What Do JOHN MAYER and KURT COBAIN Have In Common?

In this episode we discuss the melody writing of John Mayer, Kurt Cobain, George Harrison and Zedd.
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[@joemisek]

This calls for a new songwriting series: What Makes This Melody Great.

[@AirGuitar]

Joe Misek yes!

[@freke80]

yes!

[@kswindia]

THIS!!!

[@JBiggs1988]

Joe Misek agreed!!

[@AshishSinghPaL777]

Yeahhh!!

[@jim39474]

Rick I think a discussion between yourself and John Mayer about songwriting would be absolutely captivating.

[@MusedeMented]

Please, please, please. I'd give a pinkie finger to watch that. :)

[@ok9908]

Yeah, he should try to get Kurt Cobain on the channel also, I think that would be fairly interesting. (In a parallel universe, i wrote this comment unironically)

[@StaceyJudith]

I'd pay to watch that.

[@enricopersia4290]

Some nerds always forget that many artists can be non-technical dudes but really great melody writers

[@FreddieMcgruffy]

I know exactly where you are coming from with this, and it's true!

[@michaellawrence9839]

Yup. Nail on the head

[@kartikxramesh]

I've heard this said about Cobain so many times and it ticks me off.

[@michaellawrence9839]

Kartik Ramesh Cobain literally said “music theory gets in the way of creativity” in an interview outside Edgewater Hotel in Seattle, 1993.

[@virtual_it_admin2065]

@@michaellawrence9839 and IMO he was right...kind of. Theory doesn't _have to_ get in the way, but it can and does. Depends on the person, I suppose.

[@TGFalk]

I now now what Sting meant when he talked about pop music with "annoying fifths".

[@unoaotroa]

Tobias Falk link?

[@basilschreyer8807]

Thomas H H no?

[@jonathanwright8802]

@@crisprtalk6963 I'd be willing to bet you are much more annoying than Sting. Just a hunch.

[@jonathanwright8802]

@@crisprtalk6963 Pleasant people usually don't make unpleasant judgments against other folks. So you carry on, my wayward son.

[@TGFalk]

Wow, this escalated quickly...

[@JourdanSmith]

I wonder if half of the people hating on John Mayer here have even given the guy a chance? Everyone has different tastes for music, but it's not fair to judge talent against taste. You don't get to tour with Dead and Company by being a talentless musician. Go check out what he's been doing with those guys for the last 3-4 years. I've caught them here in Atlanta every time they've come through and John has been AMAZING each go around.

[@LilView]

He's not talentless by any stretch of the imagination but he does seem full of himself and all of his hits were made specifically for women

[@viktorceder4985]

Lil View Then you’re an idiot and haven’t actually listened or kept up with the guy at all

[@viktorceder4985]

superblonde hahah dude there’s like 4 months until April. Don’t waste it so early!

[@GeriDoc8]

I did give him a chance and it makes me cringe lol. Technically he's good but I hate his songs and his attitude. Shows you how flaky the Dead are. Clean John Mayer playing for a bunch of dirty hippies lol

[@swagatmalla6634]

@@GeriDoc8 everything is lost on you, sadly

[@DawidDoesTechStuff]

That they both work well as click bait for videos. :P

[@Andersabjorn1]

Hahaha!!! :D

[@ggthewhale]

Clickbait? You call Rick Beato's content clickbait?

[@JJofCascadia]

Stfu and learn something. bitch.

[@olocin3477]

@degrande707 john mayer overrated???

[@shortlimb1]

@@ggthewhale he did 30 seconds on kurt

[@marcpuyuelograndas1005]

Finally, someone mentioning McCartney's bass line on Something. Extremely melodic, super different from other bass lines, seems a little song inside another song. One of Macca's greatest bass works.

[@Patrick96322]

I've always admired this in Kurt Cobain's songwriting... I mean, even with very little knowledge of theory, and with songs made with only a few powerchords, he was able to come up with incredible melodies... Melodies we can feel came from his guts, his pain, his heart !!! And what an amazing lyricist... Kurt really was a genius, and it took me a long time to figure that out !!!

[@missunique65]

except he married courtney - that blows your genius theory.

[@jan279]

@@missunique65 Just because you're bad on one thing, doesn't mean you can't be good in another.

[@gratata.enchilada]

Dave John Lennon and yoko ono

[@shaneclark3605]

No he was just a feminist and he got played. Has nothing to do with his artistic skill though

[@lemi6533]

I always asked myself why do people love nirvana. And I still do.

[@AirGuitar]

Please do a video on Elliott Smith! I really think he needs to be looked at when it comes to great and unique melodies.

[@notatall2237]

Agreed.

[@tomlabbate6253]

Yesssss plis his melodies are so beautiful

[@sagus_mage]

Thirded. A song like Happiness by Elliott has amazing bass leading.

[@smokesgtp]

Agreed. He was a genius.

[@MomusFilms]

Would LOVE to hear you're breakdown on a song like his "Memory Lane." just the most exquisite, unexpected yet natural chord progressions.

[@kenwoodsmusic]

Eek! I've been struggling with melody writing recently, and your video came right on time!!! You even used one of my favorite John Mayer songs. This is huge!! Thank you!!!

[@PoundSound]

It's all about rhythm. If the rhythmic structure of the melody is boring, the note choice won't sound as interesting. Take Super Mario for example, stick that all on one note and you'll hear the rhythmic structure to that melody is quite interesting and changes enough times to keep you interested. Which is pretty much the key, keeping things interesting enough by having small variations so nothing feels like it's repeated to frequently. Also, the note choice is pretty important and getting the mood to match the rhythmic feel helps things feel less conflicting or contradicting.

[@JDODify]

What I tend to do is get my rhythm guitar and bass part down then write a sort of simple "riff" over the top which conveys what I'm after then basically just sing the riff! I guess this is kinda what Rick is talking about.

[@StankoAx]

Kurt was a master of melody.

[@GolfTool]

You can tell Rick respects Kurt a lot, I even noticed he has a Nirvana poster framed over his left shoulder.

[@Cheezin48]

Kurt should be hailed for his songwriting, he couldn’t write a bad song

[@mudkips8399]

@Ginnungagap "most of his song are bad/boring" let's hear one of your songs then

[@dsfafshjgh9349]

@Ginnungagap simple stuff can be special musicaly wise I honestly hate the term musicaly wise cause music just like any art never was about technique it was about feel and it's not hard to see how many people related to kurt's music and felt it

[@mczfender]

I thought Rick would use Drain you as an example, such a great phrase

[@nathancoleman1223]

You have the best KZbin music channel. I found this video to be strangely mindblowing and inspiring.

[@shawnerie]

i've written many songs in my life; and the way i see melody writing is - it's got to be interesting and the way i think of it is balance - you balance a few upward steps with a downward leap; a few downward steps followed by an upward leap, and so on. but actually most songwriters (i suspect) do it very intuitively in that they simply sing words and sometimes the melodies come from the words...that's how i do it, using dummy lyrics helps sometimes to come up with the tune. then you keep on singing little variants of the tune until you come up with the one that you like...

[@stillkickinbandgeorgianbay900]

Most music is brought to life in this manner. Sometimes it begins with a story, or commentary that is meaningful to the writer, then the cadence and melody are adapted to fit with the message. Sometimes it begins with a riff, or line that is especially novel, or fascinating. Then the song is constructed to best highlight the riff or line that was so fascinating. Creativity is not to be confused with production, or construction.

[@mgreco712]

Music creation is very odd. I sometimes have songs erupt in my head fully formed but I can’t really play any instruments and I know dick about how to write it down so it fades and I eventually forget it completely

[@ph5832]

Harrison doesn't get the credit that he deserves ... thanks for the lesson and tribute ...

[@roadrunner7218]

It's simply amazing that those 3 songwriters were together for so long. Then again, maybe they all grew to be much more great than they might have been because they were together.

[@gooble69]

Harrison got a lot of credit, so I'm not how you'd measure how much he deserves that he didn't get?.

[@gooble69]

@@roadrunner7218 When you say 'that long' they weren't actually together very long at all. They put out a phenomenal amount of quality stuff, but the productive years (together) was roughly 64-68, so only 5 years. By 69 they were technically still a band, but the together part is debatable. This is actually more impressive when you consider the sheer volume of material produced in that short period

[@ph5832]

@@gooble69 In his day, Harrison got a lot, but is largely forgotten IMHO today.

[@copych]

A couple of days ago I voted online only for "Something" as for the greatest song on the list in some questionary by some magazine thou I could select 3 songs

[@seankinnaman9384]

If you are a song writer, and thoughtful, this is huge. In the 90’s, I always heard The Beatles in Kurt’s songs, but was never able to find the thread. This is a big part of it. Young people- Listen to this man. He’s giving you the science behind the art of being special. Great stuff as always Rick! Wish I had this kind of help 25 years ago when I was starting out with guitar. Of course, I knew everything back then...

[@a.i.override8914]

Opening the door to my mind! I can't wait to purchase the Beato Book. What a great channel!

[@DavidTheHooman]

This was such a great lesson Rick, I I've been writing songs for a while. And now understanding what makes a boring Melody versus an interesting validate helps take some of the guesswork out of it

[@markdodson6669]

This might be the first time I have heard or figured this out, mind blown. Back to the drawing board, Thanks

[@Oilid]

Of all of the examples you used, the George Harrison one went straight to my heart. What a genius! Now I hit replay and learn it. 😉

[@michaellnbnj]

Such an important lesson! And Rick is so right! Writing great melodies is difficult and takes some work. Wanna write great songs that that draw people in and hook 'em? Make sure your choice of notes in your melodies are harmonically interesting. Stay away from too many root notes. They'll make your songs sound stale & boring. I'm not a big Nirvana fan, but I have to say that Kurt Cobain's melodies were always harmonically interesting. It's my guess that he didn't know the theory behind his melodies. He just "felt" them. He had a gift for writing melodies. Well, it doesn't matter how you "get there" as long as you "get there." Thanks for this lesson, Rick!

[@yourbandisabusiness]

@@MrPlooky I was about to say that. He was a big Beatles fan and soaked up that sense of melody from them. When I used to listen to Nirvana I'd often have the Beatles pop in to my head as well.

[@harveyboy7019]

Kurt Cobain was definitely gifted

[@CarlosPerez-nt5md]

Dont take away the amount of work it gets to compose like that, there are a lot of bands influenced by the beatles but few have the complexity of cobain's writing. I dont even like him so much but what he did was more close to jazz theory than any pop/grunge/rock band mainstream.

[@williamrosa8662]

Yeah! Of course. I play guitar since im 12 and now 23 (and never learn to read or theoric things) and before i know this this channel i though a good melody was pure luck or birth gift

[@TheLuizSouza]

@@CarlosPerez-nt5md "what he did was more close to jazz theory than any pop/grunge/rock band mainstream." I think Soundgarden have much more interesting melodies.

[@jonathanpeters9271]

This was an amazing video! So Incredibly helpful!

[@royreta2366]

This is so helpful. I especially appreciate the analysis of “Something”. Awesome content!

[@jlblues4u]

Thanks Rick, as always this video is packed with information I can put to use immediately! You really do a fantastic job of making music come alive.

[@JeffKeel]

Always so good Rick. Forcing us to all think and grow and get better

[@thomasmcgill6918]

This is so good. This is a must video for anyone and everyone wanting to write songs. Coming up with great melodies that are appealing and interesting is as tough as it gets. Great examples used in this video...

[@SchultiTube]

Nice outro, Rick! Thanks for this video :)

[@benalarid8485]

Very Insightful and useful concept. Thanks for sharing!

[@joaobigfoot]

Thank you Rick. You just keep doing amazing content. Will put this into practice!

[@thecommitments3687]

I've no questions but PLEASE make more videos like this, writing melodies is absolutey fascinating when Maestro Beato tells how to write them!!!

[@aligrundy812]

Great advice! I struggle to create vocal lines over chords because I'm not a great singer but stripping it down to bass and melody is a good idea

[@djgrab1]

Elliot Smith as well for awesome bass/melody counterpoint....Somebody That I Used To Know

[@colinmurphy3478]

The best songwritter in the last 25 years

[@curtpangracs8684]

Just want to give you a quick shout-out. I've been a huge life-long fan of all types of music. Your videos help me, at age 56, appreciate all genres and eras of music even more. Thank you so much for helping me enjoy music to its fullest! YOU ROCK, so to speak...

[@runreilly]

Thanks for the lesson, Rick!

[@SeverinGomboc_Musik]

super helpful lesson, love the analyzing stuff of songs.

[@Timliu92]

Brilliant video Rick! I always stress on trying to avoid parallel fifths as much as possible when arranging voices or writing my own short songs. Of course, there will always be people who are going to criticize saying "Oh but why should music have all these rules as long as it sounds nice" - they do not realise these are just guides created to help you make more informed decisions, not laws and rules that cannot be broken.

[@smokesgtp]

Fantastic Rick. Your taste in music is so similar to mine I get a huge kick out of your breakdowns. Thank you

[@RoyFarrite]

This video is a gift straight from heaven. Dang, now I have to rethink everything, but I've never been so happy to do so. Thanks, Rick.

[@anaclementine_]

Thank you for sharing these videos❤

[@261Pro]

Excellent job ...definitely can be a series.. I second that...

[@mitchelvalentino1569]

Awesome video! You explain this topic very well! Thank you!

[@jcsimmons91]

Always good insights on theory behind great music! Love these videos.

[@chrispicha]

Dig the new lighting, Rick. Great vid!

[@RickBeato]

Thanks Chris!

[@FreddieMcgruffy]

Also, Rick, you have an incredible ear of what exactly is going on in the harmony of music/songs! I wish to improve upon this very much!

[@bso6371gt]

Rick I would watch your videos just here and there. I obviously knew you were knowledgeable. But since I’ve been watching a lot, you’re a genius. And an awesome musician. Thank you for these videos. I’ve learned so much theory from you! Game changer for me!!

[@SepulvedaBoulevard]

Very helpful! I'm exactly at this point in my songwriting, where I'm working out nice contrary motion in the bass line, and tweaking the melody so that both lines have equal mojo. After that, everything else should more or less fall into place. Thanks, Rick!

[@Gluodin]

This is one of the best advices I've ever heard on songwriting. And I did 4 years chasing after a music degree.

[@DaystillToolsnewalbum]

Terrific video sir! Great concept, this topic will most definitely appeal to a large audience

[@1954BJohn]

Congrats on 600K subs Rick - That's a huge achievement!

[@markhinde710]

This has been in existence for over a year and I finally just saw it!? Man that was awesome!

[@GRJLS.]

Thanks for this one Rick!

[@jan-hendrikswanepoel3744]

Awesome video, thanks 🙂

[@erikdiaz8892]

Hey Rick as a self-taught piano player I find your content top tier. Mainly because you are super causal at explaining concepts but at the same time I would say the knowledge I have gotten after watching your videos is a lot. What I enjoy the most of your videos is to have a validation of stuff I have deciphered and understood while playing and listening to music (modulations, inversions, chord construction, intersections among scales, etc) I would be great to watch a video about the newest John Mayer's single "New Light", or about other Mayer's songs such as Slow dancing in a burning room. Best! Erik

[@jeremiahmendoza9294]

This is amazing! Please do more melody videos!

[@avielkharrat5788]

This was absolutely awesome.

[@whyaminsmd]

Hey Rick! Great lesson mate!

[@ShaunaMarieSings]

Thanks, Rick...that was excellent! 💗💗💗

[@martynspooner5822]

Ricks knowledge is astounding if I could understand even half I would be a happy bunny. The little bits I do manage to grasp are gold and help me to keep plodding away. Thankyou.

[@heroforest]

Whoa .. this comes at the perfect time for me .. Could be a real game changer.. The last years I was focused so much on priductioin techniques, but I might challenge myself to write some song ideas using only bass and melody. It sounds like I could learn tons from that! Thank you!

[@jimmyberry4451]

This kind of content is why i subscribed rock on man!

[@lanecurameng]

Beautiful explanation of a beautiful composition "SOMETHING"

[@flavio5046]

Excellent tip at the end

[@bretdorton]

This is very informative. Thank you

[@noahford7863]

This is an excellent lesson thank you Rick!

[@Taboot761]

Hey Rick, can you do a "What Makes This Song Great" with any song of your choice from The Smiths? I'm sure it would be greatly interesting.

[@SW-fn7cl]

Yeah good call breaking down Marrs magic would be great to see

[@RyGuy913]

@@SW-fn7cl Suffer Little Children would be a good one to do, IMO.

[@LivingWithLove123]

That was awesome. Thanks.

[@wesleyalan9179]

I have never clicked on a video so fast!!! Thanks Mr. Beato, good stuff!

[@ivankhoroz2784]

Man this video was really helpful thanks a lot rick

[@producermind9030]

Awesome stuff Rick. Man I love that George Harrison song. The feels when u played it. I can hear the words straight away. Which I suppose is why it’s so perfectly written

[@johnmoser2689]

You always make great videos Rick

[@jasongravely7217]

Wow that voice leading stuff is amazing. Especially the tip to play bass and lead only

[@ralelunar]

This is something that I noticed after watching many of your What Makes This Song Great? videos, all of the unusual melodies that seem to go "against" what the bass is playing. I've made an effort in my songwriting to make sure that I'm doing this.

[@AngelHadzi]

Great lesson, thanks Rick!

[@DKomnicide]

Fantastic video I really liked this one

[@samuelhallsweden]

Great tip there at the end!

[@user-zy6fq7dv5x]

One of your best videos!you're the BEST!!!THANX!!!

[@taylorfusion]

great tips Rick, thank you.

[@callofcaymen3007]

This video is gonna help so much with my song writing thanks again 👍

[@avielkharrat5788]

I'm so glad you talk about the Beatles. When i was young, i had a teacher telling me that the Beatles might have been great lyrics writers, but they were musically poor. I always new this was not true, but could not explain why. You nailed it, Rick. THX so much !

[@quinnthehobbit6680]

People are going crazy about what teachers are teaching kids these days, but I think there have always been teachers teaching things that are simply incorrect. We notice it now because of social media is all. The Beatles were incredible, especially when you judge the music by music's only true judge; how well it withstands the passage of time and how it effects music today, if at all.

[@Timliu92]

Lol, that music teacher clearly does not know what he or she is talking about. Almost every musician I know, regardless of genre or style of music, loves or at least respects The Beatles and their songwriting. Even music school academics have written papers and theses based on The Beatles' songwriting - that was how musically great and influential they were. The Beatles were great because they showed the world the extent of what both pop and rock music could be with their incredible arrangements and studio experimentation. Your music teacher is probably only listening to classical music that he or she associates everything popular to be 'musically poor'.

[@unstabilizer]

Thank you! So useful!

[@carlotapuig]

Congratulations on 600k subscribers

[@TheBenshreds]

Rick, I love the content. Thank you for the work you put into this. Would you consider a what makes this some great or a video dedicated to James Mercer? In my opinion, which doesn’t matter at all, he is one of the best melody writers of the past few decades. Keep up the great videos!

[@kellyearthrise2453]

Wow, simply very informative!

[@coltosburn3591]

Thanks for the great content Rick! Will you do an episode on the relationship between the drums, bass, and rhythm guitar in reggae music?

[@branland7464]

Great job. Good lesson!

[@rcjinAZ]

Good lesson. I was intuitively doing this ( playing the bass on the guitar and singing the melody) for a while. The results have always been much better than the other methods I've used.

[@theempire00]

Excited for this one!

[@aft41]

Great insights, thanks. Is this discussion as much about "arranging" as about "melody"? Seems to me that bass lines are arrangement choices (maybe that's because I write song melodies over chord progressions and usually perform them solo with guitar). I'll try this!

[@kearonandrewobrien7460]

Incredible you can teach Something from Goerge Harrison. I'm impressed with your attention to detail. Ausome Rick

[@mrzubairarshad]

Really would enjoy more video like this

[@acidtripriot6627]

John Mayer & Kurt Cobain, Both my *FAVORITE* artists

[@SL-vk3bi]

@Simon Nielsen lol if want compare skill guitar between kurt and john. John skill above.

[@SL-vk3bi]

@Simon Nielsen but you can’t deny fact. mayer good both. John can writing music and skill guitar above. Win 7 grammy award not random.

[@chrisluther9540]

Thanks Rick !

[@montysloungetv]

Rick these are your greatest contributions - arguably

[@coovgroove715]

Hey Rick, for another video on this subject: “Waltz For Debby” by Bill Evans. My favorite example of the melody and bass line being a perfect counterpoint.

[@CraigHinrichs]

Amazing. Going to apply this.

[@goonyougoodthing]

2:51 Adam Neely Disapproves

[@screamingincursive]

this comm made my day :)

[@RickBeato]

Are you talking about the Eb11 chord?

[@goonyougoodthing]

@@RickBeato Yeah it's a bit of a running/inside joke that Adam dislikes Eb11 chords because in one of his videos he said a specific voicing of Eb11 in a specific context was bad.......Yes....jazz nerds on the internet really have nothing better to do....except for practicing.....which we wont

[@pertychan876]

No, Rick. I think he's referring to Adam's cover where the band played an (E+F#)/D polychord roughly around that spot. People went crazy when they played that.

[@alsacrime4806]

Rupert Joseph Ledesma Different instance

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Great lesson. Thanks!

[@ClintATaul]

I can listen to this cat all day and i only get bout half of it. Always a learning experience for sure.

[@lionsskyblue442]

nice info, thanks for sharing