "5 Levels of Difficulty" in harmony and was blown away by the simplicity of his explanations of Dominant (and Sub-Dominant) function and how it's possible to lead the ear around the hierarchy of I and V. His true "superpower" - dividing a given interval into various non-semitone intervals - is extraordinary. It's also led me to reflect on why choirs can "go flat/sharp" in pieces. The stuff he's been saying as really cemented some of my thoughts on different notes' function in harmony vs. voice-leading: we know that a major 7th must be 'bright' but if that very same note is also asked to function as a minor 3rd (a "dark" sound) shortly after, is it any wonder that choirs struggle to keep a constant pitch? I particularly remember this issue with William Harris's "Faire is the Heaven". The harmony is all Mediant-y in the middle section: any given note is simultaneously functioning in several different ways. Maybe the more musical option is to let the choir sink/rise throughout the piece to find their best pitch, rather than slavishly stick to the correct "cents-worth" of A440?

[@josephunderwood1875]

Yea, he does a lot of interesting stuff but the ultimate product has an aesthetic that's akin to smooth jazz mixed that faux-emotional pharmaceutical-commercial-affect for music theory nerds. For me it's unlistenable outside of pure novelty.

[@TinyMaths]

Really gotta thank you, for doing these breakdowns of different people's compositions, you're actually helping me get excited again about the ins and outs of musical structure ( I had lost the love a little bit and I think it's on its way back)

[@AbdulazizShabakouh]

Hello, micro tones runs through my genes, it's common and over used in the middle east music. search for Rast, Bayati or sika modes, or look for Hijaz mode how Arabs or Turkish perfome the mode differently. in Kuwait (I speak about what I experienced through my study for music composition, how to use our modal scales into an international style) I was trained transpose those modes into so many different key centers, not always pleasing but weird (good weird)

[@classicalbanksy4908]

That's funny! I did a 'courteous' remix of "The Islamic Call To Prayer" a few years ago, and found myself having to auto-tune the imam, to make him fit my key structure! Inevitably I failed - Allah is clearly a musical God, and the remix has not seen the light of day again since! Shame as I went from East to West helped by a sample of the brilliant Lisa Gerrard!

[@AbdulazizShabakouh]

@@classicalbanksy4908 there are so many different versions of the prayer call, each one built differently the only common thing between all of them is the words for the call. you could use the one that has a major mode its called Ajam, or phrygian its called kurd, or harmonic minor its called hijaz.

[@rayclark6596]

And I always thought the coral teacher always saying, "be careful, someone's pulling us all sharp" was a sufficient explanation. David Bruce great work here, thanks for the time that you put into this.

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

He played Miles in The Turn of the Screw as a kid, hence the love of that particular opera. The thing I find about him is that despite the dazzle, the actual music that results often has a blandness that lacks emotional resonance or memorability.

[@classicalbanksy4908]

Jacob did? Which production? As I said earlier - Britten would have adored him! But hen he would have become unbearable, so maybe better that they never met... Ben died in '73 - Christ - when was Jacob born? It's gonna be 2000- something, yesterday! LOL

[@tommyron]

I really like where you come down on this and I'm in complete agreement- the sheer joyful amazingness carries the day. I think probably ONLY a 24-year-old could have hit on this. Thanks for breaking it all down so beautifully.

[@MiguelCarvalhoMusic]

Awesome video! I believe the fifths are 2 cents sharper than equal temperament fifths, and not 5

[@jacobbass6226]

No, you thinking of the fifth in a major chord. That is 2 cents sharp. This is referring to the harmonic series where the third harmonic is 5 cents sharp.

[@Ha_Wa_]

Jacob Bass The third harmonic is still only 2 cents sharp of 12EDO

[@MrApprobatur]

Great video, love the transcription and the explanation! :) I do have to point out though that Jacob many times has stated that he doesn't have perfect pitch, but rather knows the emotions of the notes - and thereby is able to recognize them.

[@arcadedomination8006]

That intro got me good.

[@jaapcramer]

I adore that arrangement. Like that you made a video about it!

[@spacevspitch4028]

"Where can I go that's brighter than E? Wellll, I've got an idea..." That bit is too cute. Love this kid 😄

[@dylandecker_music]

Mind blowing. Another absolutely fantastic video David!

[@awesomerinc.8553]

"That guy is, like, really obnoxiously good at music." ~ Adam Neely

[@ericimhauser]

Perfect pitch disappear with age, so Jacob better enjoy it while he's still have it. Great video btw!!

[@victotronics]

So that's pretty close to comma-drift, right?

[@bassdude50]

I really love your demonstration! very effective way of seeing AND hearing the difference!

[@vincentpenschke500]

Can you take a look at the modulation in Moon River?

[@classicalbanksy4908]

Or some of those fabulous George Martin scores for Beatles, but for me, as a huge Macca fan in the 80s, his 80s work. That modulation in "Through Our Love" - last track on the album "Pipes of Peace" is just breathtaking. I love it, but have never bothered to sit down and work out what George does. Either way - he takes a sweet, simple McCartney melody. Paul - like Mozart - his genius lies in the art of the understatement. You hear a melody so good it sounds and feels like it's always been there, but it's brand new! George Martin could dial into that in a unique way, and the results were breathtaking!

[@markscountlessbarks]

I saw him years ago and could not believe my ears! So glad to have found him again!

[@Deutschebahn]

He's so technically proficient and clever... but I don't find his music is something I warm to or really blows my mind.

[@marsaeolus9248]

I agree

[@ornleifs]

Yes for me it's the same - I really admire his amazing abillities but not one of his songs appeal to me and I'm not quite sure what it is cause the way they put together is very impressive but I see so much brilliant music theory in them but he isn't saying anything interesting to me, it's like a brilliant display of technique without any interesting content. Or maybe it's just a question of taste I don't know.

[@ABombs1]

I pointed this out once to fanboys and got slaughtered for it. But I do agree. There are some things I love and listen to over and over like the orchestral 'Hideaway' on KZbin. But for the most part I feel when one's life is absolutely focussed on music itself, your life has no room for the experiences that allow us as humans to truly connect on a whole other level. I find myself many times more involved and connected to music from, say, Bon Iver, whose albums have often sounded like they were recorded in a wooden shack up a mountain somewhere with a broken guitar. I might even go so far as to say that lyrically, Collier seems to struggle.

[@JordanTelezino]

lol its funny i feel the same way

[@KYDY]

I feel so much through his music and it blows my mind. Question of taste I think.

[@artemijssaveljevs1531]

Jacob is an amazing musician, and you man have amazing talent to explain! Thank you, especially for the visualisation of notes, this was super helpful for understanding!✨🤝

[@phenylphenol]

I wouldn't really call this "G half-sharp," but point taken, and rotating around in just intonation space is pretty great. Alldahl's "Choral Intonation" is a great guide to do this; helpful for all kinds of chamber groups. Wondering why you're speaking about fifths being 5 cents smaller though -- pretty certain it's near 2 cents of difference.

[@bohuscsaba6381]

What a clever and illuminating explanation! Thank you, sir, for another excellent video.

[@tonyr.4778]

It's all Pythagorian. Using the natural harmonic series, there are two minor thirds (in the key of C it is E - G and G - Bb). The G- Bb being a smaller minor third. The subtones naturally created by playing the tones together would either be a C or Eb three octaves lower. These sympathetic tones are changed by small microtuning of the intervals. When I was 20 I wrote practice etudes that created recognizable melodies in these difference tones. The key was to listen to the difference tone you were creating, not the one you were playing in order to create the correct melody in the subharmonics. You can also shape the timbral aspects of the main tones to change the amplitude of the difference tones in relation to the main tones, resulting in the notes not played being louder than the ones actually played, but that's a bit off topic. The ratio of the minor third E-G played as a 5:6 ratio will create a subtone of C as will the G-Bb minor third played as a 6:7 ratio. However if the G is played slightly flat, it will create a 6:7 ratio in the E-G minor third, creating an Eb subtone instead of a C, and also an Eb subtone in the G-Bb minor third as it becomes a 5:6 ratio. Using this same example, the musical practicality is if I'm playing a C minor chord or C major chord (dominant). Tuning the 3rd and 7th will determine whether an E or Eb will be created subharmonically. This is really only achievable on instruments that can continuously control tuning and sustain. Collier is able to do this transition seamlessly using voice and extended phrygian progressions. If you wanted to demonstrate this from a keyboard, you would need to microtune all the notes in a DAW for each chord. This is why orchestras can sound so good. They aren't bound to equal temperament.

[@macleadg]

This is great. So often , one seminal idea leads to another, or inspires another artist. Perhaps this “expanded vocabulary” will enable future artists to do even greater things.