Michael Jackson - "Billie Jean" | Theory & Arrangement Breakdown | Matt Donner

[@SubhansVault]

The truth is Michael Jackson could not read and write music, I am not sure how much he could play a piano (he owned one though) He used to say, he hears the instruments and the music bit by bit in his head and he tries to mimic them on to a tape with his voice, creating layers and layers of instruments and vocals. Then he goes to the studio and asks the session musicians to play the instruments exactly the same way he heard it in his head. Thats how Michael Jackson made music, thats how he broke all the records and barriers and became a legend

[@Zeoproo]

He played it by ear

[@amitpatel3071]

its because he has perfect pitch....

[@mecyjecy]

When you play the guitar... you play notes. When you play the piano... you play notes. When you sing... you "play" notes. The voice is a monophonic "musical instrument". If you triple a voice (with the right notes), you make a chord. Simple and basic. If you invent a melody with your voice, it's a composition. You can compose a whole piece just by voice (moreover, great composers[like Mozart] often composed with a pen and paper. They heard the music in their heads), but also without knowing the musical theory. The truth about MJ, who liked to say that it was a mystery, a process that came from heaven, is in fact that he took music lessons and played drums for a few years (not a coincidence that he was always very rhythmic). Just as he did take singing and dancing lessons. No secrets. MJ knows the notes, the chords. He knows how to harmonize and arrange. On the instrument side, according to Bruce Swedien, MJ plays the basic piano (modern chords + small melody). He "scratches" with his guitar. According to several people, he is quite good at drums (normal after taking lessons). With MJ, you have to make the difference between what he says to serve the legend of the public figure and the reality of the work that hides behind it. MJ is like magicians: he doesn't like us looking behind the scenes; he wants us to believe in magic.

[@amitpatel3071]

yh true, but i don't think he hide the fact that he practiced and worked hard at it, he spent most of his childhood doing it. plus it won't be difficult to know the notes, chords and to harmonize if you have perfect pitch. it be the same for anyone that has pp.

[@St0ckwell]

mecyjecy Technically the human voice is polyphonic all the time with oral attenuation of upper harmonics, but noticeably so with the subharmonic register and overtone singing

[@YodasPapa]

Guys, depending on how popular this video is, I think doing more old school classics like this is a good direction to go in. I normally don't notice Pyramind vids because there are a lot of channels that break down more modern songs like 'take me to church' but hardly any I know of that are doing old classics like this.

[@axelcruz5394]

Much agreed

[@G.b._esq]

Keep doing old school stuff

[@penelopeodonnell4178]

Quincy Jones did not write this song. Are y'all confused or something? Why pretend this is his work? PYT is his.

[@Aerolyricist]

write and produce are 2 different things. "write" most likely means lyrics, but producing is the chord progressions behind it.

[@richardkovacs2006]

@@Aerolyricist listen to MJs original demo. It's def NOT just lyrics...

[@JJDPROMEDIAPRODUCTION]

His and James Ingrahm..

[@JinChohan]

Please get the research correct. Michael Jackson wrote and composed this song not Quincy Jones. Michael's demo from 1981 from his house sounds exactly the same as the final track.

[@CCI320]

Thank you these kinda people never do research on Michael. It's like they are allergic to it.

[@JJDPROMEDIAPRODUCTION]

Yes.. I would say Quincy added the "ear candy" parts...But, everything else MJ..

[@krissyehayes3100]

@Lions Truth really good? 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jadenjacobcomedy6237]

Well the demo doesn't sound exactly the same as the final product. But it is similar - a lot of mixing went into the final product

[@JinChohan]

@Jaden Jacob Comedy of course I mean musically not the mix. The song was composed and done from his home in Encino

[@xuamox]

I am always amazed by the production and sound quality of this album. It stands out from many LPs that I own and listen too. Great breakdown!

[@ErmerProductions]

I UNDERSTAND EVERY SINGLE WORD HE SAID. No Cap, he teaches well WINK WINK

[@lightningblites5970]

Something that many people don't know is that when they recorded Billie Jean it was in a slower tempo and pitch. You can hear this in the original multitrack stems. They decided to speed the song up by a little bit because they needed to fit the song in the record album.

[@kieradjubi2969]

My only problem with this is that Quincy Jones did not write Billie Jean. Michael Jackson did. The "6-4-5" you are attributing to him is present in the demo, which Quincy did not touch. Giving him credit for something he didn't do is just disrespectful and a bit sloppy. There are plenty of songs that Quincy has actually written that could be analyzed. Just not this one. Aside from those errors, the technical side of this video was really informative.

[@Angel-sk4dg]

Kiera Djubi agree

[@RoshanRajSingh]

Absolutely agreed

[@ricomajestic]

Did Quincy even write any of MJ's classics? I don't see Quincy's name in the songwriting credits!

[@tabiren382]

ricomajestic he didn't. He just co-produced them with MJ.

[@DR-cf6ug]

ricomajestic Quincy did co write PYT with James Ingram

[@smirkishtuscadero6022]

Thank you! Thank you for doing this. For some people it's not this simple, but for me it is: This is the greatest piece of Music ever written that isn't classical. And yes, Michael did arrange with classical music as a inspiration according to his brother Jermaine.

[@RayzaEFC]

Awesome lesson Matt. These Theory & Arrangement lessons are gold!

[@MariusWM]

I am not sure neither Michael or Quincy were thinking like this at all

[@gregory9028]

Great video. I'm a bit fuzzy on the music theory. Any suggestion on how to catch up my knowledge of theory for songwriting?

[@coscrupi]

Chord triad progression is wrong in verse. The hook is actually played... F#min- 3rd,5th,8th triad(a,c#,f#), Bmaj6 -1,3rd,6th triad(b,d#,g#) Amaj- 3rd,5th,8th triad(c#,e,a) Bmaj6-same Repeat then the Bmin obviously

[@killamagillagorilla]

Yeah which actually makes this song only in Aeolian and never Dorian. There is an F#m in the bass until the Bm. Also the bridge is D THEN F#m and C#7 back into verse. Which makes everything Aeolian.

[@pollock8000]

Cosimo Crupi exactly. Too bad that he never checked the score

[@alexandrebayle8087]

Thank you

[@ricomajestic]

Did Quincy even write any of MJ's classics? I don't see Quincy's name in the songwriting credits of MJ's hits. I do see Michael Jackson's name though.

[@DR-cf6ug]

and Rod Temperton of course

[@columbia81]

Just "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)", co-written with James Ingram.

[@ryananthony4840]

He probably doesn't "borrow" from anything..... Just makes music from the heart like the idolized classical composers did........

[@sdrozo]

Love this guy and this series!

[@Eliashabte00E]

Please do earth song by Michael Jackson

[@semyonboyk0]

Just found this series. LOVE it. Please, keep it coming, your lessons are amazing.

[@gauravmishra5351]

Mind blowing Wasn't aware of that tiny synt line

[@anchorschmidt]

Michael jackson wrote Billie Jean, not Quincy

[@MrThe21Master]

09:45 F# minor should be in place of D Major. Prechorus begins with D Major

[@SuperKartik2000]

Didn't have a clue that the song changing modes when i was listening to it! This was cool.. What about today's chart hits? Are they all simple? If you could dig into any of them which you find interesting, that'd be great for learning

[@RayzaEFC]

He's already done loads of modern hits check the channel

[@SuperKartik2000]

I have watched all.. I was talking about songs getting billions of views. Do they have something special or it's just marketing and branding...

[@RayzaEFC]

He mentions in his other videos about it being Simplicity that makes a hit. Heard this off numerous people. Billie Jean is a perfect example of a simple but effect tune

[@SuperKartik2000]

Yup I agree! I wanna see twenty one pilots or flume here too

[@richardkovacs2006]

Dear Matt Donner! Why do you refer to Q as writer of Billie Jean or the genius behind it? It's incorrect. MJ wrote it, so why would you give all the credit to Qs genius? MJ deserves the praise on this. Esp if you listen to MJs home demo of Billie Jean. As far as I know Qs imput was choosing the 2nd mix out of 91. But Q hated the demo, hated the intro, hated the bassline and hated the title "Billie Jean". Apart from that mistake I enjoyed the video.

[@dagoelius]

You do know Michael Jackson "stole" the bassline from a Hall & Oates song.

[@thesynista]

which one?

[@JJDPROMEDIAPRODUCTION]

Yes..But Q arranged the strings, trumpet, and Lyricon parts. As Well as, the the Claps, and the sample fx (Foley). That's all ...

[@deshr8541]

Stole? lol really ?

[@tabiren382]

dagoelius Stole? Lol Hall and Oates also 'stole' that baseline. It's called sampling.

[@ghostfrom1950]

I've always heard of changing to relative major/minor between sections but not changing scales. I did not know it would sound *this* good

[@StratsRUs]

For songs just use Keys.That way you can solo over it straight away. The lesson from this song is to NOT mode-ify them unnecessarily.Go with key changes etc.. Harmonic Minor. The peanut butter and jelly bit is older older school Minor Bluesike T Bone

[@SmoothEmJay]

Yeaaah. As others have said, great breakdown but entirely inaccurate credit, please do listen to the Billie Jean demo with precedes all of the Quincy credit and ignore other recent horse crap he may have come out with since he became a bitter old guy that hates everyone.

[@jason-stern]

Great breakdown Matt!

[@davidrios9033]

Love this. Awesome video.

[@drtchock]

a random click from youtube recommends and i landed here. very interesting and well explained. thank you!

[@archologyzero]

I love these videos.

[@shadik6903]

Is this his channel? This dude is entertaining.

[@nupreznz]

Breh I've never seen ur videos before but thanks for breaking down one of my favorites

[@adrianpoonstar]

the alternating green text at 9:45 is flipped, should've started on D major

[@ricomajestic]

Would love to hear more breakdowns of 80s tunes!

[@ljdcc]

Matt, another great video. Any chance your next one could be on Illenium - Reverie?

[@imayhaveanunbelievablysmal7406]

“When is a Dorian song not a Dorian song? When it’s Aeolian” Brill 👌

[@virvt3819]

Thank you for sharing it!!

[@-l5905]

Please do more Breakdowns... Great job! Does anybody know a good KZbin channel for song Deconstructions / Breakdowns?

[@beirch]

Please do Never Be Like You by Flume or White Lies by Odesza

[@A_020f0]

just wanted to let you know, thats not how the piano part is played, it goes A C# F#, B D# G#, C# E A, and then back to B D# G#

[@mattbukovski92]

I would suggest to get the chord inversions right

[@fritsvanzanten3573]

Quincy Jones even didn't want the song oon the album I understood.

[@VinnieLeeStudio]

NICE! Dorian always have a deeper mood, I think Earth Song is also in Dorian. Thanks for the video.

[@PyramindSF]

any time!

[@gustavorocha9570]

Matt could you do a breakdown of orbit by arkasia? i really want to understand what he did

[@yvanvindret8968]

hey ! there's a little mistakes at 9:45 ! you inverted the two chords ! it's D before F#m !

[@Ultima2876]

Awesome video. Subscribed!

[@BigL3Z]

Could you please do Sampha's Plastic 100???

[@retroplayuk]

As someone who loves Quincy Jones and hasn’t heard anything else that competes with it with the same style, would you have any Suggestions what I could be listening to? Appreciate it thanks

[@CCI320]

Quincy did not write this song. Michael wrote it and was pretty much done with it before quincy ever heard it.

[@artfullboutique2768]

A True Music Theory "BAD-ASS MOTHERPHUNKER!"

[@anzatzi]

This lesson is alittle above my paygrade as I just learned modes last week. Still I found the video very clear. Have you seem the video on you tube where MJ sings his chord ideas--note by note--to a producer. Different. Thanks

[@RobinCriollo]

I want to see that video, pls :v

[@anzatzi]

not the exact clip but documents the method www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-incredible-way-michael-jackson-wrote-music-16799

[@sandrasanders706]

anzatzi I just listen to it Michael Jackson one of the most brilliant talents ever I hear him laugh I hear him talk about his music I can listen to that forever thank you for putting that on your comment section I like that better than when I'm watching right now

[@tedepstein4940]

AFAICT the pre-chorus is played correctly in the mockup, but the commentary and on-screen chords are wrong. The pre-chorus ("People always told me...") *begins* on the Dmaj (the VI chord on "people"), and *then* goes to F#min (i chord on "careful"). Correct: IV i IV i IV i IV V7 Incorrect: i IV i IV i IV i V7 Correct: Dmaj F#min Dmaj F#min Dmaj F#min Dmaj F#min C#7 Incorrect: F#min Dmaj F#min Dmaj F#min Dmaj F#min Dmaj C#7

[@TheGroove99]

The bassline on both the audio project and what you played live is wrong... Were you just playing close enough with you own little spin? Curious.

[@mdp303]

I struggle bit this. It may be a lack of knowledge on my part but where is the necessity of declaring the modes of chord sequences. Is this not just a collection of notes that match the chord tones? If we use a minor third and dominant 7 in C for instance then the notes of Bb are being played and it resolves nicely to F. I suppose this is Dorian but so what? Not sure how giving this a name helps? Does naming it make it easier to play? Maybe I’m just missing the point...

[@mrtyreus0]

Great theoretical break down. But I'm really being sucked into the chicken vs egg scenario. If Quincy wrote it, I'd say the Chicken came first. If not, assuming Michael wrote it... Well... Who knows. Either way, I'm thinking you're putting more thought into it than it's composer.

[@STS-Dreamer]

Can you please break down a song off of Quincy Jones album "Body Heat"? a lot of interesting Jazz/Soul theory in it.

[@nucleardivide290]

dope ass shirt

[@59michaelash]

sorry to be that guy and plz correct if wrong, but isnt Dmajor the bVI in relation to f#min? or is it represented correctly as VI?

[@versatileofmusic8597]

The greatest

[@allprog]

carribean queen by billie ocean is basically the exact same beat

[@t.l.7986]

These videos are great, and I really appreciate you taking them time to explain the theory, but I wonder if these people ever actually think about this stuff in the studio or just play what sounds good / felt right? I guess I (perhaps naively) assume that most artists just play what comes out

[@PyramindSF]

Well I think it depends on your workflow! I'm sure a lot of people do just play things organically, and then consider this stuff afterwards, but knowing this kind of stuff, even passively, will still improve the way you think about your own productions!

[@Nikkie_jurnigan]

@@PyramindSF do More Michael Jackson song

[@love4thetruth]

The band Toto were the actual musicians of this song in the studio. In fact almost if not the whole Thriller album.

[@JJDPROMEDIAPRODUCTION]

Not this track.. Guitars(Paul Jackson Jr & David Williams).. Bass (Luis (thunder thumbs) Johnson..Drums..Nudugu (Leon Chancellor).. Keys( Greg Phillinganes &Mike Boddicker. Tom Scott (Lyricon)...Michael Jackson's own voice used as a Synthand Jeremy Lubock (Concert Master).

[@TheBandMan]

JJDPRO MEDIAPRODUCTION didn’t Greg end up playing keys in TOTO at some point?

[@JJDPROMEDIAPRODUCTION]

Yes.. Check out this video of him covering 4 parts at once playing with Toto! :) kzbin.info/www/bejne/pIOqc3Snj7KKrrc

[@blqckpop]

It’s great, but you’ve missed the last note of the main bass line cycle.

[@GarethThomasTunes]

It’s a good trick messing with the type of minor scale you’re in. Mad World does it simply and effectively amongst many others. It’s also quite normal to make the sub dominant chord the same as the root chord in pop music- even if it means changing modes. It’s more simple than sneaky. Standard 12 bar blues pattern that goes to the 7th (watermelon man, boy from New York City, Day Tripper type stuff) Just my 2 cents :)

[@geovanymaldonado6812]

Interesting, make music in a misterious way to play with our minds for a very long time!

[@sneswap]

I am sorry The chords are not F#minor,B,C#minor. They are F#minor, A flat minor,A

[@artfullboutique2768]

It's all due to a simple "Avoid Note."

[@RobinCriollo]

Do Paranoid Android, pls

[@RayzaEFC]

Yes please do Paranoid Android was thinking that last night, Matt that would be awesome!!!!

[@johnthethirdful]

OMFG There is no B major chord in the song!!! You can even hear the loudest voice of the synth on the top F# G# A G#. So the chords are: F#m G#m/F# F#m G#m/F#

[@TheGroove99]

Correct...it's Bm7

[@T1000-s4j]

Michael fucking Jackson, not Quincy fucking Jones. Michael's demo sounds exactly like the finished version: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e4vTn3iiqtCWocU Michael wrote and composed the song, and co produced the studio version. Quincy produced the studio version. Not sure why people insist on giving Quincy all of the credit, which shows how uninformed even musicians are.

[@annettedelarosa9362]

I read that in 1988 there was a woman that stalk Micheal and did time for it jean stalker

[@juicebox86]

aaghghh... MODES! XXX

[@PyramindSF]

not for everyone, but useful!

[@juicebox86]

no argument there. just a troublesome sticking point for me. :-)

[@dj2bklyn]

Seriously he's over thinking This

[@seanbray85]

Raise your weapon by Deadmau5 please

[@JJDPROMEDIAPRODUCTION]

In all this, you left out the most important part..And, that's the Funk..Aka da groove.. Can you teach that????

[@prophismusic]

SCIENCE

[@noitallmanaz]

why does that sound like elevator music?

[@Janoline6]

You have a lot Of wrong notes mister! 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@CCI320]

This video gets a thumbs down for me, for the blatant dishonesty and disrespect. Quincy did not write this song. Michael wrote and it was 98% finished when Quincy heard it for the first time, Im sick of people disrespecting Mj.

[@Aerolyricist]

You guys are confusing writing and production. Quincy produced Billie Jean, meaning he definitely had a part in all of this complicated theory. Just because the words and melody was composed by Michael, doesn't mean that Quincy didn't build from it Theoretically.

[@CCI320]

Quincy had nothing to do with it. Quincy was presented with a demo that sounded 98% like the finished song.

[@StefanoPapaleo-TS]

Niiiiice stuff! Make Aeolian Great Again :)))

[@beirch]

Slide by Calvin Harris needs to be broken down

[@RobBob555]

Who is Dorian ? 😑

[@killamagillagorilla]

This theory lesson is kinda wack because all the chords are wrong. It sounds Aeolian because it is. If every part in the background is Aeolian and the song sounds Aeolian that’s because it is.

[@8360ishan]

Well not sounds like original👀

[@hiephoi058]

You are wrong with the bass part

[@Rinse303]

Can you at least imagine that a musician just does these things naturally? None of the beatles, michael or whoever great artist complicated their lives with music theory, They just made music that feels right.. But yes. I'ts very intriguing to see you take the time to break down their stuff instead of making something new/awesome yourself. waste of talent/time....

[@zacharychall-hutchinson6720]

Billie Jean used a drum machine not an actual drummer

[@PyramindSF]

actually it was Ndugu Chancler! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_%22Ndugu%22_Chancler

[@dhammarosi]

Mmm, aioli. Tasty

[@arielluzi4548]

Mmmmm...

[@rofea]

Michael was good at stealing ideas. Michael heard "I can't go for that" by Hall and Oates, then beatboxed it to as a basis for a song to Quincy and co. Listen to the intro to both songs and you will hear it straight away. One part that I felt gets overlooked (by musicians that don't spend hours on the dancefloor) are the slow minimalist drum and bass rise and fall swells, despite their simplicity and being deep in the background, they are crucial to the vibe of Billie Jean.

[@CCI320]

Too bad hall and oats said thats not true and billie jean sounds nothing like their song.

[@Officialqueso]

Dam you talk to much

[@djayOSCARINNN]

Muy malo...