What's in between Major and Minor chords? | Q+A

[@bronsoncarder2491]

Normal Musicians: I wrote this weird progression. Is this a thing? Jazz Musicians: Not only is that a thing, but we have a name for a it, theory that covers it, and a nickname for it.

[@daybrink1267]

hey you calling us not normal

[@DethGaleX]

We also named it an innuendo. JaZz

[@bigaaron]

@@daybrink1267 you aren't

[@slendeaway7730]

@@daybrink1267 Come on man please just play the right notes for one smh

[@lukemacinnes5124]

*10 nicknames

[@amplexumpessimus5027]

That neutral chord sounds like when you ask your gf where she wants to go out and she shrugs her shoulders and tells you to pick.

[@andrasfogarasi5014]

pro gamer move is to insist on a choice you know she hates until she makes up her mind

[@gabrielladias420]

@@andrasfogarasi5014 This works and I hate how true it is

[@martinkent_]

haha lol xd couldn’t be me haha haha

[@theillusion3622]

It's like schrodinger's chord lol

[@RedMarzu]

@@andrasfogarasi5014 So basically any place that you would normally choose?

[@samuelbarnes585]

The feel of 6:04 to 6:08 is like seeing the most beautiful sunset, then getting abruptly run over by a bus.

[@evilkruemel]

Its the Most cursed licc I have heard so far

[@celestix_]

or a train. Kinda sounds like a train

[@tobertbruh8660]

@@celestix_ yeah I thought the same

[@grreguss]

I wonder if this is how it feels to be isekai'd

[@felissylvestris6557]

I shouldn't laugh 💀

[@FKPDI]

I LITERALLY laughed out loud when you played the d neutral chord at the end of the lick

[@FrostyKla]

FKPDI I had to check comments mid vid just to see if anyone had a similar experience lmfao

[@adancein]

Yes! I loved it. I love unexpected but related humor.

[@AbhiBass96]

What minute?

[@pedroalves6560]

I saw this right as he did it and couldn't help but laugh too

[@saulo4302]

@@darrenbelanger7825 More like 6:04 ?

[@jacobhite9042]

Man, adam making that “repetition legitimizes” joke at every opportunity seems less odd over time. Weird.

[@AlejandroCaicedoPUJ]

That's because it's being legitimized

[@vickas54]

That, plus this seemed like a shorter, easier to digest joke than the last few. They were pretty long.

[@klontjespap]

haha see what you did there.

[@lemonlord7475]

@@AlejandroCaicedoPUJ r/thatsthejoke

[@SuperWelcomeMatt]

Man, adam making that “repetition legitimizes” joke at every opportunity seems less odd over time. Weird.

[@siobhankelly2010]

The neutral chord takes me back to our primary school string orchestra. We were very experimental at age 7 lmao

[@zynel413]

watch out death grips. The 7 year old primary school string orchestra is pulling up 🥶🥶🥶

[@LizordSword]

@@zynel413 you said primary so i assume youre from the UK. did you guys have the whole ocarina thing?

[@zynel413]

@@LizordSword nah irish. We just had tin whistles, but when you got to 3rd class you pick another instrument like a concertina or a bodhran. I tried playing the violin but that was hard and I didn't like it so I just picked a bodhran, which is basically just a single drum. It's a very simple instrument to play, I've almost fallen asleep playing it a few times

[@adamcolbertmusic]

I'm reminded of the South Park episode where they all recorders 😂

[@christopherheckman5392]

Re: The fact that a D neutral chord sounds like a car horn: In Europe, ambulances and other sirens are two alternating notes a tritone apart. A tritone on top of a tritone is an octave, a perfect interval. A neutral 3rd on top of a neutral 3rd is a perfect 5th.

[@elbschwartz]

IMO he's referring to timbre, not intervals. Mechanical/electric horns tend to contain strong inharmonic partials. That's what makes them sound "harsh" and stand out, thereby grabbing your attention.

[@christopherheckman5392]

@@elbschwartz Even though, the parallels are interesting. (And I've read somewhere that most car horns -- maybe just in the United States -- are in the key of F major.)

[@lingux_yt]

@@elbschwartz Technology Connections has a great video about that

[@Enkaptaton]

even though the sounds of the ambulances in Europe differ from country to country

[@Enkaptaton]

in Germany it's a 4th

[@WilliamMaranciMashups]

You’ve taught me more than any professor I had at Berklee.

[@vadimkolosov125]

So that's why you started making mashups. God bless that professor at Berklee.

[@mailliw2698]

You can't just comment here as if you are not a wanted war criminal

[@sierra3644]

im in love with you

[@murphface]

it only makes sense that you watch this channel too

[@sk8.4.0]

Faxes

[@pmygoddamn]

That neutral sound with micro-tuning is SUPER popular in traditional and even modern middle eastern music. I basically grew up with it lol

[@Remour]

Can you link an example

[@leethejailer9195]

Link an example

[@pmygoddamn]

@@leethejailer9195 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j3S5d56fp8iNi8k not a song example, but this video shows the difference between Arabic, Persian, and turkish microtunes

[@apreviousseagle836]

What do your people think of the blocky Western "equal temperament" scale?

[@SergioLazaroMartinez]

Major: Happy Minor: Sad Neutral: Angry

[@P_Ezi]

...also panic and fear

[@jeffinton2]

Sergio Lázaro Martínez oxymoron

[@Googahgee]

Mayor

[@leonadams8097]

Did anyone else have a weird kinda subverted expectation thing? Like, when "is it major? *chord*" brain was like "fukno too dark", then "is it minor? *same damned chord*" brain "oh so bright it's like my future *puts on sunglasses at night*"

[@SergioLazaroMartinez]

@@Googahgee txs dude and sorry, in spanish its the same word, and it's pronounced the same way... Fucking false friends 😂

[@Svvicu]

That guy: Is high school music theory enough Me: You're getting music?

[@entertainer9076]

SO TRUE 😭

[@jabari9771]

Stephen Scott lucky for me I go to nocca lmao

[@MattGallagherComposer]

That D-neutral triad scared away my cat :(

[@Dowlphin]

Careful, that can get his video banned from KZbin.

[@leefisher6366]

You have a very clever cat. I cringed when I heard it.

[@youtubeuserdan4017]

@@leefisher6366 I liked the sound.

[@estherjones7578]

my dog started freaking out too lol

[@YlowX7]

sounds like it could make for some really alien sounding songs

[@dhpbear2]

3:55 - The D 'neutral' sounds like a train whistle. Some train whistles are also 6th chords :)

[@nicksalvatore5717]

4:36

[@sceu25]

That would be a Nathan K3L. It’s designed to play just a D Minor chord, but Nathan’s early horns always have fucked tuning. The 2 bell is weird. An example of this is in the Round Tag K5HLs where the 1L was supposed to sound a perfect C4, but Nathan Airchime’s a dumbass so it was like a C Quarter-Flat. They fixed it in the Square Tag Late K5HLs though.

[@mckernan603]

I hear a church bell

[@dnaroseandthewolves]

Mine is approximately a B° (B diminished) Chord, which so happens to be my favorite.

[@frittatasTV]

6:04 When that makes me laugh out loud, I wonder what my sense of humor has become. I do at least know it's ruined lol

[@alexschmitz4404]

frittatasTV you are not alone with that humor, same happened to me 😅

[@MeowFoWowz]

It’s cuz we’re mooooosicians

[@mk_rexx]

i'm still laughing because of that

[@ttttt_]

At least not only I am that damaged. The setup was just too perfect. "Why are you laughing?" "You wouldn't get it."

[@danniiemars]

hahaha i saw it coming and yet i fucking died when he played the last chord.

[@MrNeosantana]

That "neutral chord" almost sounded like a massive church bell. It's a bit dissonant but so beautiful in its own way

[@mintegral1719]

Glad I'm not the only one who really likes the sound of it!

[@BillMarion]

"Things come naturally through many years of practice." I'm going to be quoting this for many years to come.

[@AlejandroCaicedoPUJ]

Been practicing through many years and still can't quote it

[@ijustwanttobloodycomment5141]

So you’ll be able to quote it naturally?

[@HankHopeless]

Nothing ever came to me naturally, except for a few songs. I always had to rehearse the hell out of it. Mebbe i was never that talented....

[@HankHopeless]

Read: A few songs I " wrote "

[@garrisonhuddleston4784]

Repetition legitimizes

[@nilzz4450]

6:04 - cursed licc

[@noomsizzle]

No apologies need to be made for being that guy, The Wire is the best show ever made. Big fan of your videos, thanks for existing :)

[@c1majesty85]

"Different theme song for every season" Weebs: Amateurs.

[@scharlesworth93]

personally I liked the Tom Waits version

[@krown8638]

Marcel Egal that’s why anime is just better

[@haikat4]

i'm not saying anime is the peak of music, but japanese studio musicians really deserve some credit. some anime have amazing OST albums, character songs, songs from the show itself(like K-On). there are 12-episode anime with a disproportionally large catalogs of music, that span every genre you can think of. you have to admire how prolific and versatile some of these studio guys are, they are machines.

[@MrMarci878]

hi i'm a weeb

[@andcheese1051]

@@MrMarci878 a weeb who loves monty python

[@niamhoconnor8986]

Non-jazz musicians: We like to create new stuff. Jazz musicians: Impossible, since 1968, everything has been tried out.

[@sunfish9341]

music ended with the release of Bitches Brew, 1970. There shall never ever be any new music or concepts, as they have all been thought of already.

[@Dowlphin]

Sounds like the theortical physicist turned university manager I once talked to. ​@@sunfish9341 "The End of Musical History" by Francis Fuckyoumama P.S.: Since the video referenced Fukuyama... I mean Futurama... *Tasticles™*

[@thezipcreator]

@@sunfish9341 In 12 tone equal temprement, that is.

[@lunaticfae4415]

Not with microtonal music

[@arcioko2142]

make microtonal music then

[@tbhv]

you are honestly one of the most impressive working musicians I have never even met.

[@jenniferv]

"If you need organs transported, I've got a guy." Haaaaah

[@RainStickland]

That still has me laughing. Hopefully no one approaches him about kidneys.

[@ramyakil9283]

Hey adam! I'm a lebanese musician, in our "arabic music" the neutral chord sounds just fine, although we don't focus on harmony, but it exists, because, instead of having 2 main scales (major and minor) we have 8 main scales, including many quarter notes

[@mcbrodz1663]

Lesbian mucisician

[@gubblfisch350]

I also read lesbian musician

[@allen8478]

i don't like gay music

[@MrMarci878]

@@mcbrodz1663 I shouldn't laugh at this, but I do.

[@marcanlian8485]

shoutout to fellow Lebanese musicians in here :)

[@bloodflowerrrs1555]

It'd be interesting to hear music utilizing a "neutral scale", where the third, sixth, and seventh are tuned in between the major/minor notes.

[@nancythenumberblock6957]

6?

[@Luigicat11]

I'm just waiting for a shitposter to make Megalovania in a neutral key.

[@TristanBanks]

Middle Eastern music uses this scale. Its called maquam rast

[@insearchofpeace2151]

I would pay to not listen to it.

[@Ardepark]

Look up "Xenharmonic music" and you'll probably find something like that

[@katjoe1974]

That neutral chord sounds like a clock that’s wound down too far trying to chime

[@FiremanDuval]

“I’m not a ukulele player” Proceeds to professionally play ukulele*

[@matthewtalafous2004]

Duval Geddie if you can on guitar...

[@uncomfortableshirt]

That's not playing the ukele like a professional does.

[@kleinefuchsdrachen3621]

@@uncomfortableshirt well, he's getting paid to play it on a video therefore he is a professional

[@John-mj1kk]

@@kleinefuchsdrachen3621 good answer

[@sanny8716]

That's like being surprised that an artist who professionally draws with a pencil also draws pretty well with a charcoal

[@travo6805]

I was just at a music camp and I convinced one of the composers there to end his piece on a neutral triad, I was laughing so hard after the performance

[@gijsklaassen8851]

D neutral is like Schrödingers D: both major and minor until it is observed

[@Ticktok_of_Oz]

Schrödingers D ;)

[@DRMADist]

I read this as Schrödinger’s sad face

[@Blokksberg]

@@Ticktok_of_Oz hahaha

[@AtomizedSound]

Haha hahahaha ..

[@pwnwin]

Well, we are observing it, it's neither.

[@jibster5903]

6:04 I've never laughed this hard in a while, thank you Adam, your musical memes never fail to make me laugh.

[@knights8400]

Jibster you’ve “never” laughed... “in a while”? Wtf does that mean

[@the_iron_barrel]

If major chords are "happy" and minor chords are "sad", then neutral chords are "angry"

[@dabj9546]

Passive aggressive

[@andyblanton6570]

They have no strong feelings one way or another.

[@vincentfreddoyle7555]

and/or T R A I N

[@Dude8718]

@@andyblanton6570 said every centrist ever

[@OtakuUnitedStudio]

@@andyblanton6570 _Wild applause_

[@demoleramera]

That neutral chord sounds exactly like my family's untuned piano when you play anything

[@TinglingTaco]

4:23 when you're a minor trying to buy beer and try to convince the seller to just sell it to you

[@marcusyip1491]

I wonder how those with perfect pitch are affected by the "neutral" note.

[@kalerug]

I have perfect pitch, and to me it's like the color turquoise. Is it a blue or is it a green? Well It sounds more like an F than an F-sharp to me, but like a very out of tune one.

[@johnapple6646]

@@kalerug that's synesthesia not perfect pitch

[@l0serk1d49]

@Matt K I agree, it definitely just sounded like a slightly flat F#, couldn’t hear the minor :-)

[@jjjjasonnnn]

@@l0serk1d49 Throwing in a six month reply to agree, it just sounds like a flat major chord to me. Definitely can’t feel the minor.

[@landrydunhm3067]

It’s an analogy, because perfect pitch is a sense in the same way not being colour blind is a sense.

[@TheTourtopoulais]

The neutral chord sounds EXACTLY like a train horn it's scary

[@Frewster]

That's what I thought!

[@AtomizedSound]

That would make it a major third as perceived then as that’s what usually they are tuned to

[@michaelgarcia7980]

its beautiful! it sounds like morning in the city

[@bryndayy]

@@AtomizedSound A major third, but affected by doppler effect assuming the train is moving. So if the train is coming towards you it would make that third somewhat flat, if going away it would make it somewhat sharp. I'm not sure what pitches a train horn generally is, but I could see a moving train coming towards you getting into the neighborhood of the interval from this video.

[@AmourEtRespect]

I guess horns are designed like that on purpose

[@franciscobecerra5660]

6:09 It increases about 3dB for every player doing the same thing at the same distance to the listener. It happens because even though the acoustic pressure is actually doubled, our ears percieve intensity logarithmically, not in a linear way. Awesome video as always btw!

[@possible-realities]

Almost, it increases by about 3dB when you go from 1 to 2 players at the same distance to the listener, then when you go from 2 to 4, 4 to 8, etc.

[@mayflooer5454]

well. it's legit just 10x more instruments, 2x louder, 100x more instruments, 4x louder

[@franciscobecerra5660]

@@possible-realities You're right! I should have said ~3dB every time you double the performers at the same distance. Thanks for the comment. :D

[@designator7402]

Keep in mind that the question and Adam's answer talk about loudness, not acoustic pressure. Different metrics for different purposes.

[@gabeleneveu]

I think the reason the neutral third sounds like a car horn is because it is the same interval as an 11:9 in the harmonic series. If you listen to a train whistle or a car horn, there are very strong 7th and 11th partials present in the sound! This is my best take on it anyway :)))

[@kakahtukat]

I tried this on musescore with a bagpipe it sounded like a car horn

[@andrewmcrory]

One interesting thing about Barbershop (and one reason it has *that* sound): no vibrato.

[@dml-_2120]

"You can't get bullied by bassists when there is no bass!" - Metallica, around 1988 (sry I thought it would fit in here)

[@thorndust5329]

Lmao

[@EdBoi18]

You can't be bullied by bassists when everyone is a bassist. -Meshuggah

[@BaroqueKeyboardist]

But if there's no bassist, wouldn't the lowest sounding instrument become the actual bass? I mean, that's what happens in classical music.

[@dishwasherdetergent3366]

@@BaroqueKeyboardist I suppose you're right. I guess this means James Hetfield is now a bass player.

[@kubaj8397]

@@EdBoi18 Also black tounge, glass cloud and emmure

[@darthstigater6642]

"Teacher, what is between Major and minor chords?" "We don't play polytonal instruments in my classroom."

[@reubenshiflet]

Violin, cello, trombone players: *gulp*

[@achilles872]

Polytonal? Polytonal just means it can play multiple tones at once, most popular instruments are.

[@joeyhardin5903]

@@achilles872 nah thats polyphonic i think, polytonal is a piece that is in more than one key at once

[@jacobrzeszewski6527]

Tuba players: FUSION!

[@OwlThrower]

you mean microtonal?

[@ran__-_5183]

"it sound kinda like a car horn" Who knew the Vengaboys were such an avant garde act.

[@kelpyg2660]

Adam: The wire is the best because it had a different intro for each season. Adam that is called anime.

[@viscountrainbows6452]

JJBA: Those are rookie numbers you need to pump those numbers up.

[@magicmonkey7075]

Princess Rainbovvs X Musashi SODA!

[@dreddiknight]

No, the wire is the best, because the wire is the fucking best.

[@Dowlphin]

Anime is that lazy?

[@davidchurchman5771]

"You need organs transported overseas...?" "I know a guy."

[@prodby1900]

Adam: Uploads super fast instagram q+a Me: *Clicks super fast*

[@SeamusMcFlurry]

I took part in a 24 hour comic once, and it was an incredible experience. I heartily recommend doing any creative 24 hour thing.

[@Neehize]

What's in between Major and Minor chords? In terms of ratios of frequencies, sus4 and sus2 are inbetween, not as basic as the major chord but not as complex as a minor chord. When the tonic is at the root we have, in order of complexity: Major (4 : 5 : 6), sus4 (6 : 8 : 9), sus2 (8 : 9 : 12) and minor (12 : 19 : 24)

[@mattc.4353]

The half sharp third reminds me of a baby tritone because it's also exactly in the middle of two tonal markers. In this case, those markers just happen to be a root and a fifth instead of a root and an octave. Music ideas? Half-sharp substitutions, half-sharp blues, etc.

[@starrk7158]

Mini diminished lick, I'd like to hear that on a guitar with some sweep picking techniques just to hear how jarring it would sound.

[@aaronfast]

half-sharp subs are gonna be standard curriculum in 2050

[@starrk7158]

@@aaronfast I dunno, you could always mess with it now and see if you can come up with anything Utilizing it. Start a new movement of music using it.

[@stephendonovan9084]

Half-sharp substitutions you say? *Jacob Collier intensifies*

[@DasOmen02]

Matt's got them big brain Collier plays Seriously though, that's not a bad idea. You should test that out!

[@JAzzWoods-ik4vv]

"Think about when you're talking with another person. Are consciously thinking of every word that you're saying?" *Nervous sweat*

[@limaromeo8745]

Watching Adam Neely reminds me simultaneously why I love music and why changed majors from music. I enjoy listening to music and I find it fascinating to learn about music theory (classical music theory and otherwise), BUT I hate playing music (or at least I hate playing the trumpet, theoretically I could try to pick up piano but I think my main problem is that my fingers are just bad and dumb). Playing music almost made me despise it to some degree. It’s better that me and her just know each other casually now.

[@BigSh00tsie]

I had "did you seriously not play the lick on the ukulele?" all typed out...

[@saulo4302]

6:08

[@lesfrisbees]

As soon as I saw the uke, I knew the lick was coming.

[@BigSh00tsie]

@@saulo4302 yeah i know. that's what i meant by my post. i had it all typed out... then he played the lick. ;)

[@marcellomadrazo8121]

"I talked about this in my TedX Talk" I hope we can all strive to be that humble

[@husnainali-gn8bo]

6:08 neutral lick absolutely brilliant adam neely is a treasure

[@JohnTurri]

Word combinations like “ardent microtonalists” are of the various reasons why I watch this channel. 🙋🏻‍♂️ @ 4:22

[@theonewithoutidentity]

It's hard to use it in your quotidian vernacular, however.

[@JohnTurri]

quatricise HAHAHAH nice 😎

[@theali8oras274]

@@theonewithoutidentity i d never heard these words before... thanks i guess uh...edit : isnt that reduntant?

[@theonewithoutidentity]

@@theali8oras274 adam neely once said this in a video as a synonym for daily speech, i thought that was quite funny

[@waterguyroks]

It's funny, when you asked if the "neutral tone" sounded major I thought it sounded more minor and vice versa. Maybe I'm just a contrarian.

[@Something_Sharp]

waterguyroks I felt that too!

[@parnischyt]

I feel like that's bc you go Is it major-y? Well... no. Is it minor-y? Well... no

[@sophiaseth2769]

Same

[@Sevish]

A neutral triad could sound major or minor at different times depending on the context. E.g. if you compare a neutral triad against a supermajor triad then the neutral can feel like minor. Or if you compare it against subminor it can feel major. Music is trippy like that

[@Zigarius1123]

He only played one version of that chord though, right? It could sound more interesting if another inversion or even stretch chord. If that natural third was in the bass we would feel it different. Edit - Felt more of a diminished sound to me

[@smiley_1000]

A neutral third is also half a fifth (350 cents out of 700 cents, or approximately √(3/2):1)

[@MartijnHover]

I love your work, Adam, and it has taught me a lot over the past few years. Thank you very much fot that. For your next Q&A would you consider explaining something that has always been a bit of a mystery to me: What exactly is the diference between 2/4 and 4/4? Or between 6/8 and 12/8, for that matter?

[@toodsf1]

It’s also because in 2/4 the beats go (1)Strong - (2)Weak 4/4 is more like (1)Strong - (2)Weak - (3)slightlyStrong - (4)Weak 6/8 would then be (1)Strong - (2)Weak - (3)Weak - (4)slightlyStrong - (5)Weak - (6)Weak 12/8 I honestly don’t how to describe in this way. Often it can just be thought of as triplet-ed 4/4 or swung 4/4 but that depends on the music

[@MartijnHover]

@Gustavo Silveira de Azevedo So 2/4 is just like a slow 4/4? I am not sure that helps. Why does the tempo make a difference, and where is the cut-off point where it turns from 2/4 to 4/4/?

[@vinh_em]

Adam Quaranteely. That is all.

[@Charles.Wright]

Quarantine is separating sick people. Separating healthy people? That's government.

[@sowhat2993]

@@Charles.Wright bruh

[@kellermax]

The neutral chord at the end of the theme at 6:09! Brilliant!

[@SeppelSquirrel]

Neely: "Do you think every word before saying it?" Neurodivergent people: Yes.

[@ran__-_5183]

tfw I suck at remembering lyrics because of this

[@vimtheprotogen2855]

Do you also practice what you're going to say? I do

[@ran__-_5183]

​@@vimtheprotogen2855 I try, but I don't think I do it properly. I've found a couple times that it gets easier in the second session, weeks after the first, but the first session is pretty much always hopeless. I also don't get a lot of opportunities. (I'm always a afraid my grandparents will overhear me screaming my edgy nonsense)

[@i-never-look-at-replies-lol]

you should learn to think outside of language. you'll realize your thoughts are no longer linear and exist in entirety without having to have them.

[@HealyHQ]

Haha, I was thinking the same thing!

[@mitchellmortenson2481]

6:08 I said no out loud to this most cursed licc

[@SergioLazaroMartinez]

That licc thicc tho

[@pipsounds]

I love how aggressively neutral that chord is.

[@KizulEmeraldfire]

6:09 - in regard to this question (is two of the same instrument playing the same thing at the same time twice as loud as just one?): if I recall correctly, it's a same deal as perceived brightness. If you put two light bulbs together, you have twice as much light - but the two bulbs shining in the same spot isn't twice as bright as shining just ONE bulb on that spot. To properly double the brightness of the spot of light or the volume of the note(s) being played, you'd have to increase it by an order of magnitude. The lesson here is that if you want twice as much bass without distortion, the best solution *isn't* to crank the volume up on your subwoofer: the best solution is to buy *ten subwoofers* (and set them all to the same volume). :D

[@TheArunster]

i think adam should be called the internets busiest music nerd, because he's a real music nerd

[@justuslm]

To me, the "neutral" chord sounds like a major and minor third played at the same time, but without the acoustic beat that would result from that.

[@mingnrich]

So that “neutral” triad is vertically symmetrical, like a diminished or augmented triad, isn’t it? Meaning that the interval from D to Fhalf# (7 quarter tones) is the same interval from Fhalf# to A.

[@mingnrich]

So I tried* to play a I-vi-ii-V in all neutral triads to hear how it would sound. To my ear, they all sounded like out of tune minor chords, except the V which still sounded major. Which is weird that the I would sound minor to me in such a common chord progression where it’s major. (*If you’re interested in how I did it, I tuned my guitar’s B string down half way between Bb and B, and just used the D G & B strings to play the triads by barring. I played it in D, so it was frets 7 - 4 - 9 - 2. Who knows if my ear would have heard it differently if they weren’t all parallel 2nd-inversion chords.)

[@andymcl92]

It's a bit like playing on a equal tempered scale with 24 different notes. I could imagine there might be some contexts in which it sounds a bit less wonky, maybe akin to what playing chords built on 4ths sounds like to a western ear.

[@andymcl92]

@@mingnrich Okay, I just tried it with my uke. Same idea, detuned the E string to be roughly half a semitone flat, and played barres on the C, E and G. I too thought the V sounded more major-y than the rest. Weird!

[@haroldhayes4824]

@@mingnrich I would guess it's our desire to hear that V-I movement (bc it's clearly psychological, there's no difference in quality at all)

[@atriyakoller136]

For the doubling of loudness, I can say this: when I was in my speech acoustics class, our professor gave us an example with candles. If you have 1 candle, it has a preceived brightness of X. To get to 2X, you would need 3 of these identical candles burning with identical brightness. To double that 2X brightness (and get to 4X) you would need 8 of those candles. Just remembered this example and decided to post it

[@Singood.m]

Why though

[@atriyakoller136]

@@Singood.m why what?

[@Singood.m]

Why does it take 3 candles to double x when x = 1 candle Make me small brain think two candles ought to do the trick

[@atriyakoller136]

@@Singood.m that's basically how human brain perceives the light. I'm not really a physicist but the idea seems very logical. I would point you to a Vsause video, because I clearly remember that at least one of them explained the principle much more clearly than I just attempted to, but I, unfortunately, don't quite remember the title.

[@Singood.m]

Well you're no help at all! Boo fooie

[@twizz420]

"Super Fast Instagram Q and A" *makes 13 minute long video* We love you, Neely. Never change.

[@enijize1234]

4:14 Sounds like a train horn when youre waiting at the crossing ... Neely says car horn but the car horn interval is just the root 3rd no 5th or octave.

[@TheTuita]

Oh, damn... when he did the neutral chord at the end of the lick, I felt like a speeding train was about to hit me.

[@arkennoren0]

You just chilling on a supposed unused train track and then- *holy SHIT*

[@bachriahi5905]

We use this pitch in Arabic music a lot in scales like (Bayat - sika - rast ...) And it sounds good Here's an example of Bayat maqam (scale) You took (A min) for exp: 🎹 A - B (-50) - C - D - E - F#(-50) - G - A

[@ethanlocke3604]

THE RUDY REFERENCE IN THE FIRST QUESTION WAS BEAUTIFUL Also the new intro isn’t on the level of Bass lessons with Adam Neely, but it was cool

[@markopolo2224]

where the worlds collide

[@craigbrowning9448]

The "D-Neutral" sounds like a Punch in the nose.

[@stendenbakker8107]

Hey Adam, First of most importantly, yes, the Wire is the best series that has ever been no question. For some reason the youtube algorithm decided to send me one of your videos and I just happened to watch it. I've been playing the guitar for years on and off but never got past tabs. Gorging on your videos for the past weeks, even though I understand very little of it, has ignited my motivation to learn the dreaded guitar theory (how chords work, scales, etc) and my guitar playing and knowledge has shot up dramatically so thanks for that. I've been thinking about that video you posted about not being able to teach as well as you would like to because you can't use copyrighted music in your videos. I might have a work around, you might not be able to play the music but we all have youtube and likely spotify, so together with you transcribing the important parts as a midi, you might do something like "go to this video and listen to the part from 2:33 to 4:21." and we, the audience, could go to that video and listen to that part while you explain what we're hearing. Yeah, it's not an ideal solution but it might work. Personally I'm just really interested in listening to good music while being explained why it's great. From a fan, keep up the good work.

[@ethanmcswain2700]

The “neutral” third reminded you of a car horn. It reminded me of the tritone, which would be a neutral third above the neutral third. Could you play a triad of the tonic, neutral third, and tritone? I’m curious if it would give the tritone a more stable sound- or even sound major.

[@alexeyyy]

Oh, nice idea, I will try to make this

[@frfrchopin]

5:6:7 is the most stable diminished chord, and it's very resonant

[@arinetic5538]

What? A tritone is two minor 3rds stacked and an augmented 5th is two major 3rds stacked. So a neutral 3rd above a neutral 3rd would be a perfect 5th, unless I'm not thinking right...

[@phlubblebubble]

@@arinetic5538 You are. Or were when you posted that. 350c*2 = 700c =~ 3/2 (perfect fifth)

[@harryscorah2091]

When you played the neutral twice with “major?” and “minor?” it genuinely sounded more major when “major?” was shown and vice versa. Musical priming? 🤔

[@0000Sierra117]

I had the opposite reaction, and I'm a well known contrarian piece of shit, so that sounds reasonable.

[@themagicalbush]

@@0000Sierra117 Fair enough

[@Robersora]

My favorite thing about Neely is Adam's casual humble brags are always so subtle, they don't register as annoying.

[@wallacewizard3934]

Hey Adam, potential question for your next q and a. I had an idea for a different way of looking at neutral chords. Chords are typically stacked thirds, which is how we get major and minor. The neutral third feels a bit misnamed here though as the chord itself is theoretically neutral but sonically really at war with itself. I put forth a sort of neutral chord that sounds neutral rather than is theoretical neutral. The root, the fourth, and the octave. A suspended chord with no color if you will. When I heard this, it was the closest musically I've ever come to feeling balanced, a sort of sonic neutrality. It didn't need to go anywhere or do anything, and moving this around you can achieve some really interesting pandiatonic melodies. Thoughts? I do know that this cluster of notes might be hard to justify as a chord given traditional understandings of what a chord is and the functions they serve.

[@TheMovieCreator]

Well, the "neutral" third is a half fifth the same way the tritonus is a half octave. A regular third, be it big or small, does at least have some approximate harmonic relation to one of the other tones in the triad.

[@Stuadh]

Thank you, Adam. Despite tinkering with music for about 40 years, you have just caused my own Dunning-Kruger moment. I thought I knew a little bit about music.

[@Dewojet98]

I was wondering What keys these Primus songs are in: “Tommy The Cat,” “Jerry Was A Race car Driver” and “My Name Is mud” It’s obviously very dissonant and spicy. What scales and or modes are they using?

[@hamsandwich6685]

Scale of absurdity, mode of bass god

[@KingstonCzajkowski]

Most Primus songs aren't in any key and don't use any scale

[@rafaeldelazerda1834]

Question for Q+A: I've met people who CLAIM to be able to tell, just by listening, whether a song is written in F# major or Gb major. It's one thing to have perfect pitch, but deducing the exact enharmonic spelling of the key signature the composer intended... seems farfetched. Is there any truth to this ability? Thanks!

[@tunguska-1454]

Do they perhaps mean when the piece is played in just intonation? Because that's certainly possible, as the enharmonic pitches reveal their differences in just intonation.

[@electric7487]

In historic meantone tunings, which would nowadays correspond to 19-TET, 50-TET, 31-TET, and 43-TET, sharps sit lower than flats do, and there is a _big_ difference between F♯ and G♭. In fact, for most of the history of music, being able to distinguish between adjacent sharps and flats, by ear, without any assistance, was a fundamental part of musical training, and people back then knew how to do it without any sort of electronic equipment. Most Western musicians nowadays no longer know how to distinguish between adjacent sharps and flats since they've never heard of any tuning other than 12-TET. In 12-TET, from my personal experience if the piece tends more towards sharp keys like B, E, or A, or if you modulated from a sharp key, then it's probably in F♯. If the piece tends more towards the flat keys, or if you modulated from a flat key, it's probably G♭.

[@BatEatsMoth]

At 4:40, I use that double stop shape a lot on bass; it does have application. It can induce a feeling of vague worry, alarm, or even hopelessness or sinking sadness; a sensation of something slipping away. In the proper context, it can drag a person down into incredible lows.

[@williammanning5066]

The 24-hour musical sounds crazy but fun! In the game development world we have similar events called Game Jams.

[@bernardosantos8020]

Adam: 11:14 me: * flashbacks to people saying “bass doesn’t matter” * you sure bout that, chief?

[@josed.vargas3961]

In jazz band I can literally make the tempo do anything I want it to and as long as it's subtle enough no one notices but me

[@AlejandroCaicedoPUJ]

And let's not start with the harmony

[@nehemiahst-danger2189]

"I can bully everyone into doing exactly what I want to hear..."

[@OnboardG1]

6:04 spilled my coffee at that one

[@TheNeatwork]

For a little more insight on the double loudness question: Our sense of hearing is basically logarithmic by decibels, so 10 trumpets would be twice as loud as a single trumpet, for example.

[@luigivercotti6410]

logarithmic doesn't necessarily mean base 10 logarithmic, you know

[@P_Ezi]

@@luigivercotti6410 Noah is correct. We generally percieve twice the loudness for every increase of 10dB. In terms of power, an increase of 10dB means 10 times the power, since 10dB=10*log10(10). It therefore takes ten times as much power to sound twice as loud.

[@luigivercotti6410]

@@P_Ezi oops, you're right, I had forgotten about that, sorry

[@riot7521]

No joke im watching this sitting in a parking lot waiting to go into work. When you played that neutral chord I was looking around for someone honking their horn. You kept playing it and thought it was some one wanting me to move.

[@elnatanmori4435]

4:45 Adam b like "Oh ya I don't really need to practice but lets make up something so youtube dosent feel too bad"

[@EastonCXT]

Adam is getting more chaotic. Just wanna point that out.

[@petermcateer1354]

Yeah, but he makes it work.

[@IAmEmotive]

I'm here for it

[@Manas-co8wl]

Yeah so I'm not the only one who noticed that good

[@gabrielblacklock3921]

Phrygian dominant is a mode of the harmonic minor scale, and it's used all the time in metal and middle eastern music :)

[@anonymousbub3410]

7:17 my mom actually taught in the Baltimore school system for a while before moving away and having children later on and she constantly tells me how the school system was very flawed but the children were amazing

[@1dkappe]

Magic Sam, the great Chicago bluesman, had a bunch of songs with no thirds in the rhythm guitar or bassline. It’s the lead guitar or vocal that determines the minor/major nature. Very interesting sound.

[@sune8996]

Question for your next Q&A: How would you go around notating a brush kit? Is there a standardized way of doing it?

[@enthusia492]

This is a question I've had for a long time and I would love to hear your thoughts in the next Q&A video. As history and time has progressed, we've always adapted our definition of what we'd call "classic music", "vintage music", "oldies" or "retro". As an example, "Classic Rock" is generally considered today to be a period of Rock and Roll music between 1958 and 1989. (I'm sure there is some debate to be had with the period here, and that is part of the point). During the 20th century, music recording and preservation had been a slow and specialized process. Vinyl recordings, then 8-tracks, then cassette tapes, and CDs before we finally had early online streaming at the tail end of the millennium. What this meant in the past was that less people had easy access to music productions and methods of distribution. You needed physical instruments, a place to record, a way to capture the sound and most importantly a way to get that music in front of a lot of people. In short, less people had the opportunity or the resources to get their sound out to the ear of the public. Fast forward to the current century and thanks to the internet, anyone with a laptop and some creative vision can start producing their own music and put it in front of millions of people in a matter of hours. Right now, the general public (excluding musical niches) still looks back fondly on music of the Beatles or Rolling Stones, which is now 50 years old. As people of the current generation grow older, are we perhaps looking at more current and contemporary artists as "classics" at a faster rate than before? Think about Backstreet Boys, Nirvana or even Coldplay. Earliest albums by these artists, despite only being 20-30 years old are already considered "retro" by some people today. Even some artists and albums that released 10-15 years ago are already being looked at with nostalgia. Do you think that our technological technological advances of the 21st century has shortened the amount of time that will pass before something is considered "retro" or "classic" music? Are we creating music at a faster rate that will be considered "hits" in the next 20-30 years? Maybe even shortening to 10 or 15 years? Simple math would tell us that having more music in general out in the public eye will statically generate more "hits" than we had before. Your thoughts?

[@AroldoLuvisottoNeto]

"Backdoor" to "69" 😏 Wondering if you thought about inserting THE LICC into that joke 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@dendijohn]

A great neutral chord is the pure nine, use roots fives and ninth. This can have a majestic feel as a strum. It brings to mind the tolling of a big bell

[@thisin.]

Neutral chords sound so fascinating, I *really* wish more people used them. I'm stuck listening to almost exclusively minor music.

[@TheSquareOnes]

Yeah, there is a ton of interesting new music to make with microtonality. The main issue is the barrier to entry, not everyone has an easy way to actually perform microtonal tunings accurately (or if they do, lack the knowledge of how to do it) so there are much fewer people just going in and screwing around to see what they can come up with. Hopefully as technology advances it'll be more accessible but unless we somehow get a legitimately popular microtonal artist or "scene" it'll be slow going, if it ever comes at all.

[@KimbasKingdom]

@@TheSquareOnes You can create tunings in Sevish's 'Scale Workshop', then import them into ThumbJam on the iPad and use that as a midi controller (which exports tuning via pitch bend), I find that's the easiest way to do it :)

[@anxez]

":Are you consciously thinking about every word as you say it?' Yes. A not insignificant percentage of the time. Yes.

[@aizins3420]

congrats on 1 million!

[@mosesramirez6330]

My brain just makes that "in-between" chord "major".

[@Ardepark]

I think of it as "wannabe major" because usually when a piano gets out of tune it's in the flat direction.

[@tanyanguyen3704]

Mine just screamed “my piano is out of tune! “