Why “Chromatic Mediants” sound so good!

Enter the rabbit hole and learn pitch class inversion and the Ionian/Phrygian relationship.
It works with any scale, btw.
Also, this explains the sonically interesting things that “Negative Harmony,” and “Modal Interchange” try to explain, just in a different way. I think this “pitch-class-inversion” stuff does a better job explaining it, imo. Chromatic Mediants, Coltrane changes, Tadd Dameron turnaround, and other cool and stuff make a lot of sense with the “flippening!”
Follow-up video idea:
Dorian (symmetrical)
Ionian & Phrygian (inverted)
Locrian & Lydian (inverted)
Aeolian & Mixolydian (inverted)
Mixolydian b6 (aka Aeolian-Major) is the symmetrical set related to Melodic minor.
Double-Harmonic Major (symmetrical)
Harmonic minor (not symmetrical, flips to V of Harmonic major, Mixolydian b2)
If you’d like to check out my books and dig into this stuff further, I briefly mention this concept in my book, “Voicing Modes” but it’s a bigger part of my book “The 4-Note Universe”
www.noeljohnston.com/merch.html
Thanks!

[@djb903]

Pitches be flippin

[@blinco1539]

They so do

[@SilentAttackTV]

Pitch please

[@karlricardo4088]

Change my pitch up!

[@djb903]

@@karlricardo4088 smack my pitch up Whoa!

[@ukcryptolondonbased2953]

That joke deserves a bigger audience

[@madbeggar]

This is that dream where you show up for class and there's a test and you haven't studied or even attended all semester.

[@Mathi80]

...but then you just start strumming and jamming and somehow get all the licks right intuitively, and get full marks. ♥

[@canastraroyal]

​@@Mathi80No, the dream OP was referring to ends with you having to return each and everything you've earned in your whole life because your diploma was flawed! 😂😢

[@louisaruth]

can confirm that this stuff can haunt your dreams if you think about it enough

[@asfasdfadf9820]

LMAO. I'm watching and nodding and nodding and then all the sudden I have no idea what is being discussed. Then at other points I'm like, well I just learned this on piano and it was a lot easier to understand visually looking at piano keys, like you can flip a 4th and get a 5th, or like how you can move your fingers 5 white keys up or 4 white keys down (or is it the other way around) and you arrive at the same note.

[@tomchambers4537]

Causally drops the craziest palindrome and then just moves on

[@unknownpleasures_nic]

This is pretty cool, you did all the hard big brain work and then showed how it worked in simple terms

[@dave-on-keys]

I was into the theory part, but never expected you to play such great guitar music to demonstrate the ideas! (I'm sure there a lot of people who can theory their way to the stars, yet not play their way out of a cardboard box, and vice versa)

[@josuastangl7140]

Absolutely, I was stunned and immediately subscribed when he started playing, as my ears understood the concept before my head did.

[@allthings2allmen]

Or a box made out of any other material.

[@danielplainview2584]

Usually I’m unimpressed by music theory videos on KZbin (they give me the same energy as fitness KZbinrs explaining science) but it’s clear you’ve done your reading and know the work. Great video.

[@sturdychinfilms]

Holy christ, I can't believe I found this video today. I was literally just trying to explain the relationship between C major and Ab major to my father this morning. This was the best explanation of this I've seen so far. Thanks so much!

[@GrandpaJean]

I still don't understand where Ab major came from :(

[@carterthaxton]

@@GrandpaJeanC Phrygian has the same notes as Ab major.

[@carterthaxton]

C, Db, Eb, F, G, Ab, Bb

[@HenryMPerez]

(LUKE!), Use the Force---

[@KaninTuzi]

​@@GrandpaJean Just think about how C ionian, D dorian, E phrygian etc are related (they are all the same notes, or the same scale with different starting points). In that same way, Ab ionian is the same scale as C phrygian. We can also think about it in Bb dorian or any other parallel scale to C phrygian.

[@katieolooney]

I don’t think I have ever encountered this level of analysis and i love your sharing and your sound

[@MrHillboxx]

Stunning… feels like entering a parallel universe, accompanied by beautiful sounds and melodies🙏

[@afogHD]

Mind: Blown! Also, the best mic drop ever at 17:23: "Any interval relationship that exist in a major key, if you flip it, it exists in phrygian", and proceeds to not give any further explanation. Very cool visual explanation of these concepts. Thank you!

[@vecernicek2]

It's explained at about 9 min mark

[@lukekerry3195]

@@vecernicek2 and right at the start?

[@joemeyer6876]

George Russell, in da House!

[@ChangeforJonathan]

Awesome theory 🔥

[@barfboy2000]

I hadn't yet been exposed to this type of analysis, thank you, this is awesome. I like how the chart shows how Dorian is symmetric about inversion, it follows that aeolian is mirrored mixolydian, and locrian is mirrored lydian. worth noting that this type of thinking (graphically on a scale representation) can be applied to the circle of fifths, where similar symmetries show up. Any major scale is a simple consecutive sequence of notes on the circle. In that system chromatic motion jumps across the circle, suspended chords are small groups & major/minor tonality can be seen graphically. The old trick of moving a major 7 chord up or down a major 3rd is a good example. What would be really cool is a way to look at this that incorporates multiple octave spread, like the fabled 7#9 Hendrix chord (which you most certainly can't play in any old inversion, say with the #9 in the bass). sorry for the long comment. too much coffee. shout out to logitech ergo trackballs.

[@lastdaysguitar]

You've just explained something I've done instinctively for years but (beyond modes) never understood exactly what or why of what was happening until today - the mirror image concept floored me: thank you, Noel!

[@drstrange629]

DUUUUUUUDE. 🤯 AND(!) I appreciate how you helped me realize how so much of all the “non diatonic” harmony I’ve been hearing in popular music works from a theory standpoint.

[@alistairmaleficent8776]

Damn.. this really brings some of those nice smooth Holdsworth type runs into focus. Thank you for making it so easy to see these relationships. Amazing!

[@moreorlesslikeso]

Exactly what I was thinking!

[@evansiegel9261]

I was a student of Noel's several years ago. One of the best minds and humans in the business.

[@romanwyatt9994]

The fact that sound can work in a such a structured way says a lot about the nature of the universe.

[@filipberntsson6634]

No it does not. Look up the Pythagorean comma. Over time western society or musicians (or whatever you will call it) have agreed that a 12 tone equal temperament system will suffice. It is however full of compromise, as would any equal temperament system be. All the symmetries explained in this video simply boils down to clock maths (modulo counting). It is very cool, and interesting in both a mathematical and musical context, but there is no magic here, more than perhaps the equivalence class of octaves, and relative primeness.

[@filipberntsson6634]

The video is great though, and I think all musicians can benefit from this sort of knowledge.

[@romanwyatt9994]

I think you might be slightly misunderstanding what I’m saying. I understand that this system is manmade, but we didn’t create the rules that allow for such a system to be possible.

[@jzonkel]

@@romanwyatt9994exactly

[@inigo137]

@@romanwyatt9994 ? is math created, or discovered? cause it comes down to that, pure semantics

[@peyton4719]

Hey! I took jazz guitar lwssons from you back in 2022, and you changed the way i look at guitar. Got this video reccomended, and by 30 seconds i realized it was you lol. You continue to give MOUNTAINS of knowledge to people all over the world and thats awesome B) keep it up king

[@johnanello3352]

You have just entered - Steely Dan song writing territory

[@natewebb8106]

Yep, near the end when he's soloing with C Maj and Ab Maj he definitely played licks right out of Aja.

[@denverguitarhero]

And Stevie Wonder ;)

[@denverguitarhero]

Like "Looking For Another Pure Love" Intro goes from Emaj7 to Cmaj

[@OKI-the-beep-boop]

oh my god I love this. I've been intuitively aware of this sound for a long time but to hear it explained so thoroughly makes me so happy!

[@darionmcoronado]

Brilliant playing and utilization of visual tools. Long time admirer of yours, Noel. Cheers! ✌🏽

[@Jonathan_Doe_]

Not quite got it theoretically from one viewing, but tonally from the playing demo, my ear gets it. You’ve definitely inspired me to read more about the concept.

[@Dave-vv8zp]

In more crude terms, C phrygian is C major mirrored. Instead of WWHWWWH it is exactly backwards HWWWHWW. So in the way that a major 3rd interval and minor 6th interval are the same but different, C major and C phrygian (aka Ab major) are also the same but different. If that makes sense and assuming I understand correctly lol

[@josuastangl7140]

I kinda get it now in theory, but my ears certainly understood it before my head

[@scrapkingfilms]

Absolutely never came across this symmetry, and I was struggling to follow you, but once you played through those chords, the mirror was revealed. Fascinating, thanks for breaking it down!

[@enchantederic3792]

My ears are enjoying the more recent technology. Thanks for lightening the sound space Noel.

[@konnog6693]

It makes it even easier that flipping the intervals mean that every flipped interval is not a note of the original key but since the 1,4,5 are perfect intervals there ain’t going “out of key” if u flip them, that’s why even when you flip the whole key, the 1, 4 and five will work every time!! Aman

[@FunkyJankets]

Great explanation! This is all stuff I've picked up in various ways over the years, but I haven't seen it all distilled like this.

[@amoblahblah]

I am obsessed now. This is amazing. Thank you 🙏

[@Crabfather]

Wow, I've never thought of it like this.. it changes everything and really opens the concept up.. THANK YOU, subscribed !

[@ajadrew]

Had heard of this stuff but never seen it put in such a way where I immediatly grasped Flippertronical Concepts 👍

[@AudioEast]

nice. i've always seen this but it never occurred to me to use a circle, which is way more useful. i always laid it out in a straight line. 1=1, b2=7, 2=b7 etc... i appreciate what you're doing. thanks!

[@macarius8802]

Very cool! I discovered some of this on my own but love how you have flushed it all out, as well as that circular diagram is beautiful. Thanks! P.S. Love how the Dorian (my favorite mode) is so beautiful and symmetrical... that explains a lot!

[@kazkylheku1221]

I used to explore rotations of scale shapes on the fretboard: taking a given scale pattern and going down instead of up. I noticed the Dorian thing too. If you rotate it 180 degrees on the fretboard, it's still Dorian. Ionian is TTSTTTS (tone, tone, semitone, ...). Dorian is TSTTTST. And of course, that is a palindrome. I did also notice that when you rotate a major scale pattern 180 degrees on the fretboard, you get the Phrygian shape.

[@speakuscorner]

This opened up my ears with the demonstrations & eyes with the diagram, Wow!

[@user-fp8xh7et6t]

I've never seen or heard of this pitch clock, but it makes my brain happy

[@morrumband]

This is possibly the most valuable lesson for fusion guitarists. Amazing!

[@elliottgoldkind]

I like how even you are marveling at this whole crazy thing! :)

[@smailspace2624]

What an encouraging aditude. Discovering common sense' how to's' inside harmonies vs theory vs thefretboard...Brilliant! Thank you for sharing

[@Lore_from_Stars]

Holy shit i think this is exactly what I've been looking for for *years* now, thank you!

[@luekerider]

I like how you made this practical! Nice work!

[@Koropokel]

heavent seen such a well composed lesson in a long time! you have an awesome way of teaching! keep it going man!

[@joechiari]

great work Noel and an invaluable resource

[@tasteapiana]

Congrats, you uncovered all the outtakes from Steely Dan's Aja sessions. I'm sure Larry Carlton has a closet full of notes that work out every possible chord partial at each position. Any major dude would surely tell you this.

[@brianmreschke3441]

First Time Here. The visual stuff was not plugging in but when you started playing it was like you were telling me how I feel. Thanks for sharing the way you play and for knowing what you know and sharing the puzzle of your connectedness!

[@rubecordovaguitarist]

Thanks man, this was great! it was so good to SEE the relationships of the notes!

[@johnnyzmusic]

Thank you so much, Noel. I really appreciate your knowledge and musicality.

[@CynHicks]

This more than earned a subscription. You're a good teacher dude. Good player too.

[@Sammywhat]

Nice work, Mr. Johnston. I subscribed with the hopes of seeing more about this topic in time. I "almost" get it. So I'm hoping to see something where you dumb it down a tad for us theoretically challenged. I've been playing for years, I actually do a lot of what you are showing, but by ear. To see it in structure is really satisfying. I am always in awe of the beautiful precision that music affords. Thank you, sir!!

[@louie1litk619]

Thanks man took me a minute to get it but this opens a whole new world to explore lol

[@nathanjamesguitar]

This is a great video. You explained this concept excellently in simple language with practical examples.

[@MatthewSwasta]

this lesson is great, and I'm really diggin' your tone.

[@peteringersoll1247]

I have intuitively understood this but could not figure out the symmetry. This is a wild way to look at harmony, but it makes complete sense. I could never figure out how many combinations of weird chords sounded so great together. Now I know. Thank you!🎸

[@RoyMaya]

That sounded beautiful!

[@PokeABrain]

Very cool and interesting! also your playing versatility is amazing, you are a great musician!

[@denaraptis3716]

Perfect timing. Dream weaving with those chromatic mediants. I love this explanation. I have always been drawn to chromatic mediants before i knew what they were called in music theory. Glad I found you! Sending your video to my theory teacher. Keep it coming!

[@stuartcole9095]

I figured this out years ago messing around with inversions and understanding the relationship between intervals when they’re switched around. I’m so angry I never saw this spatial relationship before as you represented! 😩 This would’ve helped me so much years ago! Bravo! This is going to help so many people

[@fergusryan1486]

How modest you are and how generous with your knowledge. I’m now wondering what’s possible if this visual system is combined with cymatics somehow… cooooool 😊

[@junelva]

Very interesting. I appreciate your visualizations. Makes sense! Thanks.

[@andreberg884]

What a great lesson! Had me playing for hours😊

[@Handlelandle]

Very helpful video! Thank you for putting this out.

[@gpwrestler]

Awesome video! I’ve been meaning to get around to negative harmony and just randomly saw your video. Super excited to apply this to my songs!

[@giantessmaria]

cool stuff man, thanks! The mathematics of music never ceases to reveal some mindblowing stuff. Its like everything we've learned from the beginning of our education just continues to be this never ending series of aha moments!

[@StratsRUs]

Thanks.It's a beautiful mood too.

[@QGMODS]

Awersome lesson, thank you. Your guitar sounds amazing!

[@bvdbrekel]

Great, I'm so glad I stumbled upon your video. Love your contant and the way you look/describe music. Also amazingly illustrated. Ill be checking you video's and music! Thanks!

[@juanpgomez1299]

Man i love your tone

[@liamwalker1881]

This is the best theory lesson I've had in a very long time, between the easy to grasp visualizations and your clear and concise teaching style, it's given me a lot to think about and work with. Thank you much!!

[@ili626]

hopefully you get to a point where you realize this guy stinks

[@ianmsutherland]

​@@ili626do tell

[@nohjoh08]

@@ili626only my wife gets to that point!

[@edmadden9580]

y tu mama tambien

[@s1mon8ratt96]

Nice visualisation and cool combining scales so effectively

[@user-wn6kp8xd1w]

This is super interesting and new way of looking at theory than I've ever really seen taught.

[@pablo.l]

Love this kind of analysis. Thanks

[@a.nobodys.nobody]

'A santa spit taboo bat tips at NASA'. Cool learned something new today.

[@AfroRedMusic]

Yeah man! Thank you for this breakdown, ima use this on the bandstand and in my writing 🔥

[@paulyaw]

That was outstanding. Thank you.

[@Eduaro2U]

Thanks for your highly informative, and thought provoking exposition on a lot of deep and intense music theory. My - you certainly inverted my mind and thinking process - which is not a bad thing. 🤙🏻🙏🤙🏻

[@leonjander4418]

This was very helpful. Thank you.

[@blinco1539]

Keep making these videos! Also please record something with that progression cause it was real nice

[@attuneu]

Fascinating and very enjoyable

[@henry8302]

As soon as you started playing over that chord progression with all the 11ths, I immediately heard some Allan Holdsworth in there. Absolutely love that open airy sound and I'll be playing around with these ideas to see if I can't absorb anything. Great video!

[@ThiagoAbdalla]

Beautiful theory! Tks for sharing

[@pedroeustache5511]

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!! THANKS FOR THIS!! GOD BLESS YOU!!!

[@ORUMusic]

Have never thought of chromatic mediants this way, fascinating stuff!

[@gnvtr20s]

Nice playing, great video, & awesome teaching!

[@devinfrench4924]

Dude I really like your professional attitude about Music. Good teacher coming from another teacher

[@geneh.smalley-px4kr]

It's very interesting. It's going to take some time to fully grasp, but I'm getting some of it. Thnx

[@adrianwhyte4597]

Absolutely brilliant, I realise more and more that western music is really just all about having the twelve tones felt, and this is further poof, but like all scales and concepts, maps out a brilliant and additional way of exploring it all. Thank you!

[@fivefingerfullprice3403]

This is amazing!

[@roob67]

Great lesson. Thank you so much.

[@jallor]

agree, interesting palindrome, and even more interesting and satisfying progression and melodic improvisation. Reminds me a lot of some of the early ECM artists. Very nice!

[@michaelfowler3187]

Amazing playing and knowledge, I couldn't follow along that well but still learned a few new things. I think you could package/deliver this in a more concise or ready to apply sort of way and I'm planning to watch it again to see what I can distill out of it. The tone and plying a ton the 12 min mark was pretty incredible.

[@rcoldman]

Superb! Thanks so much.

[@ilansasson4423]

Amazing explanation!

[@gianpaolousai1768]

Wow, this is awesome!

[@occamseraser]

Loved this, thank you

[@jojotheworld]

Really awesome video negative harmony never really clicked for me until this moment

[@ClintLock1]

great vid. makes it very intuitive

[@deomusic8944]

So Cool! "Wind Cries Mary", my favotite song, all the Chords have Vs on the bottom, bewitching! Thanks for the visuals! And, Ive got a Tele with a firebird p/u in the neck, love it!

[@Soquetes222]

Mind blowing. More! 🎉

[@jakekeys88music]

Thank you so much for sharing this lesson and your viewpoint on it!!! Having the graphics were so helpful. I kind of wish I got this with my theory, but I guess an undergrad wouldn't cover it. I remember the complimentary intervals and even a bit about how some of these transpositions can happen; however, having the geometry there helped me "visualize" it all better, much like examining things through a Circle of Fifths. I'm sure my ears kind of understand it anyway. And I really enjoy the colors of modal interchange, adding so much color to the "bread and potatoes" diatonic major scale. Heck, just seeing all those note relations and then rotating to show Ionic to Dorian flicked on a light switch in my head. I'm going to have fun exploring more of this "flippening".

[@JohnnySacc]

Damn great video. Ive always wondered how my favorite rock/metal bands can switch to chords in a different key and sound amazing.

[@franzenmusic]

Tasty melodies. Rich harmonies. For a classical musician who improvises, this is fertile ground information and thought provoking.

[@picksalot1]

Interesting. I have felt these relationships, but mostly subconsciously. I'll have to think about the insightful way you organized them. Thanks

[@richardwashbrook541]

Thank you so much. Amazing knowledge that can be applied. I am very interested