Is it MOZART or MARIO?! ft.

Can 8-bit and I tell if music is Classical or from a Mario game? I grew up in Australia, yes I know I pronounce Mario funny.
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#supermariomovie #videogamemusic

[@8bitMusicTheory]

Man this was so much harder than I thought it would be! Thanks for having me on!!

[@RyanLeach]

Thanks for playing!

[@niilo8079]

You're in my top 30 favourite people, up there with my mom

[@bemasaberwyn55]

Holy hell......an ACTUAL 8 bit Music Theory in a vid

[@NeXaSLvL]

you should totally do a castle themes episode or even a multiple part series. you could start off with comparing different mario castle themes then move on to another couple games like legend of zelda and castlevania and then finish it off with a general comparison of different games castle music

[@rageman2247]

I would’ve given you the double points for the horse track theme at the end because it’s used as the horse track, diving minigame, and catching chickens - oot & gorman race, Goron race and I think beaver race - majora’s mask

[@andrewdrost6786]

Fun fact: The water land theme from mario 3 was actually used as the basis for the fairy fountain theme in zelda.

[@RobinsMusic]

another fun fact: both sound very similar to morning glory by tatsuro yamashita harmony wise

[@chickensandwich9977]

But Mario 3 came after the first Zelda

[@cupajoe99]

@@chickensandwich9977 The fairy fountain theme was introduced in “A Link to the Past”

[@chickensandwich9977]

@@cupajoe99 ahh. You're right. I was thinking of the wrong thing.

[@GuacaFlockaFLAME]

@@RobinsMusic Really great song I’ve never heard before! Thanks for sharing! Will check out his other music:)

[@EnchWraits]

"That jump would be very hard to do on an actual piano" And you think Mozart cares?!

[@PianistTanooki]

The funny thing is… it's *not* that hard to do. Most pianists play all of the treble clef 16th notes as written with the right hand only, myself included, and I certainly don't consider myself a virtuoso.

[@rooty]

Implying Mozart could beat mario at jumping

[@crazycowcraft350]

Most clever comment ever

[@PianAle1742]

The one at the beginning it's actually a classical piece ("A maiden's prayer" by T. Badarzewska), but it's been adapted for that specific use, soooo... 50/50?😅

[@JaysonT1]

Pretty sure all the Mario music is in part stolen from classical

[@RobinsMusic]

​@@JaysonT1 either that or fusion jazz or latin

[@thatpersonsmusic]

It’s the Kaohsiung trash truck song

[@quinsysquid2562]

@@thatpersonsmusic when i heard at first I was thinking “isn’t that just Für Elise?? What took them so long??” Then I realize I’ve mistaken it bc our trash truck played that instead lmao

[@luissantiagomijareso.2450]

​@@quinsysquid2562 lmaooo.

[@AlexPies1]

actually very surprised Ben didn't get the Mario 64 final boss theme right away. that's so iconic

[@Envy_May]

me too hhh

[@napilopez]

Same, but then I was surprised by how quickly they picked out the Mario Kart one. I guess we each latch onto different pieces!

[@b3yourself91]

I got that before it even played music lol

[@cleverhardy5230]

To be fair, that song sounded like a Bach organ piece.

[@rainbowspongebob]

Fr tho

[@Twisted_Logic]

Was surprised 8BMT didn't immediately recognize Ultimate Bowser

[@seronimo__7735]

Surprised neither of them did tbh

[@superjumpbros64]

I was surprised he didn't get a lot of them, but I understand cause he doesn't only do Mario, he does more other stuff

[@uffevonlauterbach]

I really love this little series of guessing video game music vs classical music. You guys should really consider doing a Castlevania vs. Classical music, because there's so much classical influences within the Castlevania series. I think that would be a very challenging one.

[@isaacgarzams]

please do this one!

[@geraq0]

that would be awesome

[@SimmonsProductions27]

“Belmont or Beethoven” sounds like a good name for this version of the series lol

[@uffevonlauterbach]

@@SimmonsProductions27 😂 That's perfect.

[@possessedpicklejar4762]

Guessing with them is fun, but knowing the song and hearing them use logic to determine the incorrect answer is great.

[@LetsPlayNintendoITA2023]

agreed

[@LetsPlayNintendoITA2023]

having people just guess its pokemon by listening to a song is easy. changing to 8bit and then guessing is more fun

[@Svit.S]

Lol the first example is indeed a classical piece but I guess that Mario game made a cover of it

[@johannfaust7205]

It‘s the Subject of „a Maidens Prayer“ by Tekla Badarzewska. So it‘s classical and in mario.

[@geekley]

It reminds me of Rosalina Observatory a bit.

[@Marklar3]

The parallel octaves in a contrapuntal context at the start of the 3rd measure of the Valentina theme give it away. edit: and Ultimate Bowser for the same reason. The last measure has parallel octaves with the bass and soprano voice.

[@duane6386]

The fact that Ultimate Bowser is on my Spotify playlist gave it away for me

[@geekley]

I don't think I'd be able to NOT recognize any music from SMRPG and Paper Mario (64), since those were the first games that got me into liking Video Game music as a genre. First stuff I put in my "MP3 Player" device back then.

[@lunaponta594]

oh my god, it's so weird to see 8bit's face while he talks. in my mind, i just imagined his disembodied voice without a face lol other face reveals had a little of this effect, but i've never had one THIS strong edit: btw the video is nice tho

[@bemasaberwyn55]

IKR

[@Manas-co8wl]

He actually made a couple of face reveals in his channel so I'm used to it

[@victreeee]

It’s true that #1 is from Mario but the original music was written by a Polish composer Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska in 1856. It’s called Modlitwa dziewicy for those who are interested

[@ITSNICKMELLO]

Let’s take a moment to appreciate the musical talent of video game music composers. Often we tend to ostracize artists away from conventional forms of media and belittle their ability for it, but I think this settles the debate that you don’t have to be signed to a billion dollar label or be a classical music artist to be musically gifted and genius. To Koji Kondo, Yoko Shimomura, Grant Kirkhope and many others, we owe you our undying respect.

[@RenanGreca]

Well, since classical music is not commercially mainstream as it was 300 years ago, film and game soundtracks carry the torch of that art. As you can see in this video, Kondo and Shimomura's canons are modern interpretations of classical and baroque conventions.

[@GizzyDillespee]

It would be funny if all of these were classical themes that were borrowed and adapted for Mario. "Mario Zart", IOW

[@GizzyDillespee]

My takeaway is that the Mario composers are equivalent to Mozart, when instrumentation is disguised, and you only can hear short clips.

[@caterscarrots3407]

@@GizzyDillespee Yeah, I have definitely heard that Mario Mozart comparison before. As well as Final Fantasy and Beethoven being compared, that like Koji Kando is video game Mozart cause the Mario melodies are catchy like Mozart's melodies are and Nobuo Uematsu, the composer for the first 10 Final Fantasy games, is video game Beethoven because both Beethoven and Uematsu develop large themes from small motivic building blocks.

[@youdontknowwho505]

The first 3 measures of the sample from Danse des Furies sounds like it directly inspired Ghostly Galaxy.

[@bemasaberwyn55]

I'm SHOCKED 8bit didn't get the Castle from World

[@TheViolaBuddy]

For #8, I could've sworn that was Grandma's Theme from Zelda: The Wind Waker. The melody and countermelody are so close. To be fair, there is plenty of crossover between Mario and Zelda music (as the ending of this video showed!)

[@cupajoe99]

Interesting! I didn’t hear it at first, but it is structured similarly for sure

[@Aresydatch]

​Same composer Koji Kondo

[@LetsPlayNintendoITA2023]

dang you are right

[@rafaelluciano5596]

Yoko Shimamura actually left Capcom for Square because they wanted to work on more classical music. Mario RPG was her first Square project I believe

[@dado__]

I feel like Shimomura stuff made this a lot harder because even as someone who doesn't know music theory she's very distinct in her musical vocabulary from Koji Kondo, who did most of the well known Mario themes. I feel like she definitely feels more classical and uses more orchestration than Kondo, who I feel tends towards single instrument melodies that really stick out from the background vs. Shimomura more "shaping" the melody using several instruments.

[@tedgonzalez985]

I literally just got the Super Mario RPG Switch ad right before the song reveal for Still, the Road is Full of Dangers. That's honestly insane.

[@dBradbury]

Far better choices than some of the other Classical vs Mario tests I've seen. Very fun.

[@boshman11]

EEEVIL move to throw in the Yoko Shimomura tracks! She‘s a genius of classical music

[@thefutureblues]

props to the editing ! these videos are so sweet and clean !

[@ILoveMisty1985]

Number 1 was essentially a remix of Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska's A Maiden's Prayer. So is it really Mario? I mean it isn't Mozart.

[@superlink3389]

Honestly that was tougher than I expected. I think I got a majority of them right though. I also immediately got the trick question at the end because that theme is what gave way to the Great Fairy theme in Zelda.

[@cheesesamurai1688]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="539">8:59</a> That sounded really similar to the ghost house theme in Super Mario 3D Land.

[@bigplayer2300]

Maybe the game took some inspiration from that song

[@Illager_Fries_Gaming]

And Galaxy too!

[@Skelthane]

I hope ya'll continue this kind of video, this was highly entertaining! (Maybe a Bach or Castlevania video?)

[@RawBerserker]

I'd absolutely love a Final Fantasy edition sometime, bangers of the highest variety

[@ricardoalfonso6821]

The Road Is Full Of Dangers sounds so much like the Russian Dance from The Nutcracker that I have to imagine that Shimomura used it knowingly as a framework for her song.

[@sanfransiscon]

iirc the Super Mario RPG soundtrack was composed by Yoko Shimomura

[@geraq0]

Absolutely loved the video, congratulations to both of you! Please do more videos like this!

[@ego-lay_atman-bay]

This was actually really fun for me to decide whether to go with classical or mario. I didn't keep track of my score, but I know I did fairly good, probably better than you guys (at the name of the game anyway). But yeah, mario sweater also got me. I had never even heard of that game, and I know about quite a lot of obscure mario games.

[@jkid1134]

5 is crazy because I recognized and enjoyed it immediately but still couldn't tell 😂

[@robertbauerle5592]

I really want to see some musicians listen to the opening menu theme for paper Mario 2 ttyd, it’s gotta be one of if not my favorite songs from all of Nintendo, it’s really something else. Kind of has an up beat jazzy and yet orchestral but still very video-gamey sound to it. Not sure exactly how to describe it

[@corazonbeso]

As a gamer/musician myself, I feel like all of these pieces could go either way, as far as being in a game or being from a classical piece! This was hard af! I like it!

[@WigWoo1]

I thought the first song sounded like a complex version of the Observatory theme from Super Mario Galaxy

[@dannythekey1]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="72">1:12</a> The first "mario" piece is actually La Prière d'une Vierge (Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska), which is also classical!

[@SerpongeDash]

Knew I wasn't crazy !! I was so confused when they said it was from Mario, I was like nah this is a classical banger how do you guys not know it but then I couldn't find it 💀

[@jordananderson2728]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1005">16:45</a> "This would be awesome orchestral!" Oh _boy_ do I have news for you.

[@SuperPaperPokemon]

#6 really reminded me of the 3D World Boo House theme. It starts pretty similar to that classical piece so I guess Mario adapted from it

[@supercamborg4218]

I thought it was that piece for a good bit while they were talking before having a realization that it couldn’t be the same because that song (first used in Galaxy) has the notes at the beginning spell D-E-A-D repeatedly and this wasn’t doing the same.

[@misael.castellano]

The first one is actually “la priere d’une vierge” a classic song by Badarzewska..

[@baileyshep1644]

I got number 5 pretty much immediately lol...I love how doubtful they seem for pretty much every example too. Great vid.

[@rossini9mozart10]

It's so easy for a classical musician because there is some majors writings mistakes in the Mario's one that are totally impossible to be heard in classical music I mean, what classical music say they are mistakes. It's just rules

[@SpaceLobster21]

Ooh this was really difficult So many of these sounded familiar to me but I couldn’t place it. There were a few that I knew right off the bat but a bunch I had no idea lol. Fun challenge! (Also liked the extra Zelda stuff at the end!)

[@huangary9916]

As a super mario fanatic and a classical violinist, this is so much fun to play along with. Thank u so much for this entertaining video! 🔥🔥

[@Captain_ThunderMic]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1026">17:06</a> well well well, seems that you got your remake AND the ''orchestral'' arrangement !

[@MyRegularNameWasTaken]

Hey wait!! Number one isn't fair, it's both! "I am a teacher" from Super Mario No Sweater, and "La Priere d'une Vierge" by Badarzewska!

[@nmitchell076]

For number 5, the opening is definitely ambiguous (5-#4-4-3 is a really common line over a pedal point in classical music). But the chords over that final E-G-Bb-G#-A thing is the dead giveaway. You got parallel octaves in the outer voices G-Bb. Plus over the G# bass note you have an A major chord. Vmaj7 in 3rd inversion is WILD. In classical language, that should be like a vii⁰7/V

[@Gravitynaut]

i was gonna say, the more exposure you have to playing classical music the more glaring it becomes when melodic or harmonic conventions are broken without structural justification.

[@Icemario87]

That last one in the bonus round was a trick, for sure. I recognize it from The Wind Waker. It's the Mother and Child Queen Fairy Island. Take a listen! I promise you it's only slightly different!

[@phazonruler3000]

Glad you put the individual composers on display as well.

[@normalvinegarghost2646]

I knew nr 3 was Mario because eventhough the cannonical figure threw me off at first, the counterpoint was full of dissonances that would've made Bach roll over in his grave. Also a parallel octave. Great video btw! I very much enjoyed it!

[@BuoBuoLi]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1">0:01</a> For some people, that's OST from Super Mario Sweater For others, thats a classical music called "A Maiden's Prayer" by Bądarzewska For me, thats the music which garbage truck blasts when on duty.

[@ChristopherSiu]

Damn it, I had to skip to the end to see who would break the tie...CONGRATSS

[@MetaKnight68]

Of the Mario themes in the main quiz, I only recognized 5, 8, and 10! SM64, SMW, and SMRPG are all near and dear to my heart

[@Vidgmchtr]

They re-released Super Mario RPG on Virtual Console for Wii U, and as far as I remember, it’s in the SNES Nintendo Switch Online archive as well.

[@thatpersonsmusic]

That first one is classical, called a maiden’s prayer. I know this because it plays on all of Kaohsiung’s trash trucks

[@marcelthoma8890]

Number 8 I emediatly got: Super Mario World Castle Theme. The other were really hard. But if you remember, Super Mario Glaxy has a very symphonic score.

[@wolfpackjew]

I just finished a replay of Mario RPG before I saw this, so those tunes were fresh. Best Mario soundtrack in my opinion.

[@publiovirgilio2238]

No wonder why mario series music has been always my fav videogames music.

[@moath84]

Intresting 8bit music theory didn’t recognize SMW castle theme , that’s one heck of a blind spot.

[@jojoortega4549]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="616">10:16</a> sounds just like the super mario 3d land ghost house theme. had me stumped!

[@mrshmuga9]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="605">10:05</a> I swear that was going to be Mario. I think it’s like, the Boo theme from Galaxy, but it’s a waltz and has a baseline. This was different but I figured it was a different/earlier iteration. Maybe the Nintendo composers actually took inspiration from the classical song.

[@armandocorona3707]

In fact the first melody is by Tekla Badarzewska And it's called a maiden's prayer if I remember correctly.

[@JayTrip05]

#4 reminded me of part of the castle theme from Super Mario World.

[@possessedpicklejar4762]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="537">8:57</a> that one threw me off because I’m fairly certain those first five notes are used in Super Mario Galaxy in the ghost galaxy.

[@tangerinenova6526]

WAIT! That last one with the Mario theme! Omg it took me a while to realize, but that’s also the great fairy fountain music in Ocarina and Majora

[@crystalwaltz]

I recognized so many Mario pieces here! I'm glad this video showed up on my timeline. I'd love to be part of these videos!

[@lilkittygirl]

“Didn’t re-release this game” Well that aged like lettuce

[@PizzaTowerSecretSauce]

Timestamp?

[@LorenceLinzWrightwoo]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXbIdnSjdpllh9ksi=YvvsfIajDjkRj-6J&t=1015

[@lilkittygirl]

16:50@@PizzaTowerSecretSauce

[@CopShowGuy]

In the bonus round for track 4, I instinctively went "WAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" when it started.

[@thegrassguy2871]

Pretty sure the first one is a remix of The Maiden's Prayer (which is classical)

[@TheLemonyBard]

The Gluck piece is SO similar to a theme used in Mario, literally the first five notes are the same and in the same key except the second note is dotted in the Mario one. Tripped me up big time!

[@Alianger]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="339">5:39</a> Isn't that particular part in a mario castle theme though? Yoshi's Island maybe

[@DuffyLONER64]

Huh, I thought for sure number 4 was a Bowser's Castle theme! But now listening back, I realize it sounds more like the piano intro bit to Cynthia in Pokemon.

[@anonymousaccount4483]

Here’s the real quiz? Mario Bros. 1983 Arcade Game Start theme or Mozart

[@BrokenG-String]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="363">6:03</a> is super easy. The Mario 64 model is a huge hint too.

[@rodterrell304]

Man I don't know or play Mario. Well Mario composers know their stuff.

[@concordjuniper33]

I got 9 out of 10 on the main round! The only one I missed was the first one because that Mario Sweater game is so obscure that even I haven't heard of it. And I've played Mario for over a decade now! I knew all the other Mario songs pretty easily because I'm a video game music connoisseur. I've played those games for years and even listen to the OSTs all the time. Even nailed where all the games come from (except the Final Bowser one from Mario 64 and Still Ahead the Road is Full of Dangers, although I did guess Mario for both of them because they were familiar to me. The second of those two was on the tip of my tongue). Also, with the bonus round, I only failed the first question because I've never played Twilight Princess (but I want to, though). I more recently became a Zelda fan, but I nailed the rest of those songs (even being quick to point out the trick last one!).

[@tweer64]

Actually, the first one is Classical. It's called "La priere d'une vierge" by Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska.

[@Shiftarus]

Mario RPG came up a bunch, and sure enough the remake came out. The music IS amazing.

[@NoTimeForNoodles]

Incredible video! I love it!!!

[@hgjfkd12345]

Ive watched way too much Mario Maker content to not instantly recognize the Castle Theme

[@vandam6057]

super mario sweater was some game only in japan that was a sweater making game. Iirc you could actually get the sweaters you made in the game in real life if you paid some more money

[@ale.2p284]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1260">21:00</a> That is from Super Mario Bros. 3 (the theme of World 3, specifically), it's the original version of the song.

[@KuroShiiiiro]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="336">5:36</a> i thought this was the GBA bowser castle intro 👁️ this trolled me more than i anticipated

[@jackiexkh]

Okay but what about the startup music for the Mario Bros. arcade game? That one's Mozart *and* Mario!

[@mikomakowski7907]

Man, I actually got a 12 on this. It got difficult, but man was ultimate bowser just ingrained into my mind

[@PremierCCGuyMMXVI]

I love how Mario games have lots of classical type music. Very cool

[@DaNintendude]

I got every single one EXCEPT Mario no Sweater, believe it or not (who could've guessed?) I even got all the Zelda ones. I've never played Twilight Princess, but I knew that song had to be Twilight Princess, and I guessed that it was probably Ordon Village, and guessed right!

[@OB77742]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1026">17:06</a> funny enough to them a few months later they remade the game!😂

[@CarbonSpire]

If I was uncertain of my guess by just listening, I'd pause and take a close look at the score. To make my pick that often helped me decide. Without spoiling which one, there was one piece that had an e flat in the solo line and d sharp played at the same time for the accompaniment. Big tip off there....

[@AltoonaYourPiano]

This is a really cool concept, this proves what I've said for years to be true. Video game music is often lumped in with techno and EDM while I've always felt it had far more in common with classical music (yes, this applies to even the Atari era music) and I've felt that the similarities should be explored more. I'd love to see stuff like a classical composition that uses the Game Boy sound as one of the instruments for example. It'd be a little bit like the TransSiberian Orchestra but with chiptune instead of electric guitars.

[@potatoheadpokemario1931]

That comment about them not releasing Mario RPG aged like ice on venus

[@tweer64]

Actually, the first one is Classical. It's called "La priere d'une vierge" by Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska.

[@rodterrell304]

The Castle Theme was deceiving because the melody was in the right hand in the middle clef

[@Goatman_Gamer]

People who say videogame music isn't real music:

[@FriedChckn13]

LOL the final bonus round track. That’s great!

[@StardustZee]

I always remembered on baby park in double dash. I would sometimes be doing bad and get the chain chomp. Youre basically releasing a demon upon a bunch of people

[@Nigel222]

Doing one of these with Castlevania music might be interesting.

[@DrEnzyme]

I actually managed to get my hands on an official copy of Mario RPG. It comes with the mini-snes (awesome console), though if it's in legal limbo I don't know exactly what happened to let them re-release

[@psymar]

Number 5 I recognized immediately. To this day it's one of my favorite final boss themes.

[@psymar]

Update: they did in fact release a super Mario RPG remaster

[@smala017]

“Oh this shouldn’t be that bad” First song: SUPER MARIO SWEATER