Riff Analysis 070 - Protest the Hero "Gardenias"

Hot Harmony Summer
I know I’m just doubling the guitar part when I play the bass part, that’s the limit of my bass chops for this video
Oh and I got the beautiful tab book for this album from Sheet Happens (which is the band's company), go check it out for all of your note needs: www.sheethappe...
(I don't get a commission but I want to transcribe for them they said they're not hiring right now but fingers crossed)
Patreon, where you can support the channel, get your name in the credits, and input for my rapid fire riff videos: www.patreon.com/metalmusictheory
My music: www.floridekstasis.bandcamp.com
My website, which has all my videos and academic work nicely organized: www.calderhannan.com
My instagram: @calderhannan

[@TylerJMacDonald]

We are so back

[@masterchain3335]

"Figure it out" is this how metal nerds say "git gud"? Great to see you back.

[@jerryjohnson736]

Stop don't hug me virtually I'm going to develop a parasocial father-son relationship with you nooooo

[@metalmusictheory5401]

I'm proud of you son

[@piacere_lore]

I'm a simple man: I see Protest the Hero, I press like

[@drumkidstu]

God this channel rules in every sense of the word! Also the baroque version at the end via harpsichord is literally what I needed

[@seananderson5334]

I remember listening to PTH back when only Kezia was out and just remember thinking how could guys so young create such complicated music. Then Fortress came out and that solidified my status as a fan. Every album they've made is fantastic.

[@GFJDean35]

This is actually one of my favorite sections in all of prog metal!

[@gmtrucco]

Great video as usual. Some extra info to chime in, this section is essentially a rushed son montuno in 7/8. Why: You're getting the tumbao feel plus the typical accent on the last beat. Tonal ambiguity between the iv and I as the tonic is prevalent in Latin American music in general. The chord progression is built around the Andalusian cadence. Flat tonal keys are very typical in the style, as they accommodate the brass section's transpositions. All of those are what one could call basic building blocks of the genre.

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Really cool, didn't think of it that way but you're absolutely right!

[@GFJDean35]

The moment I saw "Gardenias" I was like 'It better be THAT riff' Hell yeah!

[@greattree]

Another great one! Though I'm sure most of us feel like we are barely keeping up with the concepts, this is the kind of breakdown I love to see. "Why is this so weird and funky and satisfying?" Then giving us a smorgesborg of reasons why. Getting through the progression and feeling that "Creep" like IV to iv and then that odd jump back to the beginning of the progressions! I vicariously got the zest of why you wanted to break this thing down. Excellent. Also, Krallice was great here in Philly! Hope you enjoyed it up there. Just two hours of pure brilliance! I ran into Jamie from Horrendous afterwards. We both felt like it was our weird non-religious version of church.

[@TheSquareOnes]

Filing away "hyperbeat" for future use against people that are just trying to get through the day, thanks again.

[@olsen3787]

First video I watched, instantly subbed

[@ThePopDescriptivist]

Functional harmony! Love it! Glad you're going to be looking at more harmony related stuff in the next few videos. Quick comment about that last Ab7. I agree it's kind of a mislead, where the typical secondary dominant motion would bring us to Db (V). But I think there are some other good ways you could look at this functionally. If we treat the Ebm as the tonic, then the overall progression has the feel of IV / V / i, which is non-diatonic, but also typical of the melodic minor setting which is often used to reflect a strong/leading melodic contour from C to D to Eb (in this key). Another option is that since you're expecting the Ab7 to be the V7 of V, you could actually think of this as the bVII7 of V instead. This bears a strong resemblance to the 'backdoor progression' relative to a tonic Bb... you have Gb (mediant substitution of iv) / Ab7 (bVII7) / Bb (I). And then from there the labile Bb becomes a V and you embrace the original key once again.

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Great to hear from you! Yes I think it was a blindspot (deafspot?) to not hear this as already part of an Eb melodic minor IV-V-i progression, but that makes sense, though I think it requires a little bit of forward hearing to hear Eb as the tonic immediately after we get the really satisfying Gb. For the backdoor cadence, yes this makes sense too, though I think hearing the Gb as a mediant sub as part of this chain might take some practice for me. The other maybe slightly simpler option is to hear this as part of an Aeolian progression ("bVI-bVII-i") that resolves to Bb, then continues on (though this is not that different from saying it's a passing chord). I think the basic cool thing is that it is some type of V of V, but not in the key we end up heading to. I also didn't go into how fluid some of the distinctions between separate chords are; for a lot of it they're moving along the Eb-Gb-Bb-Db thirds cycle, and it's not always clear if something is an Eb-7 chord or a Gb major chord etc., but this helps with blurring the sense of tonic even more.

[@MichaelSheaAudio]

Protest The Hero is definitely 100% music, they're my favourite band. Everything from Kezia to present is incredible. I always describe the band as "whimsical" because they're so quirky and fun but in the heaviest way. I feel like Scurrilous was peak whimsy. Great video, though I'm not the most educated on music theory so there were some new concepts introduced to me here. XD

[@bjcoon3789]

Hi love this channel

[@nachfullbarertrank5230]

those first 4 bars of the bass riff are gonna be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. jesus

[@vladilenasmusiccollection9309]

You explain music in the best way I have seen in this platform. It's always a joy to watch your videos! Hope there's some early-era Kayo Dot analysis at some point (I just noticed I wasnt subbed with this account, here goes a sub)

[@evelonglive]

Yes!

[@DJTheMetalheadMercenary]

Nice!!!!

[@trialbyicecream]

Another great one!

[@michael5045]

Hell ya, this is a juuuiicy riff

[@guidoretro]

Sounds very "salsa", like some of Atheist's parts

[@MrGul]

Totally irrelevant information: "schema" is also the Swedish word for "schedule" (specifically referring to "school timetable").

[@metalmusictheory5401]

fitting, considering that i'm trying to get back on a "schema" for making these videos!

[@StanTorrent]

First!!!!!!!!