How To Use NEGATIVE MELODY To Write Beautiful Music [Negative Harmony]

Complete Chord Mastery course: www.musictheor...
A while ago on KZbin and other social medias there was a lot of interest in a theory called Negative Harmony.
Some people called it a fad, but I welcome any and every interest that musicians may have in learning theory :) Also, I think Negative Harmony is fun to use. What nobody is talking about though (but they should) is Negative Melody.
Wait, there is such a thing as Negative Melody?
Well yes, it turns out that not only Negative Melody exists, but that composers knew about this for a long time before the name 'Negative Harmony' even existed. I mean there are examples of it from J.S. Bach!
It really speaks to the power of an idea when after nearly 3 centuries you keep finding new sounds by applying it...
In practice Negative Melody is simply applying Negative Harmony to a single melodic line rather than a chord progression... but this sounds needlessly complex. Why don't we go and see what Negative Melody is and how it can create beautiful melodies?
Today we see how an absolute master of melody (the composer Sergei Rachmaninoff) uses the Negative Melody trick to write one of his most famous melodies... by lifting it from another great composer and applying Negative Melody:)
Watch the video here... and then do the same to create your melodies!
The video of the Paganini Capriccio with Hula Hoops is from the channel "TwoSetViolin" featuring Hilary Hahn. The guys are funny, and she's an amazing player. You should check them out :-)
If you like this video, share, like, comment & don't forget to subscribe for more content!
Need help with music theory for guitar? Check out these FREE resources: www.musictheor...
FOLLOW ME:
KZbin: / musictheoryforguitar
Facebook: / musictheoryforguitar
Twitter: / theoryguitar
Website: musictheoryforg...

[@llorakbretz]

Musician: it's easy, you don't need to be a rocket scientist Rocket Scientist: you don't need to be a musician to figure that out

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Musician: it's not brain surgery Neurosurgeon: it's not music theory...

[@2msvalkyrie529]

I wonder if anyone ever said ; .....It's not rocket science...!... to Werner von Braun ?

[@gabrielpalacios624]

*Brian May has entered the chat

[@gi5897]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar lmao

[@piadas804]

Musician and Rocket Scientist (well, I'm not rocket scientist, but computer scientist): well...

[@Andrea-xs4ny]

I agree that Var. 18 is one of the most beautiful melodies ever written. I've been in love with the Rhapsody since I first heard it in the movie "Somewhere in Time." This tutorial on melody inversion is fascinating and you explained everything so beautifully!

[@iLoveMyDog200]

He had me at “Hello internet so nice to see you” he sounds like a wholesome happy teacher

[@theseangle]

Hello internet so nice to see you

[@ryan_millard]

And lifting up his hat adds to it so much

[@DesignDeveloper]

very niiiiccccee

[@BazzTriton]

Yes

[@braydonnathanael4541]

instaBlaster.

[@benmarino1913]

What a useful trick/tool to use when your in need of inspiration! Thank you. Always evolving.

[@jameseverett9037]

or...just too lazy to look for inspiration.

[@Corujadocerrado]

Man, I didn't knew how much could the same song's idea sound so different. And feels so distinctly, the opposite (nervous vs romantic). Very cool.

[@KarstenJohansson]

This blew my mind, because I know both pieces (or variants thereof) really well and never made that connection until now.

[@binface9]

Fascinating. This melody comes up a lot when I pick up a guitar without knowing what specifically I wish to play.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

HAHA. You guys broke my website!! Too many visitors in such a short time! We are working hard to fix it - it should be up in a short time. Thank you for your interest! :) EDIT: the website is now fixed!

[@mundih]

Hehe, I clicked the link and nothing happened, but before saying "ah, for fucks sake.... another amateur scam bullshit piece of crap!" - I decided to check the comments for a possible explanation. And here it is! :) Loved this video. Hope you get the site up and running soon :)

[@sanderson1045]

PlainSimpleTailor F sharp(F#) is the same note as G flat(Gb). It is the black key between F and G natural, so G natural is the note after f#/gb

[@Tielha]

@PlainSimpleTailor It's not that difficult. Every note has a major and a flat. If you choose to go up a half note (change your D to a D# sharp for example) you will have a Sharp note as well as having the flat note of the next note in the scale. If you have a D flat, you've also got a C sharp. If you hear an f# it's also a Gb(# = sharp, b = flat. However, we usually refer to the notes depending on what scale we are playing in. If a D flat is part of your scale in a certain song, you're not gonna refer to the note as a C sharp, even though the notes are identical.

[@Majik53]

@PlainSimpleTailor - Uhhh, because F# IS Gb?

[@Majik53]

@@sanderson1045 - Oops, pretty much said the same thing before reading through the thread. Great minds, eh?

[@rdake4542]

He is like that teacher at school who actually loves their job and likes interacting with students in a fun way

[@dplu999]

Most serious composers these days take the square root of the melody before inverting it.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Yeah, but do they take the second derivative of the dominant 7 before doing it?

[@yorichixX]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar no they just take the Laplace transformation of it and add 13th over it :p

[@Ernieshaus]

And add some gin to the tonic...

[@AndrewBoldiPiano]

@@yorichixX Some cool cats these days are taking the gradient of the elliptic curve using the coefficients of the taylor expansion of the fourier series of the melody and transpose it to garibaldi temperament. hip stuff

[@mariomendozagmail]

Is this Chord mastery course a full package ones buy and walk away and ask questions as one's study own pace?

[@themandownstairs4765]

This guy teaches perfectly. "How is that pozzible? How could this two melodies be related?" Like I'm so drawn in wow

[@atthecore4560]

So it's a type of complex transposing of note structures. As a composer who hasn't been trained in music theory, I found this incredibly easy to follow. Great video!

[@samlinden898]

you are right this is one of the best melody ever writen

[@danaandthewolf]

Thank you for sharing this. My uncle told me something about this vaguely a long time ago, as it's one of my favorite pieces. Great explanation, Rachmaninoff was G!

[@lindaharrison3240]

That was SO COOL! I love how you illustrated that whole thing!

[@taydame6403]

I just tried this method in a video I uploaded... works for all genres and the results can be stunning! Thank you for this fantastic video, very inspiring... I have back linked to give you credit

[@MrZimpoppel]

I knew about inverted melodies and negative harmony, but it blew my mind when I heard this most famous Rachmaninov melody was the inversion of Paganini's theme. I've been listening to this Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini for decades, and I always thought that this passage, that really stands out from the rest, was where Rachmaninov put really a large part of himself into this whole piece. This part, and also a part of his second piano concerto are really moments when Rachmaninov touches musical heaven ! Thank you very much, I would never have guessed about it !

[@0live0wire0]

Rhythm is as important to melody as pitch.

[@ohyespigscanfly1266]

Reiginald Smith Brindle argues that rhythm is even more importante than pitch. And he does not stand alone with that opinion.

[@0live0wire0]

@@ohyespigscanfly1266 Yes, rhythm is more fundamental than pitch. In the larger scale rhythm is the process of unfolding of musical events that makes music possible through time. One of those events is the changing of pitches. Rhythm is the canvass on which music is created so every other aspect of music is subordinate to it.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

@@0live0wire0 I agree, rhythm is definitely more important than pitch.

[@matrixarsmusicworkshop561]

Stephen Dedalus its like space and time lol.

[@twostep919]

Debussy said: "The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between them"

[@kairinase]

I was just learning "Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star" on ukulele, and just mind blown by this video.

[@stevecallaghanmusic]

I paused the video after the first explanation, and thought 'hey I wonder what it would sound like with Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' I almost had a heart attack when I unpaused the video! Great minds think alike! This is such a great technique!

[@DlmlZ]

Boahhhhh! Tommaso Zillio, your analytical skills are incredible amazing. Having you as a teacher must be godsend, that's for sure! There is so much we guys can learn from a guy like you! All your videos are so inspiring and helpful to create new ideas on a fundamental theoretical base. You always come up with new things we have never thought of. It really helps us to become a much better musician and composer. I simply want to say thank you for your great work, we are blessed to have you here. Wishing you all the best for 2020, please stay healthy and happy. God bless!

[@shaunzack2846]

Check out his complete chord mastery course.

[@Sphereal]

Damn, this is a very logical explanation of negative harmony.

[@robbes7rh]

Great! I love this. It unlocks a dimension that is hidden in plain sight.

[@SYROxTeaz]

Sadly this bug doesn't work anymore. They have updated it.

[@waxlthegreat]

Mandela

[@stardusstt6589]

What u mean?

[@peanutbutter1998]

Waxl Rose mandela what?

[@dirtyandnasty9011]

Haha Update 1.85 - fixed an exploit where players were able to jump into a hole in the melody to skip all the music theory level

[@wyattstevens8574]

I might have to try this! My choice of melody? HWV 375. Why? Mystwick School of Musicraft, one of my favorite book series, (probably) mentions it slightly extensively (don't even know if it's the sonata in question, although Audible and I think so- much less if the author even had a specific sonata in mind: the book, [and when I sent her some fan mail she] both just call it "Handel's Flute Sonata in Em," so there's immediately a 50% chance that I'm right- not 33, because op. 1-1a and 1-1b, HWV 379 and 359b, start almost identically but in the former the melody's "busier") but the inverted melody could be like the "butterflies in her stomach" both in the "I'm so nervous" scene in chapter 2, and the "did I make it?" scene in ch. 6, with the original in ch 3. And I would probably invert the entire sonata! If I did and posted it, I might just post MIDI playback from Finale.

[@aylbdrmadison1051]

You've become my favorite music learning channel over the last couple months, and that's no small feat because I'm subscribed to quite a few other excellent channels. Thank you for the lessons, and until next time.. en-joy. ^-^

[@douglaspiper7804]

Just saw this video today! What a great concept! Love it. Thanks. Doug.

[@Kalparkr]

Very nice! It is impressive to just keep learning new perspectives in music...Thanks for sharing!

[@davidwallace3933]

I found the math behind changing the key signature so it lets you flip staff music (rotating 180 degrees to read the base cleft as the treble cleft and vice versa) so it automatically completes a chromatic inverstion on all the notes at once. Extra attention is needed for accidentals. It turns out to be a simple formula to determine what key signature is needed. I believe there are actually two key signatures for every starting key that will let this work.

[@MrAdamNTProtester]

Great video breakdown... you are an excellent teacher... take a concept & drill down into it just the right depth to convey the idea from ideal to tangible & not too much that you lose the thread... I appreciate your putting this up on KZbin for free... thanks

[@theeniwetoksymphonyorchest7580]

Excellent tutorial. I feel you’ve shown me a really important insight into how musicality works. Great examples with Rachmaninov & Paganini, illustrating the concept in a powerful way with great clarity. Thank you for the experience, E r I c

[@PatrickStefan]

Way more useful than negative harmony great work!

[@ulfdanielsen6009]

And of course the reference to the 24th Caprice had to be the live interpretation by Hilary Hahn,- thank you

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

I am a proud and unapologetig Hahn fan ;)

[@iwanabana]

It brings me so much joy to know that she does not play that in 440 Hz. Such warmth and sound that instrument produces!

[@fernandoserico77]

Love how you say “noz”. Play the noz

[@Paradroidx]

Ableton Live has this cool way of inverting notes. I've done this with a few classic midi file's. It's pretty interesting.. I think everyone borrowed from each other . Or was inspired in a way

[@DrMabuse2010]

3:43 jaw dropped, Nice!!!!!

[@SelfPropelledDestiny]

I made this for myself and thought others might benefit from this more universal info for transposition: All chromatic major/minor chord possibilities should be covered but make sure to remember symmetric property (i.e. if looking for VI remember to read right to left as well) Major and Minor Scales Diatonic Chords I = i ii = bVII iii = bVI IV = v V = iv vi = bIII vii* = ii* Nondiatonic chords bII = vii bii = VII II = bvii biii = VI III = bvi #IV = #iv #iv = #IV

[@half-bloodgoldfish9120]

Was NOT expecting the twoset reference lol great video 👍

[@johndoc4483]

I want to thank you for this information, that I feel I hope I can discipline myself to learn, to open more doors in knowledge and songwriting and playing guitar, I now have a reason to get back to writing and learning, forever greatful to you...

[@unboundboundarie211]

Nice clip from twoset :)

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

TwoSet are great! :)

[@jackmarentette1302]

Screw Twoset :)

[@sat1241]

@@MusicTheoryForGuitar thank you for this lesson. I have a question. In the Paganini when we compare A to C in your example you determined that C is two half steps up. Then to get the Rachmaninoff you went two half steps down to F#. Ok, no problem. Than A came up again and the next note in the Paganini is is E. You counted 7 half steps up and got E. I assume it's arbitrary which direction you count the steps in the first melody being that you could ave counted 5 steps down to get E. I know the result is the same but I assume you decided to count upward from A to E instead of downward due to it perhaps was more familiar to you. Am I right that the directions used to count in the first melody are arbitrary?

[@JRandallS]

@@sat1241 The result would have been the same. Up a fifth is the same as down a fourth and visa versa. These types of inversions always equal 9. 3rds and 6ths, 4ths and 5ths, 2nds and 7ths. Up to one, down to the other. But he probably counted up, due to the fact that the melody line went up, so the next note was actually 7 half steps up in the referenced melody that he was following.

[@sat1241]

@@JRandallS Yes, that's probably it. I was looking at the white board instead of also referring to the sheet music

[@DoomRater]

Beautiful. The concept is explained well and it's a solid advertisement for your book too. Now I wanna try playing with a few pieces I like and see what I can transform them into!

[@craigshaw141]

Thanks you for this excellent video. This was such a great example of negative melody (chromatic inversion).

[@hausofvishy8695]

Reminded that Everything is relative.. Thanks for the lesson 🌻

[@richellmcknight446]

Brilliant!!!😁💖 I could hear that it was flipped when you isolated the melodies and I sang them the same tempo! This must be what Ritchie Blackmore was talking about when he said he flipped the opening of Beethoven's 5th for the famous guitar intro on Smoke on the Water!!!😁💖 Pure genius! And I agree with you about that being one of the most beautiful melodies ever written, sigh...💖

[@brycegorman2383]

Ooh very sweet sounding melodies, I have to keep trying this

[@micheldindaine8403]

I honestly would never get the difference btwn the 2 by listening only. GREAT VIDEO

[@christopherheckman7957]

4:43 "Papa Haydn's dead and gone, but his mem'ry lingers on; (when) he was in moods of bliss, he wrote silly tunes like this." 5:35 Rach rocks!

[@notyetskeletal4809]

I inverted a Metallica song and got a Def Leppard song. No joke! I was surprised and a bit disappointed because I liked it but couldn't call it my own.

[@TheCryonicsMusic]

wich song of Metallica you inverted to get Def Leppard song?

[@notyetskeletal4809]

@@TheCryonicsMusic Hi. It was part of Call of Ktulu. The Def Leppard song was from Hysteria.

[@bluesnaggletooth1660]

@@notyetskeletal4809 if this is true, you should make a video on it. I think it will do good

[@notyetskeletal4809]

@@bluesnaggletooth1660 it was true. I have long forgotten it but wouldn't make a video about it of if I remembered. I could figure out what the chord inversions were but I just like concentrating making my own stuff.

[@deus3404]

this is some amazing stuff!!!!!!!!!!pls never stop making videos

[@ashique_babon]

3:57,4:17,5:08

[@maureenbarnes7496]

Fantastic, the very best xplanation ive been looking for since forever.

[@bhorstkotte]

Outstanding as always

[@suiheisensongs]

Mindblowing lesson!! Thank you so much for the lesson!!!

[@howser1961]

You are a brilliant and happy man.

[@JiveDadson]

On a completely unrelated note, I was reminded that in the show The Music Man, the march Seventy-Six Trombones has the same melody as the ballad Good Night, My Someone.

[@whatdoyousuppose]

OMG dude I’ve been listening to that score over several many years and this is the first I’m realizing this, wow!

[@tpe1967]

Fantastic, I just learned something new. Thank you!

[@JereToikka]

What is the difference between chromatic inversions and sequencing the diatonic inversion? If we take Paganini's theme and invert it diatonically in Am, after sequencing we can find the melody G, E, F, G, C which is equivalent to the 18th variation, just in a different key (C major).

[@kriminalrekordz]

Those lessons are really applicable to a bass guitar, easy!

[@danutdracula]

Omg can't wait to try this out

[@0000song0000]

F... how on Earth I didn't know those those were "related" and I love them both🙉😍

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

exactly, one of the most beautiful

[@Transterra55]

Fascinating! Thanks for the upload.

[@jeroenfigee]

Really Interesting and also cool that it has an official name: Chromatic Inversion. Thumbs up from me.

[@x-man8889]

Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@mastertimb]

Interesting concept that I'd never considered before. Thank you for the video!

[@PeregrineTrousers]

Excellent video, and a great example. Thanks

[@emsaye]

I love this information. Thank you!

[@mikeevans1952]

very interesting. Not heard of that before in over 60 years of playing

[@motomuso]

Thank you for this video. It's such a good idea; one I had never heard. This opens up many worm cans. I hope you don't mind any keyboard players hanging around MusicTheoryforGuitar.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Everybody is welcome!

[@tghuffine6277]

"Think For Yourself" by George Harrison is about to get totally rewritten. :D

[@JereToikka]

For a moment I mixed up and thought you were talking about Rex Harrison and wondering how on earth you would do inversions on his singing "melodies" :D

[@cazgerald9471]

Too bad George didn't see this video before composing My Sweet Lord

[@meadish]

Good luck! Will you also invert the meaning of the lyrics?

[@meadish]

Yeah Yeah Yeah, you loves she.

[@zebratangozebra]

@Edward Stow That's really good

[@UndisclosedTalent]

This is AMAZING!!!!

[@brendondominic6576]

very useful lesson man keep producing videos

[@RightNowMan]

Fantastic lesson. Thank you.

[@renascitur7051]

The only few people I know who play guitar and also appreciate music theory and the classical genre. A lot of the modern-day musicians I know just disregard the classical genre and think of all of them to be boring as if all of theme were beginner level mozart-esque music.

[@johaquila]

I missed the part of the video where it mentions that this is a totally standard technique in classical music, normally known as inversion. In Germany, music lessons are mandatory in school, and actually doing diatonic inversions yourself is part of the standard curriculum for the most common school type. This video just gives a new name to chromatic inversion (counting semitones, not positions in a scale), which admittedly is rarer in classical music, but is a key technique of twelve-tone music.

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

The part you missed starts at 1:54

[@Eblan85]

Puro gold my friend, amazing video

[@kevinberstler]

Thank you for this video. Well explained. Loved the examples.

[@stevet.4974]

This is blowing me away. I actually know how to play Paganini Caprice 5 and 16 (the notes not the speed!!) so I applied this to the opening phrases of both pieces and WOW! Not only some really nice melodies but some great chords too. The Caprice no 16 beginning translated (for me anyway) to C Bm F# .... Am I crazy enough to rewrite Caprice No 5 in negative harmony?? Could I get sued? (lolz) Thanks a lot man.... this opened up a new world.

[@walterbanci7269]

Very Interessting*** Good work!

[@scottlane4217]

Fantastic video. Very clear and concise explanation . Thank you!

[@rslane32]

I don’t play guitar but yours is the next book I’ll buy

[@loudlikelove5016]

I heard about it fromJacob and Herbie but never got it right, with your explanation I finally understood :) Thx I don't play the guitar but I subscribed lol, you have very useful stuff

[@saxyrep1]

Cool ! I'm gonna use that on my own material haha ! Thanks !

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

great! i play this variation in its original

[@crestfallen821]

from 2:10 to 3:44

[@mckinleymorton]

Great vid. Very informative and succinctly done.

[@graynoone]

Absolutely brilliant.

[@GuitarBasement]

Good stuff...love it!

[@pstrzel]

Now compare the Star Wars main theme with the Anakin and Padme theme. Not quite as straighforward, but inversion nevertheless.

[@Rhinoinasuit]

Stanczyck, nice

[@MusicTheoryForGuitar]

Well spotted!

[@SoVeryGrim]

@@Rhinoinasuit a man of culture, I see

[@klop4228]

The love theme from the OT and Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto?

[@SUBSYNDICATE]

pstrzel teach me more, master

[@hurric4n3ike]

PRECIATE THIS, finna go ham with these tools

[@chordfiles]

"Good artists copy, great artists steal." ~ Picasso Great lesson!

[@sandwich-breath]

Well look at you... thank you for sharing this wizardry!

[@schlippery1]

I never guessed this even existed :) Thank you !!

[@ricocape]

Bravo! Finally an italian channel in english.👍👍

[@angrytedtalks]

Davie504?

[@glorioskiola]

Fantastic, thanks!

[@neilandtheorangepeel4806]

Very interesting and inspiring. Thanks for a pedagogic video

[@phpimusique9373]

very cool! thanks for that

[@lassalle777]

Brillant ! Un grand merci à vous.

[@clutchkman]

Excellent!

[@hadiiiiii6_9iiiiiiiii45]

I

[@waxhead63]

Love your tutorials .. layman explanation 👍🙏🏻