Fluid Basslines (Bach Chorale Music Analysis) - Inside the Mind of Bach

[@MusicMattersGB]

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[@JackStevenson5045]

“Before we talk about it, let’s hear it.” BRAVO!!!!❤❤❤❤

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@carlstenger5893]

Another brilliant video. I never encountered 9-6 suspensions when I took theory a hundred years ago. As for the lack of pivot chords....Bach strikes again. I could happily spend every evening analyzing Bach works. Thanks!

[@MusicMattersGB]

It’s fabulous study. Always new insights to discover.

[@emsihongg4868]

It's amazing how much you press out of these four bars of music. God bless your soul!

[@MusicMattersGB]

You’re very kind.

[@sathyngouane359]

One of the best channel for musicians ! Thanks a lot.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Thank you. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk

[@Nimatarsetar]

Your teachings are absolutely amazing. I've learned a lot from them. Just wanted to say thank you!

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme. If you value this channel and would like to help us continue to share and develop the content please consider supporting us as a level 1 Maestro by clicking here kzbin.info/door/8yI8P7Zi3yYTsypera-IQgjoin Alternatively you can express your support for the channel by clicking on the Super Thanks button beneath any of our videos. Thank you.

[@JackStevenson5045]

Bach chorales is my favorite subject to teach. You did an excellent job as usual. Thanks.

[@MusicMattersGB]

That’s most kind

[@the_eternal_student]

4:42 The simplicity of the step-wise bass adds a harmonic complexity that arpeggiation would not have. 6:12 I have also noticed that Bach is fond of using in these chorales an accented passing tone in the bass as a kind of anticipation of a chord tone on the next beat that is approached by a consonant 8th note in ascending step.

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@lawrencetaylor4101]

I found a Bach Chorale book with 389 chorales. Many times there are many more measures, and Gareth often takes the beginning 8 or 12 bars. I'm looking forward to using what I've learned here to go further.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Excellent

[@eriksatieofficiel]

Man if electric bass was invented during Bach's time, he would have rocked on stage.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Now there’s a thought!

[@eydiguttason1961]

Best tutorial I ever had meet your genious to tutorially

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme. If you value this channel and would like to help us continue to share and develop the content please consider supporting us as a level 1 Maestro by clicking here kzbin.info/door/8yI8P7Zi3yYTsypera-IQgjoin Alternatively you can express your support for the channel by clicking on the Super Thanks button beneath any of our videos. Thank you.

[@palad3030]

Thank you Sr.! you can not imagine how helpful are your Videos for me. I've learned quite a lot from them!

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme. If you value this channel and would like to help us continue to share and develop the content please consider supporting us as a level 1 Maestro by clicking here kzbin.info/door/8yI8P7Zi3yYTsypera-IQgjoin Alternatively you can express your support for the channel by clicking on the Super Thanks button beneath any of our videos. Thank you.

[@randolphmitchell6851]

I really am enjoying this Inside the Mind of Bach series! One thing I notice as a singer and a bass is that the bass leap from A to C in the 2nd measure might be difficult to pull off when you've just finished an A major chord with an A to C# interval. If Bach had included a passing B for the basses, it might make it easier to find that C, and also add to the fluidity of the bass line. But I'm guessing he didn't want fluidity there at the end of his phrase!

[@MusicMattersGB]

Good observation. He often regroups between phrases.

[@CalebePriester]

I'm also enjoying.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Brilliant

[@jamesonh1]

You are a terrific teacher Gareth, thank you so much for your videos!

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme. If you value this channel and would like to help us continue to share and develop the content please consider supporting us as a level 1 Maestro by clicking here kzbin.info/door/8yI8P7Zi3yYTsypera-IQgjoin Alternatively you can express your support for the channel by clicking on the Super Thanks button beneath any of our videos. Thank you.

[@Trash-Beats]

Young Man U looking heathy everyday stay blessed thanks for everything

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀 A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme. If you value this channel and would like to help us continue to share and develop the content please consider supporting us as a level 1 Maestro by clicking here kzbin.info/door/8yI8P7Zi3yYTsypera-IQgjoin Alternatively you can express your support for the channel by clicking on the Super Thanks button beneath any of our videos. Thank you.

[@OfficialDanieleGottardo]

Amazing lessons! Did you study the books of Ebenezer Prout? I find a lot of similarities in your teaching. His methods of tonal counterpoint are very clear!

[@MusicMattersGB]

Yes I’ve certainly studied Prout in the past. Solid stuff!

[@crazy_doc2816]

What you explain is the principle of Jazz bass lines. My „mantra“ : Bach was the first Jazz musician.

[@MusicMattersGB]

I completely agree.

[@LesterBrunt]

Thanks for this video! I was pondering about this so good timing. I feel like I have mastered harmonic progressions pretty decently but it is all so slow. Now I am trying to figure out how to write good stuff that moves quickly. Those fluid running baslines of Bach are a great example of that. I find it hard to find balance and variation when there are so many notes in a measure. Composers like Bach can make all the notes sound functional, even within the fast fluid lines. I find it hard to write fast stuff that is not just mindlessly running up or down the scales or ruining the feeling of overarching harmonic progression

[@MusicMattersGB]

There’s so much to learn from Bach in this regard.

[@HishamKhalaf1]

Thank you so much for your brilliant exposure of the subject. I may say that Bach started in D minor and ended the first phrase by the dominant chord of D minor which is A Major and I may consider that is a modulation from D minor to A Major then immediately Bach moved to A minor in the 2nd phrase, which is not a modulation because both A Major & A minor have the same tonic note. So, I may consider he moved from D minor to A Major & finally to A minor.

[@MusicMattersGB]

It’s certainly true to draw out the relationship between the A major and A minor chords but the music doesn’t actually modulate to A major.

[@HishamKhalaf1]

@@MusicMattersGB That is true, just one chord does not modulation has occurred. Thank you so much for your explanation.

[@deplinenoise]

Beautiful music beautifully explained

[@MusicMattersGB]

Most kind

[@cliveaitkenhead]

Is there a suspension in the alto in the second phrase? That's another great video and the IMB series is so good - I have learned so much from it and will try the chorale writing course next. Thank you.

[@MusicMattersGB]

That’s not a suspension in the alto. I’m assuming you’re looking at the A on the approach to the final cadence. The A belongs to the II7 chord so it’s a harmony note/ chord tone rather than a suspension.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Enjoy the Chorale course.

[@cliveaitkenhead]

Sorry Gareth, I meant to write in the second bar and not in the second phrase! Its the E prep, E sound and D res in the alto. I was just curious. Best Clive @@MusicMattersGB

[@MusicMattersGB]

@cliveaitkenhead Yes. That’s definitely a suspension.

[@grahamfjlaws6108]

On a sideways note : Did you ever produce a video on the Rule of the Octave ?

[@MusicMattersGB]

Not yet but it’s on the list

[@thomasj2835]

Wonderful lectures.

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Much more at www.mmcourses.co.uk including details of our online courses and of our exciting Maestros programme. If you value this channel and would like to help us continue to share and develop the content please consider supporting us as a level 1 Maestro by clicking here kzbin.info/door/8yI8P7Zi3yYTsypera-IQgjoin Alternatively you can express your support for the channel by clicking on the Super Thanks button beneath any of our videos. Thank you.

[@stefanodigarbo4735]

Hi Gareth, crystalline as usual. I guess we all agree JS Bach is the No. 1 reference point in chorale writing. Once you have completed the analysis of JSB's chorale opera omnia, what author should come next, in your opinion? Provided one still has life time to spend, of course 😃. Thanks, stay healthy and see you in your next video!

[@MusicMattersGB]

A pleasure. Maybe Beethoven next.

[@bigpicturehero]

Thanks again! Idea for video: dissonance and beat. I'm doing counterpoint exercises now and I am shocked by how effective the formula "constance on the downbeat, dissonance on the upbeat" is. Is there more to this? Maybe you've already done this video.

[@MusicMattersGB]

There is more to this in terms of accented and unaccented dissonance. Have a look at our Bach Chorale videos.

[@CalebePriester]

You can put dissonances on strong beats as well, however you must prepare it and then resolve it, for instance a simple suspension.

[@MusicMattersGB]

That’s certainly true for suspensions. Additionally there are options like accented passing notes/ passing tones and appoggiaturas that don’t need preparing in the same way

[@JoelLaviolette]

Thank you! Regarding the lack of a pivot chord-I’m wondering if since it’s in Dm and that C note drops to the bass and descends if you could think of it being melodic minor there and so it would naturally have an Am chord already diatonic to Dm. So it’s like the pivot chord and the modulation point are the same thing?

[@MusicMattersGB]

It’s certainly a way of seeing it

[@trevorfurness5695]

Gareth, just a thought about the difference between viewing the three notes in the 3rd complete bar on the '+' of the 2nd beat. If one looks at these as constituting a chord change to a second inversion A minor chord, would this not give this part of the music a sense of harmonic accent? Is it not more accurate to view this as three separate melodic movements coinciding, creating a sense of release of stress, flowing directly into the more significant third beat? Could there be an element, in this case, of the difference between Modal and Diatonic ways of thinking? Once again, many thanks for the excellent job you do with sharing the treasures of music theory with the modern world.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Thanks for your kind words. This example is very typical of Bach in that you can either see this as a new independent chord or as the use of inessential notes in multiple parts. I prefer to see it as both. I don’t think it particularly injects harmonic accent because of its position between beats. It also acts as a kind of replacement passing 6/4, which Bach loves to embrace.

[@trevorfurness5695]

@@MusicMattersGB Thanks Gareth, I think I understand the concept of 'passing 6/4' a lot better than I did. I will look out for this in Bach's general style and technique to be found in other works.

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@markchapman6800]

Speaking of being able to interpret parts of Bach's music in more than one way, the 7th of II in the penultimate bar is of course prepared and resolved in exactly the same way as the 9-8(/6) suspension in the first full bar.

[@MusicMattersGB]

True

[@bronktug2446]

Beautiful, thank you!

[@MusicMattersGB]

It’s wonderful music

[@MrFlae]

Greetings. Can anyone tell me why E min / F# Maj / C Maj / C7 / B Maj progression makes sense and it sounds very good? I'm a noob when it comes to music theory and I keep staring at the circle of fifths for answers but I can't make sense of it... I know my question is not related to this video but maybe someone can explain this to me. 🙂

[@MusicMattersGB]

The acid test is - does it sound good? That often depends on the context of style mood voice leading etc. Your progression is a little unorthodox but if it works go for it!

[@lindacowles756]

G'day, Mr. Greene! I have a question. When you say that Bach had to work with the chorale he was given, was it given with harmonies different from what he wrote or just a melody line with no harmonies at all?

[@MusicMattersGB]

Bach inherited the melodies with different harmony, which he didn’t care for!

[@wandajames143]

What videos do you explain musical forms?

[@MusicMattersGB]

This is a whole area on our list to cover.

[@smkh2890]

Jack Bruce studied cello and he said Bach had the best bass lines!

[@MusicMattersGB]

Absolutely

[@BaldPerspective]

Not to be a prude, but at 12:29 you put I to V when it's i to V; good analysis, great thumbnail, & beautiful playing, though!

[@MusicMattersGB]

Thanks. In this example I’m using Basic Roman rather than Extended Roman labelling. In Basic Roman we put all the labels in upper case for simplicity.

[@BaldPerspective]

@@MusicMattersGB I gotchya. I'm still used to my theory teacher doing everything except slapping our hands with a ruler over the slightest mistakes lol

[@MusicMattersGB]

@@BaldPerspective 😀

[@patrickcunningham618]

tyvm

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀Hope you’re well

[@crapadopalese]

I am not sure why you say this is a wrong key signature. It's in Am. He's just noodling around the IV at the beginning.

[@aelfrice]

Not being familiar with this chorale, I'd assume these two measures don't predict the larger tonal space of the whole chorale. His pointing it out was a corollary to the idea that key signatures may or may not be expected.

[@MusicMattersGB]

The Chorale is in D minor.

[@hugoclarke3284]

@@MusicMattersGB Do we say x is in the key of y because it starts in y, or because it is mostly in y? This chorale is technically about 50% Dmin and 50% Amin.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Label according to the key of the moment

[@CalebePriester]

Interesting! The first two phrases are very strange. What was Bach feeling? He was using minor chords I guess, I paused the video to comment now, but I guess he was in minor, but at the first cadence he used a major chord?? Wow! It is strange. I guess I feel what he was trying to express, but I can't put it in words. I will continue to wtach the video.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Of course the Chorales are all settings of words so there’s often word painting going on in the music

[@elierouhana1181]

It is amazing how Bach music from 300 years ago sometimes sound like modern music isn't it?

[@MusicMattersGB]

Absolutely

[@iwright621]

Modern music , never got modern after Bach & Beethoven . The music world is possibly still catching up .

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@hugoclarke3284]

Nothing remarkable about it at all. Bach, among many others who are less known or forgotten, are the foundations of "modern music".

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@jani9783]

Love From Pakistan 🇵🇰

[@MusicMattersGB]

And to you

[@tunekeysus9427]

Music Matters I´d like to know about the topic pitch class set

[@MusicMattersGB]

Here is a decent explanation of the principle. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Set_theory_(music)

[@tunekeysus9427]

@@MusicMattersGB thank you

[@MusicMattersGB]

@@tunekeysus9427 😀

[@rickypayne9192]

All I know from the music class I took 45 years ago is our teacher said before Bach thier was no bass line

[@MusicMattersGB]

There were bass lines before Bach for quite a long time.

[@the_eternal_student]

You should have told them the key signature was dorian which is another form of minor.

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@charlesallan6978]

If Bach were alive today , he would be the new second half of Steely Dan.

[@MusicMattersGB]

There’s a thought

[@desoconnor7445]

He looks like Hans Zimmer 😎

[@MusicMattersGB]

😀

[@the_eternal_student]

I think what you are calling imperfect cadence is what we call half cadence.

[@MusicMattersGB]

Indeed

[@gauriblomeyer1835]

Very interesting, the concept of the harmony rules is very impressive, but it does not touch the essence of music, the effect of various compositions to our inner being. There was a person, late Mr. August Everding who once remarked that Mozart had copied the music he wrote down, from heaven. So the question is: what is the origin of music and why has it become an indispensable part of our life. In India you get the answer: You in the west will never understand our concept and in case you know you will never accept it. From our understanding the world of music was created by our Mahashakti, in your terms the Mother of God. To a few of us she gives before the birth a key to this world and by the intuition these chosen personalities enter this world and what they hear there they copy and write it down using the rules of harmony with its exceptions.

[@MusicMattersGB]

That’s a fascinating perspective