The INSANELY Cool Chords Of The Slickback Trend

[@CharlesCornellStudios]

HEY Question: Do you know if the organ part ITSELF is a sample of something else? I didn't find anything suggesting it was, but you never know! Also, we're FAST approaching the Black Friday sale launch, so be sure to grab some free sneak peeks inside the courses and get notified when it goes live! cornellmusicacademy.com/blackfriday

[@josephtrentacostajr.2152]

I’m actually confident it’s gypsy woman by Crystal Waters. I’m very familiar with this song on piano.

[@Hitsko]

It is made by the keyboard player ‘Neal Conway’ for Crystal Waters back in the 90’s.

[@kinofrosty]

The opposite of the thing you asked, but I'm pretty sure it was subsequently used for Gypsy in my Mind by Never Dull, and I think you'd get a kick out of the bass line. Then that song was sped up and used for the Sad Cat Dance meme, which you need not worry about.

[@afeathereddinosaur]

I am fairly certain that Gypsy Woman is the root of this sample tree. If she got it recorded live with her or if she recorded it for her song... Well I gotta watch some documentaries for that.

[@NeonBeeCat]

Nope, a jazz keyboardist wrote the chords specifically for this tune, cant remember his name though.

[@Jack-ik9vy]

Gypsy Woman is one of the best old school tunes!!

[@willfeen]

everything that samples it is fire . Pinkpantheress

[@ItsSafehands]

Makes me feel so old hearing my childhood tunes as 'old school' 😢

[@Kylo27]

Fucking lmao “old school”

[@MUDBREATHER]

@@Kylo27 Everything becomes old, and in the context of music 30+ years ago seems enough to be considered old school

[@doinkson]

​@@Kylo27all forms of edm and adjecent genre are so young that calling it old school makes sense

[@altrogeruvah]

90s piano house is a goldmine for organically complex, carefree, head-bopping tunes, it was a good time to be around

[@MadLadsAnonymous]

THANK YOU FOR SAYING THIS. It was a magical era of music for me. Forever a part of me.

[@Soufside_Slim]

Started in the 80s in Chicago

[@courtneywitherspoon8584]

Music was FUN!

[@saadmehdibennani9794]

Do you have any specific song in mind?

[@Aspartamebraintumor]

Inner City - Good Life 1988

[@rbettsx]

That organ voicing.. the overtones are so strong, they are pretty much notes.

[@jakobymaster]

Thats what I wanted to say aswell- in a way a bad starting point to start ear-training because of the overtones you can be hearing things that are not played.

[@tomn.8475]

I wondered why I was hearing something he wasn't playing.

[@rachidvanheyningen]

That’s the thing that makes this so awesome!!

[@emilyrln]

So _that's_ what I was hearing!!! 😂

[@hadalabyss]

Those overtones don't seem especially strong to me, and I'm usually pretty sensitive to those

[@johnricharddowling3276]

As a novice musician of 30+ years I love this channel. The enthusiasm is contagious and I love the breakdowns of tunes of all types. Music theory is beautiful. Thank you Charles for this awesome channel, much love brother

[@simicu_3522]

music theory is harmonic chaos

[@songers727]

Yeah he’s amazing

[@blvejay]

as a South African, I can say that South Africans LOVE deep house & this is just one of those classic that have ingrained into me since birth, so I personally love this vid a lot more than usual. thanks for the nostalgia Charles.

[@zayneupton1043]

As another South African, I concur. Classic track. I never sat down and worked out the chords because I was too busy grooving!

[@blvejay]

@zayneupton1043 😂we both were, but at some point, I became a little special & self-studied music.

[@WayneKitching]

As a fellow South African, when this song came out I only knew Adult Contemporary and then a brief stint of Euro techno, (2 Unlimited) and whatever Dr Alban is. Then I became a bit of a rock/alternative snob until much later when I became more open-minded about different music.

[@patrefkorwa9371]

Yes obviously.

[@Aquaticsoul]

As yet another fellow South African, the fusion vibes in this house tune has always reminded me of summer Jozi 😊

[@Qsie]

Charles explaining mental arpeggiation. Man, you just finally explained what I've been doing all my life 😮 This was unreal!

[@Qsie]

Follow-up: this is the EXACT process I use 😳 No way...

[@cubic-h6041]

I’ve never heard of this before…now I want to learn how to do this.

[@Qsie]

@@cubic-h6041 It's insanely hard to describe, but Charles gives it a good attempt. It takes practice, and I'm certainly not as good as him at it.

[@JoseIgnacioZapata]

I feel this somehow works on other instruments too. I did something like this on the guitar back in the day when sheet music wasn't easy to come by and a bunch of us worked together first catching the extremes and then the middle notes, good times

[@Aspartamebraintumor]

they usually call it Chord Spelling

[@Emileave]

All My Fellas has an amazing chord progression too and a crazy riff

[@idliketobeagummybear]

was thinking this !

[@Poincianaa]

YES

[@dellunamusic]

The original producer also made a video on it :)

[@r0y41ty]

the melody comes from a song they got permission to use they did not make the melody

[@dellunamusic]

@@r0y41ty Didnt know that. They still produced the track tho.

[@AMTunLimited]

A lot of electronic dance music back then was made with samplers or keyboards that had built in chords, so musicians would hunt around for interesting chord regressions very similarly to how they would look for interesting samples, even if they weren't directly sampling a record

[@JKenjiLopezAlt]

Love this. I used that same inner arpeggio method you use in my ear training classes as well. I find it much much easier with chamber ensembles where the voices all sound different than with keyboard instruments though. You are great at this! One thing: At 7:33 you say the bass note stays the same but it actually steps down from an E to an Eb (which is what you play and say).

[@64156ful]

I heard "we hear our bass note. And our top note stays the same." As separate statements but 🤷‍♂️

[@althealligator1467]

​@@64156ful He clearly says "stay" though

[@creativemindplay]

Wait, u teach music? 😅😅😅😅 Wow

[@davedavem]

Love this! I kind of do that too and thought it was a cop out. Now I feel validated 😅

[@ekko808]

​@@creativemindplaysame. Kenji Lopez-Alt also teaches music??

[@kaymojil7669]

Using the trend for some incredible basics, I love how you teach using what the kids wanna see

[@christianlesniak]

There's a great video called "Crystal Waters Gypsy Woman: Is This The Best House Riff Ever Written?" by the channel BtheLick that explains how the Korg M1 organ sampler creates really full chords because each key plays multiple tones. I don't think I can link the video, but it's a great breakdown of exactly why it's hard to pin down the chords. I'm impressed by anyone that can disentangle the chords like you did.

[@Ashe_Goto]

love the exaggerated example of "hearing" the arpeggio of the chord, I always think about it that way and it's really hard to explain to non-musicians or people who just have less experience picking out chords!

[@Kringlord97]

I'm LOVING the educational cutaways like at 2:56. Great video as always Charles!

[@eveh4837]

I’ve been thinking exactly the same!

[@jacobingram8152]

4:34 this the exact same thing I do when I remake a sample from scratch on FL Studio. Once it is accomplished, you feel like you can remake any smaple with any chords! Well, that's how I feel at least. Also the way you explain how finding the right notes in chords work, and going off the arpeggio way makes it waaay more easy to work with chords in samples. I didn't even know about arpeggio until now! I thank you🙇‍♂️🙏🙌

[@descendingforth]

It’s literally gypsy woman! One of the best tracks of the 90s for sure!

[@cooldebt]

They don’t make club music like this anymore - Crystal Waters absolutely iconic! Would love a series on samples in house/hip-hop music. They really knew how to sample back then. (eg Deee-Lite sampling Herbie Hancocks Bring Down the Birds)

[@LL-bl8hd]

I've seen a video breaking down the samples in that song and it's pretty sick. The way the samples are layered and combined works so well.

[@georgehiggins1320]

2:50 I discovered this two years ago and I've tried to describe it to other music students, but this is the first time I've ever heard anybody besides my self explicitly talking about it! It's so cool and weird the first time you try it!

[@sungvin]

It's like fast fourier transformation but for musicians

[@TelecomTacos]

I figured this out too when learning chords, but when chords got complicated I started doubting myself with this method because it often sounds just a little bit off from the original (especially with weird voicings) and I couldn’t figure out how exactly😂 it only worked for me up to ninth chords usually

[@georgehiggins1320]

Hmm that's interesting. To make sure I'm understanding right, are you saying that when you focus on each note individually, it sounds different than when you just listen to the whole chord?@@TelecomTacos

[@georgehiggins1320]

Haha, it sure seems like it. I'd be really interested to learn about the psychology and physics that makes this phenomenon work!@@sungvin

[@TelecomTacos]

@@georgehiggins1320yeah I get the notes mostly but for example i might hear them an octave higher or lower, or if there’s an octave I will miss one of the notes so I mess up the voicing. Sometimes its because the timbre makes it sound different than when I play it on piano, Or else it could be overtone that I think are in there.

[@TravisRS]

I love how you've evolved the "music to a meme" bit that you used to do into an educational thing! The enthusiasm for slick chord progressions is so infectious!

[@srrrb5953]

Memes invites and gets us to learn...

[@benjaminvroman5553]

Probably an example of one of the things I personally think you do best at KZbin. An analysis of something fun and interesting with an extremely practically useful lesson in musicianship. Great work!

[@dyscotopia]

Without getting all music theoryish, I think the chord progression is so mesmerizing because it plays wirh expectations. It kinda starts off just sounding like a typical upbeat house progression but then it has those two bars that have this bluesy minor key thing that gives it the emotionality appropriate for a song about a homeless woman. The chords don't usually go this hard in dance music

[@MrYanhem]

You'll like jazz

[@ShortNecked_GreenGiraffe]

while not the initial reason I clicked on this video, I LOVE that you included that educational section/tips, especially as a music student who struggles greatly with aural sections in tests, I appreciate this greatly! Thanks so much

[@Shrooblord]

Thank you for this! These "chord dissection" skills are something I've had to develop organically over years of practice. Getting it delivered in a bite-size 15 minutes or less format with a fun example to train on is absolutely invaluable to the community. Keep the good content coming, Charles!

[@Knowyourintent]

Thanks man. I had this chord progression written down slightly incorrect for years. I just had C7 instead of C7b9 which sounds way cooler, and I had Bbmaj7 instead of just regular Bb. Both slight variations sound true to the original. Even more fun to play now. Thanks again from New Zealand.

[@MichaelTurner856]

You seem like a cool dude

[@nishantharepalli1222]

This always reminded me of the music of the first stage of streets of rage 2... I'd be fascinated to see Charles do a react of that banger of a soundtrack!

[@shartsmcginty8056]

Got your wish!

[@sailawaymatey5889]

Sega Mega Drive 2 days. Classic 👌🏽

[@untermino]

Thank you for this comment

[@mochico88]

Just the comment I was looking for. Heard the slick back song for the first time today and knew it sounded mostly familiar. Took me a hot minute to figure out what game I was thinking of though.

[@ApexClubRacer]

Dude you are a legend. This comment got him to discover the world of classic vg groovy osts and Yuzo Koshiro!!

[@TailKlub]

I love the excitement when Charles discovers something new in songs we've heard throughout our lives. Then teaches us lessons in music theory in an applied way. That's why I enjoy this channel.

[@Toadpapa]

The arpeggio chord trick was instantly helpful! That’s amazing

[@TomStrahle]

I love how you don't just show us the chords but use it as a teachable moment... how to hear the chords. Also B3's drawbars allow for multiple octaves per note which may explain 2 F's etc.

[@Groobaby]

I've never taken any music education classes apart from non linear KZbin videos, though I've been making music as a hobby for nearly a decade now. I naturally started to figure out chords using the arpeggiated method and it was neat learning that it's a valid technique used to identify chords!

[@bronxkies]

I’ve loved that Gypsy Woman chord progression since I was a kid!

[@TemporaryTemporary-y2j]

The chord progressions are somewhat reminiscent those found in the songs/music track in the Nintendo 64 game, "Bomberman Hero," and some certain 80-90's J-pop songs.

[@Schrimptea]

Charles your passion for music shows and when I have lunch break or preps, I enjoy learning new things even though I don't know much of music theory or notation, its still nice. Keep up the great work! Excelente!

[@joshuawood2924]

I have been waiting for this!! One of my favorite progressions.

[@bigkingsean1330]

The irony that they use house music for this song about a homeless person.

[@Makusa-qc2qd]

I'm an amateur musician with no training, and I always struggle with figuring out complex chords be ear. I've been going at it all wrong ... starting with a known sound (eg minor 7th or diminished) and then altering it. But appregiating them makes so much more sense. Thanks for this video!

[@mjenner151]

Disclosure are a great modern-day example of this kind of jazz-infused house music, would be keen to see you break down the chord sequences in some of their songs too!

[@DannyBuenaflow]

I second this! Disclosure for sure! Idk if it’s applicable but maybe Kaytranada too?

[@8bitWWII]

Kaytranada is elite, his influences are def more RnB than jazz I'd say

[@hanoord9412]

Which songs besides when a fire starts to burn?

[@mjenner151]

@@hanoord9412 Well all their songs have some form of jazz chords in them, but January springs to mind for me as the chords are front and centre in that one

[@MoonWalkerTexsRanger]

There are plenty of young producers with a jazz influence that are worth a watch and a listen! Quickly Quickly, Medasin, Sam Gellatry to name a few.

[@jeffgarrison7056]

I'm a sinker songwriter guitarist, but I love piano & keys/synth and this is definitely one of my favorite channels. I love your enthusiasm and energy and how excited you get about music. It's so much fun and so inspiring. As i have developed my chord melody skills and rhythmic diversity, I have grown to appreciate the voicings of music and how cadence plays such a vital role in bringing the music to life and giving it a unique movement, mood, and energy... so your vision truly inspires me!!! Thank you, my friend. Someday, when I actually have everything else accomplished that I have ambitiously planned on doing, I'm going to buy your course and teach myself piano. Until that day, I have a lot of fun work to do to the best of my ability. Blessings

[@Ch4rLizard]

"Arpegiating the chords" is something I've been doing for y-e-a-r-s while making my instrumental covers!

[@Romanticoutlaw]

as someone who's always been a fan of the original song, it's fun to hear it get new life with things like this

[@RayfieldA]

Yeah. I was born in Chicago and I was 25 back in '91, dancin at the clubs when Gypsy Woman was popular. Now at 57 years old, I will not be trying the Jubi-Slide but I'll gladly play the song on the Organ. 😁

[@ricerice566]

T.I.'s Why You Wanna samples Gypsy Woman too. One of the sickest samples for sure. And Lakim from Soulection crushed the remix.

[@spideyschaf9489]

Was waiting for someone to mention that the sample used in all the Tik Tok videos is actually from Why You Wanna which in turn sampled Gypsy Woman. Why You Wanna is pitched up in the same way.

[@BenCaesar]

Really cool to have this seemingly simple song be given the respect and breakdown

[@eveh4837]

I absolutely loved the teaching nugget of how you’re hearing what is being played. I always wondered how you’re able to do this!

[@dos_mas_805]

Kim Wayans did an incredible rendition of this classic...full vibes!!

[@soadfe]

for the impatient ones: 10:04 played out, 10:28 the chords

[@musicmultimediazone9861]

😂

[@UnSwe3t]

thank god

[@Nattyboybreezy]

Fr 🙏🏿🙏🏿😂

[@churchofclaus]

Lazy

[@Daymusik]

Oh, thank goodness! I have been hoping you or someone talked about this song. I've been listening to this song on Spotify for a while now, ever since Pentatonix released their 90's Dance Medley video! I didn't know until very recently that the song was being sampled and used in a trend!

[@TuneStunnaMusic]

Theres alot of good jazz chord progressions in some deep house songs. Thats the stuff I always gravitate to.

[@justcama]

I am so glad I wasn't the only one mesmerized by these chords. I keep hearing it everywhere and love it!

[@odistabettor]

I really appreciate how you used this opportunity to do something different than other harmony/chord videos and teach this ear-training skill. I only wish you'd explained something about the vocal melody.

[@AlexIsiv]

i felt really proud of myself when i heard the last chord and recognized that characteristic 7b9 chord and turned out i was right, i dont have perfect pitch or musically educated so i didnt know what chord was specifically 😂

[@kono152]

Personally, my trick for figuring out chords is to listen for the quality of the chord, then listen for the lowest note, and then go through all the inversions and modifications until i find what sounds right

[@Xepherya]

Important note for watchers: the dance is called the Jubislide

[@unkownnumber6778]

It's so fun to watch him work it out. It's better than if he figured it out beforehand and just told us what it was

[@gravylookout]

That chord at 2:20 instantly registered as the intro to the album 'Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness' by The Smashing Pumpkins. The arpeggiated section after that only reinforced this idea. Turns out, same chord - different key.

[@l.c5396]

Chamber Of Reflection next !?!?!?!?

[@palpytine]

That song is an absolute classic, I can't believe this is the first time you heard it!

[@siemens8456]

What a great video. Really enjoyed how you break down the chord progressions:) If possible, please also include the notes of the progression. At least for me, this does help following all voicings in a visually easier way. But again, such a great video. Really don't know anyone who can explain such stuff with such a passion and so easily :)

[@tinyt.w.i.m7291]

7:57 the way you explained it and put it together was amazing. I wanna learn piano, just so I can play and understand like this.

[@AvenirRacing]

Seems I've been using that arpeggio trick my entire life, I just assumed every musician also utilized it. It's been my go-to for figuring out any chord progression I wanted to recreate since I was a child.

[@Scripture-Man]

Love this song and I love it when Charles goes "who-ho-hoo!" with glee at the chords :-)

[@liquidspirit16]

I was already wondering when your video about it would be released, cool chord progression

[@GamerAJ-1025]

I love the pure joy and passion you show as you talk about this. it’s really awesome

[@MrTweaksTV]

wow you guys didn't know the sample already ??? hmm....it's a damn classic

[@GeoffBosco]

I can't believe I didn't place it either. I knew I recognized it. But, I probably hadn't heard the whole song in 25 years.

[@BIX-18827DCM]

Crystal Waters - 100%, was another club banger in the 90s

[@NeonBeeCat]

Gypsy Woman is the only song ive ever learned to play on a keybord.

[@senasdaniel23]

i love how it turned out to be an tutorial how to breakdown chords haha

[@GizzyDillespee]

Yeah Slickback is such an earworm, and the rhythm is a part of that. Some people probably won't be able to separate, mentally, the individual notes of a complex chord... but other people will be surprised that they can.

[@thames21]

I find it so funny to remind myself that you started accompanying memes and now your channel is this. What a way you've come, and such a smart business move. Love these videos, keep it up!

[@nanashixii8332]

90’s House is iconic and unmatched, tbh.

[@idliketobeagummybear]

do you have any recs similar to this ? interested to hear more !

[@cooldebt]

@@idliketobeagummybear Try Black Box (Italo house), C & C Music Factory, Hithouse, Hi Tek 3/Ya Kid K (Spin that Wheel was also really big), Robin S (similar to Crystal Waters style), Inner City

[@jacknathaniel5203]

@@cooldebt Saved the best for last. Inner City's "Good Life" and "Big Fun" have a very similar sound.

[@dylanb7022]

Your channel is incredible. Enthusiasm about music is so needed these days! I feel your excitement about cool progressions because it lives in me too, thanks for spreading the joy and sharing knowledge :)

[@SALEENS7GTR5]

I hope you analyze the "Herald of Darkness" music video, at least for the spectacle, form Alan Wake II. It's the craziest piece of videogame media from this year. It has metal, jazz, blues, broadway singing and dancing, all sorts of things.

[@nad4833]

just chillin trying to figure out what you meant by hearing for the arp in the chords at 2:58 . Ive heard (the theory of it) a couple times but never gave it enough thought. i just paused the video for a few seconds and randomly arpeggiated those notes while humming, which just so happened to be the right notes. let me tell you I'm starting to envision music in a different way and i never have felt so accomplished in my life as well im over here pointing at the screen with my mouth agape that i got it right within 6 seconds XD thanks man for bringing me joy and some self pride!

[@bobbarksofficial4335]

Slickback does have dreamy chords! 💚

[@nxyuu]

wait ur the sup loopy grandma guy

[@jnwpercussion]

​@@nxyuuthats what im sayin

[@bleunailsuite8667]

TI used that melody in the background in “Why you wanna go” the range of these chords is crazy❤ love this video I’m going to show this to my sons that are teaching themselves how to play piano and they love the slick back song and dance lol😂

[@Cozmix-7]

He’s just a pimp, and he wants you to call him Slickback

[@Sphagetti__]

No no, he's called "a pimp called Slickback"

[@kenoohki]

@@Sphagetti__it’s like a Tribe Called Quest. Yah gotta say the whole thing 😂

[@JoeSpring]

Just enjoyed an evening of watching this video and your Jacob Collier one. Your excitement is infectious, and I shared your joyful laughter. Thank you, and thanks for sharing the mental arpeggiation method.

[@soundknight]

Back in 1991 when music was actually interesting, even house trance.

[@Juliano_DJOL]

Im 37 and didnt realize but def know tht song when the vocals came in lol Ive seen those vidz too, the dance was just so wild I didnt even get 2 thinking about the music

[@Mio248]

I'm glad you dug back into who originally made that song. It seems so easy for everyone to hear something and just remix it without giving credit where its due. And while some may think that if an asteroid hit this planet, it won't matter.... I believe it's still worth good practice.

[@BoDiddly]

There it is! I used to love dancing to that song back in the day!

[@ambvurt3739]

nonsense + nonsense = cool I guess

[@Gpayne99]

charles you have beautiful mind dude. your passion makes me see more beauty in this sad world. thank you

[@renderizer01]

Great early 90s old school house organ. Still gets me 32 years down the road. And that brings me to Davina's "Don't You Want it". Gotta have to listen to this. Now. Bye.

[@soulscape5083]

10:23 “He can’t keep getting away with this”

[@Kipp274]

I love this kind of video. Never had someone explain all this to me that neatly. I'm a little into music theory but it's hard to figure out a lot of stuff for oneself even through tutorials. But this kind of video has a lot of value for learning

[@AsteryxSings]

I clicked on this because I also found the slickback audio really cool, and got really excited when you put into words the exact way I take apart chords in my head, because I'm self-taught I had no idea this was an actual technique that had an explanation, I kinda thought I made it up, but I loved to see it get explained! Great vid!

[@aphexlane]

Shredded over it for 4 hours straight the other night and it was the best.

[@rdubb77]

I teach and use bass voice movement plus IDing chord quality - that gets you mostly there to get the chord and inversion and quality. But the full arpeggiation seems necessary to get it fully right

[@ricardolemus5265]

I’ve been playing a lot during my career but this guy has helped me a lot in terms of ear training and harmony, puts my brain in work mode. 🧠🎻

[@maxunger2309]

For people without an ear like this, it must appear like magic..like, "where did you take those notes from. You're clearly leaving out the part where you googled the sheet music..." for me it's like: exactly how I listen to and replay the music on the piano ❤

[@delyar]

It DEFINED 90s club sounds. So cute to see the young kids only discover it out

[@loool72]

YESS gypsy woman has been one of the most famous samples in the last few years and it keeps trending in the form of different songs sampling it and i'm so glad you analyzed it!!

[@BertramWilhardt]

Hey Charles, I love that you explained how you figure out the different chords from only listening. Very straightforward and easy to understand.

[@jhonezcronic]

The WHOLE Generation X and Half of The Millennial are laughing at your confusion about not knowing the original song😂

[@novadoes]

this channel is all I need: Discovering, learning and acknowledging

[@courtneywitherspoon8584]

The Crystal Waters song was and still is my JAM. I used to be rocking in the back of my moms Astrovan and then Escort lol

[@dirg3music]

Early House music chord progressions are so timeless, so much great harmony and syncopation.

[@XxQueenChristinaxX]

I regularly listen to Gypsy Woman. Classic and iconic.

[@jameeeliz]

Thank you for walking us through this in such a fun and cool way

[@ArthurPMattos]

I SWEAR I always thought the same thing, I was just waiting for someone to mention it