Pop, As Digested by a Classical Musician

[@NahreSol]

Sorry it's been a while! Feels great to get back into the "As Digested by..." videos. All year I've been working on my (debut) album of original works for keyboard titled "Alice in Wonderland." It's out on Bandcamp: nahresol.bandcamp.com/releases

[@eamonrussell6890]

Looking forward to the album!👍

[@swlbarely]

Hey your the greatest piano player obviously and these vids have great value in their analysis of various genres and facilitates their constant evolution and borrowing from one another. However I don't sense the sometimes abnormal emotionality that I feel is the seedbed for the kind of creativity that it takes to create music. I sometimes want to shake you in order to turn you into someone more passionate; to make you feel all the feelings of these musicians you speak of. You don't seem emotionally unbalanced enough to be truly creative in a way that grabs others hearts. But I know I'm wrong. I don't even know you and its not my job to say what you should be. I'm just sharing some of the weird thoughts that go through my mind when I watch your videos. I feel that many who've had a classical music upbringing have a profound handicap of too much mind and not enough heart to play with complete abandon. At the opposite end of the spectrum I see the likes of Sly of the Family Stone and Jimi Hendrix, etc.

[@koshersalaami]

String Traveler Classical heart is different. I”m reasonably sure that if you heard Nahre play Brahms you wouldn’t conclude that she didn’t have heart in a million years and, by the way, if you have any sense - or heart - you’ll apologize to her for that. That’s not something you say to an artist, which Nahre certainly is, and especially not to an artist you respect, which I can tell you do. I have a reasonable amount of experience on classical piano (emphatically amateur but with some conservatory training) but I also play bar rock’n’roll and blues isn’t foreign to me either. You’re talking about abandon. With classical piano that’s hard to do because you’re doing so much at once and every note you play (the vast majority of the time) is either written or wrong. If you’re playing in a rhythm section laying down a repetitive groove or even if you have the luxury of a rhythm section behind you - which Hendrix certainly did and Sly did way more - you have some room to relax and play with it and against it because you’re not responsible for generating all of it yourself with two hands. If you decide to invert a chord, no one will usually notice. If you feel like putting in a fill, if you’re not in the studio you can often do that, and sometimes you can do it in the studio. She’s generally not playing dance music, and abandon is more likely when associated with dance because someone’s whole body is involved and musicians approach what they’re doing in that context. And that’s what’s going on here. Pop is usually dance music and Nahre isn’t yet tapping into that. That’s why so many of us told her that this sounds like soundtrack music more than pop. Watch any boy band. What are they doing? I suppose we could look at this from a blues perspective but again there’s so much freedom inherent in the form and the coolest parts come from that freedom. And so much of that freedom is not just melodic and harmonic but rhythmic, in blues a ton of it is out of time altogether.

[@pablolichtig2536]

@@NahreSol Just did! I didn't know that was possible. I discovered your channel only recently thanks to "the algorithm", and have been really loving it, especially this "as digested" series

[@sopit666]

Math rock/Post-rock, As Digested by a Classical Musician

[@Pyr0blast]

It sounded like a soundtrack more than pop. 'A foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family's relationships and alters their lives forever' kind of thing.

[@NahreSol]

Hahaa this is amazing

[@KreatorX1029]

Yes I felt that too. Somehow I was reminded of Ramin Djawadi's compositions for the tv show Westworld. I'm no expert but from what I've listened so far with pop and OST music, It feels as though - if the piece was less lyrical, it would sound more like pop.

[@noracola5285]

It could easily sound more pop tho, with the addition of synthetic beats and an impassioned vocal, singing silly lyrics. and of course, a strong bass line.

[@edylan7176]

@@KreatorX1029 and @nahre Sol it actually sounds more like Thomas Newman, especially because of the Dorian and the 5ths pattern in the bass at the chorus. Nice!

[@Floobie2956]

@@edylan7176 The ending was very Newman-esque

[@apeckx5090]

This might sound silly, but this video kind of reminds me of how SpongeBob draws a circle by first drawing an amazing face and then erased everything until it was just a simple circle left

[@abosalti4642]

Description on point

[@orti1283]

truee

[@samermohamed7644]

That's such an accurate analogy, lol

[@flipperdip4009]

Yessss hahaha

[@diegozimermann6114]

HAHAHAAHA perfect.

[@SoundFieldPBS]

I really thought your original piece could be the theme for a pixar film! movie scores here we come!

[@Bati_]

Exactly!

[@SchoolofRockNRoll]

i was thinking anime. this could be used in like fma

[@TheMOReviewers]

It's funny you say that, I was thinking sort of Joe Hisashi, the main composer for Studio Ghibli, so similar territory! Lovely piece anyway.

[@ruthsalgado6775]

100th leik

[@noahbar-shain4218]

I was trying to figure out why your piece doesn't sound so much like pop to me, and I realized that another thing that could define pop is largely the lack of dynamics. Pop music is so compressed that it doesn't really play with expression through changing dynamics. Your piece, and classical music, packs a lot more expression into the piece using dynamics.

[@joshuamiddlebrooks3981]

That’s interesting and totally wrong- pop music usually relies much more on dynamics than classical music. Think about the drop in pop music- it’s usually very specifically done to allow for a moment of silence before a heavy part. Pop is simple is some ways- but I think the mistake of many a classical musician is the idea that it’s approachable for them. It uses a lot of different ideas and structures at its core than classical music- less of a reliance on chord changes to achieve different feel and a larger reliance on chordal richness/ drums to add dynamic and feel. It’s a really odd genre to work in if you’ve never done it

[@noahbar-shain4218]

@@joshuamiddlebrooks3981 the second part of what your saying is an interesting analysis. One of the reasons I love pop music is because of the different textures and layers

[@ShoH]

Your graphics are always so on point... plus piano skill plus talking plus...

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 🙃🙏

[@onthecover5042]

Nyes

[@Koladejesugbemi]

She really is the full package 🥰

[@davidsong8652]

The comment is on point

[@dulla8469]

Plus she pwetty..

[@koshersalaami]

This sounds like movie music more than pop. I can imagine it behind a movie scene very easily but I can’t imagine it being sung. If the melody exists, I doubt it exists with these changes so I wouldn’t worry about it.

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!!

[@joemcalister7105]

@@cabal4171 Yeah I think that's it. Something with how the accompaniment to the melody is almost a part of the melody makes it sound more like a soundtrack whereas a pop song would separate those. I prefer the integrated melody into the accompaniment and it gives me some sort of sense of being more neat and intelligent but yeah, not as pop-y

[@Mgbmax15]

The trick to pop music is simplicity without being boring. Make it too complex and it loses its mass appeal so you have to find this middle ground where it’s interesting and captivating all the while so simple a child could learn it. Its learning how to use repetition strategically.

[@Aurora-oe2qp]

We need "Rock, As Digested by a Classical Musician"

[@SynthApprentice]

Heavy metal, too.

[@epsyplus]

Rock is pop most of the time.

[@Aurora-oe2qp]

@@epsyplus Well, I disagree but even if that would be true, this video still doesn't contain anything that is even close to being rock.

[@epsyplus]

@@Aurora-oe2qp that is true but if we follow the definitions that Andrew Huang has given, then rock is just a subgenre of pop. Most rock songs also have the same structure and chord progressions as pop songs. From what I can tell, the only thing that defines rock is the instrumentation and the arrangement of the songs.

[@epsyplus]

@@Aurora-oe2qp what do you refer to when you say rock? Can you name a well known song or band so I can get an exact idea of what your talking about?

[@steveforwarduk]

Brilliant! There is always a tendency to over complicate or over analyse something, but Nahre always seems to delicately balance her analytical classical mind with her love of pop music, and gives it a human touch. Another superb video Nahre!

[@NahreSol]

Thank you for such a nice compliment!! 🙏

[@yvancluet8146]

"if it sounds familiar, it's because it's only one chord away from Pachelbel's canon". Sorry nahre, but for regular people it sounds familiar because it's in literally every pop song that exists

[@worstelldaniel]

Circle of fifths haha

[@jankafka7330]

"for regular people it sounds familiar because it's in literally every pop song that exists" Don't get Rick Beato started on that subject.

[@user-uu5xf5xc2b]

@@jankafka7330 lol what does he say

[@namesname7315]

Beethoven had wrote all modern metall. Pachelbel and Vivaldi had wrote all modern pop 😋

[@authenticmusic4815]

@@worstelldaniel no. Go and google what circle of fifths is.

[@theowenmccarthy]

Pop music reminds me of minimalist art. It is music boiled down to the most fundamental ideas and then polished so much that it can still be enjoyed. Because it is so fundamental, it can be enjoyed by a much wider audience.

[@MyNameAkhim]

The chords/note choices in your composition have a bit more dissonance and warmth (which for me I like) than what you would hear in most pop music - especially in the beginning

[@NahreSol]

Thank you for the comment!!

[@samlichtenstein]

Agree with this. But it sounded to me like something a more experimental pop artist might write -- someone like Thom Yorke maybe? It still definitely seems like a pop song to me, and I think that's mostly the form and the melody-focus.

[@worstelldaniel]

@@samlichtenstein I had the EXACT same thought. Thom Yorke, radiohead piano ballad. However pop those are, that's how pop I think this is :)

[@drakoz254]

Just to add another name to this list, the composition really reminded me of Adam Tell and his piano-only stuff. Absolutely lovely composition.

[@MyNameAkhim]

Eloquen I haven’t heard of him but I’ll check him out!

[@dliessmgg]

My thoughts on this: In pop songs it's often the case that the lyrics of the verse describe a specific situation, and the chorus describes the broad-strokes emotion of that moment that can be shared by many others. This is reflected in the music in that the verses are often more muted, and then for the chorus the music blooms and spreads. In your piece, the verse melody has already some rather dramatic intervals. Purely stylistically I'd expect to see this more often in a ballad by a diva style singer, like Celine Dion or similar. Your chorus however is rather restricted in its movement. To be completely honest, to me it felt more like a pre-chorus that was using the static melody to build tension towards an exploding chorus. But good work! I'd love to hear more if you try to explore further in that direction.

[@Lankymax1]

Yes, sophisticated diva ballad was exactly what popped into my mind too.

[@FrictionFive]

Word. I was hearing the chorus as a pre-chorus too! I was like waiting for Godot, cuz the chorus never arrived! 😂😂😂

[@ambiention]

Came here to comment exactly the same thing about the chorus/pre-chorus, sounds like it's building tension rather than releasing it. I guess with dynamics and instrumentation you could make a version of the verse into a chorus though.

[@plinyelder8156]

Make a video yourself. Show us how it’s done.

[@BradsGonnaPlay]

Pliny Elder dude, he’s not disparaging her video by giving critique. i don’t like when people are dicks about compositions either but she even asks for criticisms in the video and this person gave it in a concise, well worded, and genuine way unlike your passive aggressive comment.

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

As someone who spent most of the last 20 years primarily interested in classical, jazz, and rock/metal, I too have developed an interest in pop in the last several years. One thing I'd say is that your sampling of pop is fairly atypical. All those artists are more like adult alternative artists that just happened to have pop-level success. It would be a bit like trying to learn pop by listening to popular rock artists. If you want more typical pop I think artists like Taylor Swift, Carly Rae Jepsen, Justin Bieber, One Direction, etc. are more representative. If I had to try to boil pop down it would be these elements: 1. Strong, emphatic rhythms, usually danceable. 2. Short, simple (often no more than two notes), catchy melodies. 3. Verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus structure. 4. Emphasis on production techniques to produce the sounds/style. 5. 3-4 chord progression that's typically looped. It's hard to make pop that's too simple, but I think what pop loses to other genres in musical complexity it often makes up for in subtlety. If you listen closely with an attentive ear to pop production you'll often hear a lot of sound layering that can get quite complex in itself, and it's often very subtle the ways in which pop will introduce or reduce production elements to signal transitions between its sections. The same is true for vocal styles on top of that production. A key element, though, is how the emphatic rhythms combine with the vocal melodies to create hooks. To me, your composition focuses more on melody, but a hook typically makes the rhythm a stronger element. Think of the difference between Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata, which is melodic, VS his 5th symphony, which is rhythmic. In fact, the famous motif from Beethoven's 5th is a good template for how to construct pop material: two different notes, two different note values, structured into a 4-note phrase. Listen to something like last year's biggest hit, Billie Eilish's Bad Guy and how its verse vocal hook is a similar concept: two different notes, two different note values, in which the different note/note-value comes at the very end of the phrase. That's an easy way in which to line up rhythmic/note changes to make them memorable, and it's a very common technique in pop that's little commented on.

[@James-nr9gm]

This is very interesting but I still find its tone pejorative and/or condescending?

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

@@James-nr9gm I'm not sure what you found pejorative about my tone, it was meant to be educational...

[@ThomasNimmesgern]

@@James-nr9gm What do you think is pejorative in the comment?

[@James-nr9gm]

The issue I take with it is that it highlights nothing the content creator did correctly, or why any of it might have been worthwhile. I feel like I'm reading a lengthy, informative version of "you're wrong." While I agree that major differences in pop music come from careful layering, different timbres, cueing the listener, emphatic rhythms, etc, I still think there was value in exploring how these pieces of music compare to classical style. Keep in mind the creator was handed pieces of music, which became the source for this project. I also think it's useful to make a very direct comparison - i.e., piano music to piano music, to highlight certain specific differences that arise. Focusing too heavily on timbre, production, and even vocals can cause people to miss important aspects of the comparison. An oversimplified version would come off somewhat like "the difference between these two pieces is that one is played on a clarinet and the other on a trumpet." That doesn't highlight certain important structural differences between common aspects of the music. Another part of the value is in seeing how a particular individual perceives music. It makes sense to me that a huge emphasis of a her attention was melody. I've been studying classical guitar for (only) nearly a year, and my ear has become so attuned to melody that when internet radio sneaks in a contemporary, song-form, instrumental tune amidst classical pieces, I get immediately bored and have to skip the track. The way she discusses and explores pieces seems to fit how my brain is changing with respect to sound. (And yes, there are some pop tracks I absolutely love). I would need to sit down and do some serious listening before making an informed comment on the Beethoven/Billie Eilish comparison, so I won't here, but I'm honestly not that sold on the tagline. TL;DR, I found the exploration interesting and valuable, even if it wasn't fully comprehensive, and felt like this comment gave it absolutely zero credit.

[@jonathanhenderson9422]

@@James-nr9gm The bulk of my post was giving my own perspective/analysis on what I see to be the key/core elements of pop music. I didn't say much about the original video other than that I didn't think Nahre's examples were very representative of the pop genre, but sounded more like adult alternative. I think her own piece was a good imitation of adult alternative, but not really of pop music, and I think I covered why in my post. I also don't think even the original video covered much about any "overlap" between pop and classical. For one, there isn't much, as even classical songs/lieder are very different in form and style to modern pop. I certainly think it's valuable to study other genres no matter what genre you happen to play/prefer, but if you're going to do that it's hard with just a few examples. I don't know how much pop Nahre has heard, but it certainly seems like she spent more time/effort studying and practicing jazz. I understand why musicians can find pop music boring because it typically doesn't challenge their technical or interpretative abilities, but what pop should challenge is one's songwriting abilities. If the latter was easy then there would be more Max Martin's out there. Sure, it was cool to see what elements she took from these pieces of music and how she translated that to her own effort but, again, my primary complaint was that she wasn't really doing pop. I don't see how noting that, or analyzing most pop music, was pejorative in any way. Maybe I wasn't lauding the original video, but I certainly wasn't bashing it. I generally really appreciate Nahre's video and her willingness to step out of her comfort zone musically and explore. My Beethoven/Eilish comparison was very limited and I assure you that it's accurate. Now, Beethoven does a great deal with that simple motif in terms of instrumentation, variation, and development, but the fundamental motif itself is like a blueprint for how to write modern pop hooks. I'd be surprised if I'm the first person to point this general similarity out because it's pretty obvious. In a way, the Eilish verse is slightly more complex (again, only if we're comparing the initial motif) given that it actually syncopates its first note to the offbeats before the change.

[@kentspence4563]

I’m impressed you could make a 16 minute video about a genre dominated by 4 chord progressions!

[@somethinglikethisorthat273]

I guess what this demonstrates is that pop music is often “simpler” in theory to make way for the emotional narrative in the lyrics, but “simpler” in theory doesn’t mean less thought through or less well crafted to it’s purpose! Thank you Nahre this is an amazing video 👍

[@Gabriel-mw5ro]

yeah, it's a shift away from harmony and towards production

[@jonnymario771]

@@JA-xx7vw I dont agree, that shouldnt really apply to music since its abstract, and not objective as spoken languages.

[@Floobie2956]

This picture of poppies popping up when Andrew said "poppiness" made me exhale swiftly out of my nose

[@Lianpe98]

😂

[@jankafka7330]

Aren't you supposed to inhale?

[@rickf6375]

Nffffhh

[@Floobie2956]

@@jankafka7330 As I understand it, you're supposed to do both, that's what I've been doing and it's worked for me so far

[@SynthApprentice]

@@Floobie2956 Like, at the same time?

[@SoundFieldPBS]

when you spread your hands apart it sounds like the piano players at nordstrom that cover john legend songs

[@Ermude10]

Loved this! As many pointed out it sounds more like a soundtrack than pop, and the biggest reason for that (in my opinion) is that the melody wasn't written as a song. I know it's very singable, because it's a very distinct and simple melody, but it doesn't feel like it was made with lyrics and sentences in mind, at least in english. I can imagine some kind of Japanese anime song with this melody though. Either way, really liked how you try to understand and analyse, and finally use the learnings to create something of your own! I learnt a bunch of stuff myself from just watching!

[@mr7clay]

Much agreed, it's more of a melodic hook that would go between the vocal parts or near the end of the verse over a sustained vocal note. I think singing at least a simple sentence or gibberish helps dial in the right tempo and how busy to let the arrangement get.

[@flyinghare14]

The composition you came up with gives me such movie soundtrack vibes! Say in the Avengers, or the Harry Potter movies, there's a main theme song that gets reworked and shifted to help tell the story. And tbh I feel like a lot of pop songs aren't resolved so fading out works lol

[@jankafka7330]

"And tbh I feel like a lot of pop songs aren't resolved so fading out works lol" If I recall correctly, Brian Eno thought of fade outs as one more hook...Always leave them wanting more, I guess.

[@Pkmn20]

i've never actually considered what makes pop piano accompaniment 'pop' - this is an awesome topic! it's also fun to see how much harder it is to define pop as opposed to say, ragtime or bossa nova the ending piece was so strange to listen to - im not sure when was the last time i heard so much restraint from somebody who knows so much about music HAHAH

[@Pkmn20]

oh yeah and: the verse and comp pattern reminds me of the doll piece from Debussy's Children's Corner suite, and maybe even parts of doctor gradus too (the dreamy bit with the melody played by crossing hands) kzbin.info/www/bejne/d4DHlpJjo9Kin9k the chorus reminds me of symphony 40 because lol descending semitone

[@NahreSol]

😅😅😅

[@oldbird4601]

I don’t know if I can see that as being pop tho, maybe if there was a singer it’d be easier to tell xd

[@Kadeje]

Your original piece sounds so much like a piece of Ludovico Einaudi. The genre he plays is classical and minimalistic and are often used in movies!

[@AaronBohlman]

I thought the same thing! Or some other kind of 'classical piano for the masses' type composer.

[@dreamdeeplyrelaxingexpansi9103]

Perfect fit … just couldn’t quite place it thanx

[@JamesHunterRoss]

One of your comments on the second "intro cousin" was "consistent and predictable"; that is huge in pop music. (Not that pop music cannot have a surprise here and there, and sometimes that "surprise" is what sets the tune apart making it into a hit.) To me, the "fancier" your variations get, the more "move soundtrack" they sound to me. Amazing playing as always. and a very fun video! With vocals and good lyrics, your piece could be a pop hit, I think. I hear... "It could have happened last night... and where would we be this day..." then "It should have happened last night, I should have asked you to stay..." then "when would we, when could we, maybe then there would be... there would be love... then we would be in love." Or, blah blah blah... but lyrics, perhaps not mine, can pick the whole thing up into some other realm which amplifies that musical idea. Fun video!

[@worstelldaniel]

I think that's the most important facet. That, and "immediate appeal." It can have layers that reveal themselves on further listens, but really, I can't think of a pop song that wasn't written with the purpose of being enjoyable (not necessarily fun, I don't think) on a first listen or two.

[@Caliko]

If the aim was to write something catchy you definitely succeeded, I can't get the melody out of my head now - I guess that means it get's a Pop Pass

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!! 😂

[@valiskanzen4538]

Wait, you're the guy that makes Revue Starlight piano cover! This is my first time seeing you here

[@Caliko]

Valis Kanzen oh nice! I sure am (not a guy tho lol)

[@valiskanzen4538]

​@@Caliko Ah sorry for assuming. I really enjoy your stuff. I still sometime watch your covers for inspiration.

[@dustmighte]

Can i just say, the editing in this video is really great!

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!!

[@jasonlieberman4606]

This series alone and the fact that as a musician you actually put in this amount of time and energy to do something this awesome is pretty epic even if it was all you did, but the fact that it's just one small part of how much you've got going for you pretty amazing Thanks for you, Nahre.😎

[@norabogel890]

This was so interesting to watch! I noticed that your sense of simplicity is still complex to mine. I’d say your rhythmic pattern and harmonies still include elements that’d be irritating / hard to follow / hard to set in musical context for a less musical trained ear. This might make it less accessible for “the average ear” and therefore less of a pop song - since it’s intentionally made for a bride spectrum of people. I’d place the song more in the yellowish-greenish section of the Pop Meter. Which just shows how we as listeners can understand music on different levels, which is fascinating! I really loved watching you experiment with these different parameters and approaches of understanding music. And also you just proofed how complex and impressive your understanding of music is in the sweetest way possible!

[@NatanCaetano]

This sounds very adult contemporary-ish, which is... pop, basically, just aimed at a more adult audience, I'd say, not as dancey and electronic. It gave me Tori Amos vibes -- and Tori is a prime example of piano pop excellence! Great job, great visuals, great content as usual. I love your "as digested by a classical musician" series, keep it up!

[@xxjuiciixx]

Which makes a lot of sense since Tori is classically trained too!

[@SpenserPrichard]

The payoff of that A Major chord at the beginning of the bridge genuinely gave me goosebumps. I could listen to your composition forever!

[@davec1]

that was very effective for me, too!

[@dimitreze]

best example of pop is Elton John's original 1968 Skyline Pigeon version versus the 1972 version same song, same singer, totally different arrangements first one is not pop at all, very weird and experimental second song is a much traditional pop piano ballad and no surprise, is the version that everybody knows

[@shitmultiverse1404]

Elton John's music weird and experimental? You must not have listened to any experimental song at all

[@JivanPal]

The '72 version (a.k.a. "piano version") is definitely a pop ballad; simple drums in 4/4, no complex fills, left-hand piano just follows a chord progression with some ornamentation in right-hand. The '68 version is baroque harpsichord, no obvious chord progression to the layman. Frankly unappealing to most because of the harpsichord alone. Definitely not "experimental" though.

[@dimitreze]

you all must think that experimental music must sound weird 🙄

[@JP-ro5wc]

Imagine gatekeeping experimental music 😔

[@JivanPal]

@@dimitreze, "Experimental music is a general label for any music that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions." Established baroque composition isn't experimental in any sense of the word. Experimental music is almost weird by definition.

[@darklordthomaspie6293]

Andrew Huang gave a nice explanation. Nahre Sol did a good job playing the piano and figuring out the theory

[@darthbee18]

Nahre: *puts Adele's Someone Like You and Lewis Capaldi's Someone You Loved in one video* Todd in the Shadows: *TRIGGERED* 😂😂, joking aside I like the Bossa Nova tweak on SYL 😃, made it breezier and still a tinge melancholic 🎹

[@NahreSol]

😅😂

[@jankafka7330]

"Nahre: puts Adele's Someone Like You and Lewis Capaldi's Someone You Loved in one video" As many of us do, I like to think of myself as broad-minded, especially when when it comes to music. As it really is: I'd never before heard either of those songs and had only just heard of Adele (mostly because I had to do research to find out who it was butchering The Cure's "Lovesong" on the muzak at my work). Thanks for the reality check, Ms. Sol.

[@joaovictor3312]

@@jankafka7330 can you imagine some people think that adele's version is better?

[@mikegleim5241]

IMO, Nahre, you've begun to discover those timeless, haunting chords, in just the right register, that so many classical and popular composers have unearthed. They find the listener in an emotionally vulnerable way and move them from point A to point B musically. Isn't that what we live for in music, even with a simple 4 chords, to be transported? Your explorations are awesome. ♥️

[@IanJacintoSax]

11:29 The cutest "oh no" I've ever heard 🤣

[@Wisdom2thMusic]

When she took out the syncopation for her version of A Thousand Miles it almost sounded like a Ghibli film score melody

[@Vetomon_V]

To me, your piece sounded almost like an "alternative/pop/rock" band playing a "sad" song. So, I think, it was interpreted and done quite well. Of course, everything is subjective. Fantastic content as always.

[@thetalantonx]

This definitely felt like a leitmotif in a movie score that builds into a character's main theme. I had images of the main character here crossing a sea under gray skies to arrive at her destination, her expected sanctuary, to find it in rubble. The place we'd been seeing her remembering as a solace during challenging times of her journey, in dreams calming fitful sleep, now a ruined husk of the place she once knew. It was now not the end of her trek - it was the beginning.

[@tommymandel]

2:30 I'm glad you pointed that out in the caption, because I was just about to. The Tristan Chord!

[@joaopedrolessa2242]

Hey, do you know what’s the name of the piece at this part?

[@CristianMunoz-wb3rv]

One of the more fascinating things to me when it comes to studying pop is that 'line' Andrew mentioned between what makes a pop song. As he said, some artists also borrow aspects from other genres or time periods in music, to make their music more memorable. It's this concept, in my mind, that is the driving force to why pop keeps changing in sound, making it harder to study as time goes by. Although I don't listen to pop frequently, my favorite artist has got to be Charlie Puth for two things mentioned in the video. It's apparent he borrows from other styles of music, so the sound of his work makes it unique to other famous pop artists. But what I truly enjoy with his music is how he handles the bridge, leaving the key entirely, giving the ear new flavors to taste. You also applied this in your piece at the end, which I enjoyed. Thanks Nahre, for another great video! I can't wait for the next one.

[@NahreSol]

Thank you!!

[@JoshSmith-db2of]

I was going to comment something similar to you about other artists using some modal mixture in the bridge. You mentioned Charlie Puth specifically, but I've noticed it across a range of different pop artists.

[@matthewv789]

Genesis are a particularly interesting study of this line between pop and not-pop (or even conventional rock song vs something more complex and prog). They were always capable of writing a catchy melody, but usually sabotaged its popiness with more complex rhythms or harmonies, extended instrumental sections, and in the earlier years, non-pop-like lyrics. In the 80s they leaned more unabashedly in the direction of pop with the increasing confidence of Phil Collins in exerting his pop sensibility on the songwriting. (See my “best Genesis songs” playlist: m.kzbin.info/aero/PLUGKAa6KeDajufZBkOO__TUZCQ0XtE10X)

[@lucas-co2nc]

pleaseee do "Bossa Nova, as digested by a classical musician"

[@andrewgibb2663]

I find it very interesting that writing like this is something you feel you must stretch for - you did a great job, as you’re very skilled. But I find it surprising that you could achieve such a level of skill without passing through a period of composing music just like this. Thanks for sharing this process!

[@gonkillua14]

I love how your face lit up when Andrew mentioned The Backstreet Boys

[@blumenmusic]

Looking at the chord progressions that get lumped into "pop progressions rarely found in classical", I think it's interesting how some Scandinavian classical music seems to have 'pop' quality to it due to the chord progressions that may be found more in western pop than classical. Composers like Alfven, Gjeilo, or heck even Grieg sometimes, have these qualities which can make it accessible to students (every youth choir I've played for has loved Gjeilo 😉) even though it's part of the "Classical Tradition"™️ of Norway or Sweden or wherever. And yes of course I have the recent Neely video on the brain 😂

[@aadarshbalireddy2939]

For real, when I was playing Greg's 1st String Quartet, I was surprised by how 'Pop-y' the chords felt in the first movement (during the allegro section)

[@OdaKa]

Always interesting to hear of classical music not from the German, Italian, and French tradition that gets most of the attention

[@AngelsEgg9]

Maybe thats why so much so much of the good pop music is made by swedish producers and in sweden

[@omie24]

The chorus section somewhat reminds me of Indian cinema music, which is the 'POP'ular music here, especially Tamil language (since it's my language:) ) Here all the movies have 4 or 5 four minute songs... The format is like, Intro - Chorus -Interlude music 1 - verse - Chorus - Interlude 2 - verse -Chorus - end In the interlude we have just instruments, so every song has vocals and instrumentals But we do have symphonic elements too in the songs... For example , songs in Marathi movie Sairat all have symphonic orchestra playing Indian style music

[@devonrobertson8533]

I lloooovvveee your show so much! Doesn't matter how long you take to make the episodes, your mind is pure gold!

[@Cluless02]

One group from Sweden “Opeth” might be worth a listen. They are considered “Gothic” but are far advanced in terms of depth of drama and emotion, that of dark, heavy yet poignant, beauty. This one truly original group that is quite remarkable and a serious force of creativity unlike anything in popular music since John Lennon or Jimi Hendrix. A breath of fresh air!

[@TheNewKid59498]

You know, I had a really interesting idea when I was listening: I think pacing might be really important when making pop music. My experience listening the "verse," and "chorus" kind of merged into the same sort of bigger phrase in my brain, and the first real noticeable contrast came from the bridge section. I guess I learned that I expect the different sections between pop songs to be longer and similarly repetitive throughout--compressing the form the way you have made it feel less "poppy" to me. Also, i think that maybe that a big part of modern pop music is the "rise" and the "drop" that you will find before a chorus section. But still the effectiveness of that gesture is really affected by its length. Don't get me wrong though, I absolutely love the ideas you're exploring! And seeing what that process means to you taught me something about how I experience music! And I just wanted to share that with you :D

[@OdaKa]

Very interesting observation, but it's possible to make something sound poppy while still being compressed in form if you're just coming from a pop foundation to begin with. I feel like this composition's starting point simply wasn't really in the pop genre, from the very first few notes of the melody. It's a really cool composition though, even if it doesn't sound pop to me.

[@grantmalone]

Classical musicians: So, I've heard there's this thing called "pop" that you kids are listening to?

[@aidanmurray8283]

Your videos might be the most inspiring here on yt! Hearing you talk about compositional approaches is so interesting and provoking. As for this specific video, I think it really goes to show how intrinsic your influences are. This comes out through the variations and arrangement of the piece which made it so much more than a pop song, and I say that as a good thing. To me, pop song are even simpler than this. So well done. Every aspect of your production! The video and graphics, the music itself. Your character. Keep up the great content!

[@QuangNguyenTran21]

I love how you perfectly aligned Andrew Huang video into the background grid :D and the whole video is awesome off course!

[@TheHaroldAndre]

can't wait for "salsa/timba as digested by a classical musician" c'mon people, just imagine nahre sol doing some montunos. if that doesn't make your day, i don't know what will"

[@ChristianJeremyOcaya]

I would love to hear vocals over your arrangement

[@luancarlosop]

Nahre is slowly becoming a popular music musician

[@teistix]

Loved the use of the supertonic in the chorus! Almost feels like an homage to a recent Andrew Huang video.

[@duncanrobertson6472]

It's always interesting to see where you end up when you mix what you learned from a genre with your own style. Here it sounded more indie/alt rockish to me, like a piano cover of a Radiohead or alt-J song. I think that mainly has to do with your chord progression. On piano, I think you need to stick to a more traditional I V vi IV or similar to keep the poppy feel.

[@megamorpher1]

funny how hard it seems to be to get a grasp on the poppy feel

[@denise2169]

I love how you try so many different styles! Brilliant! Thanks, Nahre!

[@Kairikey]

The piece is so emotionally dynamic than your typical pop songs lol. A lyrics and melody are really the core of pop music. Imagine you have something to say, to sing and then just try to get it across over a melody and you'll get something pop-ish already. It's also one of the reason I don't really listen to much pop songs growing up because a lot of pop songs in its musicality is a vehicle that drive home the lyrics, and all those sounds accompanying the lyrics will sound similar. That's also why I gravitate more to video game's music as those are more varied in its soundscape and mood and doesn't need to rely on a lyrics to get things across. Like really, I just learnt to listen to lyrics and let them work their magic with me in these last 4 or 5 years. My first addicting pop is kpop and I don't even have to understand those lyrics.

[@Aakhv]

Please, metal as digested by a classical musician.

[@joaovictor3312]

It's gonna get her constipated

[@robinbruce7838]

The thing is a lot of metal is a lot closer to jazz and classical music than people think :) so it would be very interesting to see her interpretation

[@florianmanz8040]

@@robinbruce7838 Exactly. Metallica is basically just Bach with Distortion.

[@HowlingUlf]

@@florianmanz8040 Yeah, and Bach is just Metallica without distortion! Yep! :D

[@phabi0]

@@florianmanz8040 I really hope you're being sarcastic...

[@Packbat]

That was a cool little piece! At the start, it felt very much more classical than pop - I think the melody didn't feel distinct within the arrangement? - but somewhere in the second verse or second chorus, I think the melodies begin to stand out more and the structure became clear. By the end, it felt a little ... I don't know, Suzanne Vega-ish? It felt like complicated pop - like someone bringing classical or jazz technique into pop. The fadeout was great. I thought that worked extremely well.

[@ikemyung8623]

Every time I watch one of your video I am blown away. I always ask myself, "How does she figure all this stuff out and always create such interesting music? Where does she get the drive and motivation to do this stuff?" I'm just totally amazed by you and your abilities!

[@shaz2027]

watched the ads because I love your content, editing and the clear effort you put into it. i always learn something every time.

[@casey339]

9:38 If this sounds a little familiar, I think it's because it's the same chord pattern use in EVERY POP SONG EVER. Lol

[@hazellu4497]

It’s simply so inspiring to see someone taking influence from a commonly disregarded idea that’s at the lower end of a somewhat arbitrary hierarchy with such professionalism and impartiality. It was such a beautiful rendition of the conventional pop structure and melody-centric concepts infused with a great sense of personal style.

[@manueldossinger]

Your last thought means that it is a great pop part. It is immediately so familiar and you think you heard the piece already in the radio. When you said this I also "remembered" a voice singing that melody...

[@MrMarshallMan3]

This is the second video I've seen Andrew on as a cameo this week. He really is the best consultant lol

[@Sean-Ax]

15:34 "If it already exists, it's probably just subconscious regurgitation." I have experienced this so much; you don't even know!!! I was fooling around on my classical guitar one time just picking away at an arpeggiated D major chord, and I decided to have a little fun over one chord and start changing the bass note like a melody. Well, I find myself intuitively finding the next note that I think sounds great, and now I've got this cool bass melody over a D major chord. Well... There's one problem. I WAS JUST PLAYING MOONLIGHT SONATA'S INTRO TRANSPOSED UP BY A HALF STEP. This has also happened when coming up with metal riffs. Usually something that I come up with will be derivative of something that I'd listened to around that time. ALSO I'd LOVE do see your take on METAL. Though that one may be a bit tough as there's a lot of styles of metal as it is, so you'd have to either narrow it down to one genre or distill them to their similarities while keeping note of the things that make them different from each other. I'd honestly love to hear thrash metal or death metal combined with your unique style of piano playing.

[@Frahamen]

The only trope you missed is the one half step higher modulated chorus at the end.

[@Lianpe98]

I liked it. I think that in order to go "full pop mode" there are a few very important things to keep in mind that are missing here: -One is phrasing, wich it usually has an even number of measures and works as a sort of "question and answer" kind of way. -There's also an spoken kind of quality to the rhythm and phrasing of the melody. -I've also noticed a lot ties from the second to the third sixteenth note and from the fourth to the first sixteenth note. -A heavy accent (and feel) in the second and the fourth pulse is basically ominipresent in pop music, including pop ballads. -The harmony can be easily digestible but that doesn't mean that it needs (nor should) be simple or short. A much more important factor here is a sense of a cycle, pop chord progressions (even complex ones) always give the sensation that they want to start over and rarely have a strong resolution, even if there's a V - I present. -Pop also uses a lot of repeated notes in the melody and often emphasize the 9ths of the chords. -The pentatonic scale and/or blue notes are very common. - A charleston style of melodic resolution is very common too. -The verse is always contrasting with the chorus and when there's a bridge nearly always has a different chord progressions (perhaps a variation of the main one) and it needs to build tension before going back to the chorus. This is a very interesting topic, thanks for diving into it, nice video.

[@yegorberdyugin3738]

I love how you improvised the songs to express complex dynamic relationship between different styles music. I really like what you played to “song-ify” a song between pop and classical music.

[@HaruEb]

It would be amazing to see if Andrew Huang could attempt to reverse-engineer the "original" pop song that this would be a "piano cover" of...

[@2nd3rd1st]

4:27 THIS sample is beautiful and I want this as a full 5 minute song now, please! Anyone...!

[@Bj0rnSH]

Absolutely! I loved that, especially the last part. Completely sounded like the start of a wonderful pop song! I started thinking like, give that to Max Martin or someone who could turn that into a full fledged pop song. I'm not sure if things work that way in practice; and obviously he's a busy man :)

[@randfur]

I really like the dual commentary of your spoken word and the overlayed text.

[@msragiboniatelite3086]

I was listening a podcast about the same topic and the guy exposed that the difference between classical and pop music wasn't about length, rhythm, instruments or complexity of the pieces. Both can have differences in one or the other thing. What makes the very difference is that in classic music the aim is to play the piece exactly as was written respecting notes and even interpretation, been Conservative while in pop music it's possible to change many things and do variations of the theme but for people if it's present the general idea it will be the same song. 🤯 Brilliant as always Nahre!! 👏👏

[@aShadowInBlue]

This may not be worth much, coming from a stranger on the web, but I felt compelled to share my thoughts. Pop music does not have a specific, well-followed, formula in terms of style or music theory. In essence, I believe it emerged as a result of a handful of businesses (record labels) looking for a class of music that was highly marketable to the public. This hypothesis would explain why pop music has diversified so much over the years. Andrew Huang mentions some strong points that I agree with. Pop music, in my humble opinion, has always been simplistic; easily replicable and played by a young population, perhaps with very little musical training. I conjecture that the low difficulty contributes to the spread of this type of music amongst young adults because it is easy to share with friends. Perhaps if you approached the task with the goal of writing an enjoyable piece of music for an average high-school band, you would meet with some success. This also lends credence to the argument that pop music is vocal-centric. Most persons, regardless of social or financial status, have a voice to speak or sing with. Singing is free and, if you write lyrics that resound with common fundamental human experiences, you may just find that more people will want to sing those lyrics. Romance and matters of love and sex will always be popular. I enjoy the content that you output. I would be very interested in seeing this topic revisited if you approached from the perspective of a music industry professional whom was pressured to write a song for a band of 4 or 5 low-skilled teenagers. If you had a month to write and arrange a piece of pop music for your unimpressive teen band that could be played at a stadium in front of a massive audience what would it sound like?

[@thomashoffman5217]

I'd watch this show.

[@robinfilms9978]

I think the biggest thing separating this from pop is that there was a lot of audible dissonance, both in the third chord and the contrast between the chords and the melody. This gave it sort of a brooding contemplative feel, which, while cool, doesn't quite fit the profile for pop music. You did an awesome job keeping the structure simple and predictable, but I think the next level of the concept is to extend that simplicity to your choice of notes and harmonies.

[@thisorthat7746]

This is so interesting! I think what makes it hard to really distinguish pop is how it burrows from all kinds of different genres and fuses everything into a simplistic, industrial form that's easy on the ears but still effectively engages the mind and emotions, and this is how it achieves this fast appeal, and why when we listen to a catchy pop song we feel like the melody is familiar and welcome and hence it sticks with us. Your original piece is sooo beautiful!! Sounds like it can fit in a historical/autobiographical movie (The Imitation Game came to mind as I was listening for some reason) This was my introduction to your channel thanks to the algorithms, and I'm here to stay!

[@josueissa]

in music college this series should be a MUST, really awesome :)

[@gustavocortico1681]

Whenever I think about pop, I think it's wrong to define it as a genre in by sheer popularity as populary stems from the relationship with the audience and thus cannot applied in composition (only once the piece is composed that the world can know about it and like it). However you could define it by "actively trying to be popular". That doesn't imply any stylistic choice per se, by try and mistake you could eventually infer them - if you define pop that way that would mean that in pop, style is an "emergent" property rather than defining trait of the genre. That makes it resilient and impermanent at the same time. Throughout the years there were many kinds of pop music, but even so it's not impossible to acknowledge the most resilient emergent stylistic choices; duration, time signatures, harmony... But of all those traits, there is a single biggest one. To me this is "the line": the impossibility to fully convey your lyrical statement in the music form, and thus resorting to other mediums, most often literature and imagery (lyrics and theatrics/movies). And that is expected right? You want people to be tribally hooked to your music, so you need all the symbolism you can find. I particularly like that "line" because it implies that lady gaga, kiss, and opera are all somewhere in pop-spectrum and I think that that's about right.

[@kallekoivisto5103]

That final part is so relatable. Every time I write a melody, chord progression or riff that sounds instantly good, I feel like I must have unwittingly plagiarized it from somewhere. :) Love to see this "series" returning!

[@gyanlobaba231]

This playlist is by far the most amazing thing

[@Ryuma_MO]

HOW are all your videos so beautiful?! Perhaps i'm just obsessed with piano, but there is genuine creativity, care , and love put in each one. I'm not kidding, every time I feel i'm in a slump with music creativity you come out with something immaculate, that inspires me to do better. Thanks for making these videos Nahre

[@maxwellsmartee6496]

Chorus just sounds like mozart. The verse (this is a stretch) has elements of a song called "american boy" the dah dahdah part (a _ mer_ rican) just what i hear

[@BenjiSun]

how about a dissection/digestion of heavy metal music that have obvious classical influence? and maybe some examples of complimentary collaborations between the 2 genres. like Yngwie Malmsteen - Icarus' Dream Suite Op. 4 or pretty much anything by Transiberian Orchestra.

[@lRoixl]

This serie of videos is so interesting ! Made-up Intro #2 is beautiful !

[@gerardo4104]

Definitely one of my goals in life is to become in a humble person as you are, Nahre. We need more people like you!!!!

[@Lankymax1]

Suddenly, researching "micro-slaps" becomes more important than work.

[@KirbysAdventureMusic]

"Mama" by Genesis was a hit single yet feels almost entirely antithetical to what someone would consider 'pop' music, though it does retain elements of accessibility/immediacy. You should check it out, it's basically Son of "In The Air Tonight"

[@Aquatarkus96]

That's not really fair though lol. Tony Banks is a classically trained pianist masquerading as a pop/rock keyboardist. Firth of Fifth anybody? Also check out Duchess from Duke. Daddy of In the air tonight :) Also Heathaze or Please Don't Ask or Turn it on Again off the same album. Great piano tunes, but you could say that about 99% of Genesis discography.

[@KirbysAdventureMusic]

@@Aquatarkus96 Fair points! Tony is definitely a huge part of the Genesis "sound". The Firth of Fifth 'family' of songs are all great as well: Mad Man Moon, One For The Vine, Burning Rope...

[@DumblyDorr]

Andrew touched upon something I think is pretty special about Pop - it's not really "one" genre. Yes, it's fun, catchy, accessible - but sometimes also sad (and sometimes very kitschy) - but in terms of what the musical elements are, pop is always changing, adopting, merging and "de-clawing" more underground music, or music that has been a successful niche for a while. In the 30s and 40s blues and jazz had popularity as well as showtunes and folk - so there was popular music with digestible, recognizable versions of each. Then in the 50s rock came along - and became the pop of the late 50s and 60s. In the underground during that time, people were experimenting with electronic music - rock became more experimental, and the late 60s birthed krautrock and prog, which took elements from rock, jazz, classical Music and more. The 60s also saw the creation of funk, which already incorporated jazz, blues and soul. A mixture of all of that became Disco - 70s pop. Also during that time, rock was pushed to new moods and timbres of both "heaviness" on the one side and over-the-top showmanship and kitsch - leading to metal and glam-rock of the 80s, and the rock-ballad reigned supreme among directions in pop. 90s brought both grunge and techno into the mainstream and into pop. the 2000s, more electronic subgenres found their way into pop. So all this time, there are different and accumulating streams of influences into pop, waxing and waning, getting pushed by newer stuff and then brought back later....It's really fascinating. Also - don't forget the people who were great musicians before they went into pop - and arguably made some of the best pop ever: * Peter Gabriel - Former frontman of Genesis during their long prog-rock era. Incorporated world-music elements and proggy elements with excellent production and musical understanding * Genesis and Phil Collins themselves - first made some of the best prog, then went pop themselves made some of the most memorable pop songs of the last four decades * Marillion - same story as Genesis - great prog, great pop aaaand: * Sonny Moore, a.k.a. Skrillex - was already a pretty good guitarist for a post-hardcore band before he went on to make electronic music that heavily influenced (and partially became) pop

[@Aquatarkus96]

+1 for Genesis. Wish Nahre would give them a bit of attention. Tony Banks is an incredible composer and pianist. There's dozens of great piano centric tracks in their catalogue, both poppy and very not poppy in the slightest lol.

[@flpsnk4848]

Playing with silence is also something used a lot in pop. Great stuff, learned something.

[@Joobie]

Your original composition sounded like Gary Jules' version of Mad World to me. "All around me are familiar faces". Probably because they both have that Dorian sound, with the major 6th.

[@nagekun]

Thought the same thing

[@bricolagefantasy7291]

Immediate appeal is very important. Not catching after 3 second in the ear of reviewer...equals to death. Pop music is pure business. Gotta sell baby. It's that simple

[@NahreSol]

😁

[@charlesxavier1904]

Seriously glad I randomly landed on your channel. Your flamenco video was just amazing! Keep it up!

[@jorgemoran89]

It's just so much fun to see you play with music... thank you!

[@skuttlesthesquid]

1:18 "Micro-Slapps" *Davie504 intensifies

[@ThatBoomerDude56]

Maybe she's getting ready for the battle. He says he's taking on the Piano Gang next. :P

[@worstelldaniel]

@@ThatBoomerDude56 OMG

[@rickf6375]

Check mate

[@alexjaimes8023]

All music chanels lead back to Davie

[@ThatBoomerDude56]

@@alexjaimes8023 And Davie leads to TwoSetViolin. :P

[@carameii]

Movie Soundtrack music (drama) digested by a Classical Musician would be sick!

[@diasporachick]

Wow this was a really interesting excercise to watch you go through. I learned how to listen for the character in music (texture, voicing, etc.) This is a great page!

[@marachime]

ugh. it makes me SO HAPPY that you and Andrew know one another. that's so cool :3 you're both so nice and so hard working

[@gregorymccasland2874]

Pop music today is simple because the average person can’t handle complexity. Simplicity is what the public demands. If it’s complicated and requires thought or talent it is shunned. You are amazing and your playing is complex. I love it. I want to be challenged. Most people don’t.

[@fredrikdagsvik7863]

Are you saying that complex music i better than simple music?

[@gregorymccasland2874]

Fredrik Dagsvik I’m saying I prefer the complex to the simple. I like simple things too but the eternal repetition of Canon In D broken into its most basic elements is boring to me. That added to the decreasing talent and increased production required to make even the simplest music sound at all palatable makes current pop music unlistenable to me. So many computers making it so only pretty people with no talent can get on the radio is my problem. The talent in today’s music is all in machinery. Almost no one can play or sing anymore. I like human involvement and interaction in the creation of music. Even simple music is better if humans create it by playing and singing. When it is pro tools and auto tune making the music listenable count me out.

[@theharry801]

Saying the average person can't handle complexity is wrong. Most people don't want to listen to music to see complexity, they just wanna chill. For the record this doesn't apply to me I love the more complex music. But to say that the average person can't handle complexity is a very narcissistic and pretentious view

[@NahreSol]

Such insight...and thank you!!!

[@gregorymccasland2874]

Redheadedmusician Your opinion. I have my own. Listen to the top 10 on Spotify, if you can. It’s all complete crap to me. Pretentious? Probably. But the boring and the simple is what rules. That’s what sells. Chilling to me involves listening to something a human created with talent not something a computer corrected because the playing and singing suck.