What time signature is Radiohead's "Myxomatosis" in?

Sign up for HDpiano: hdpiano.com/davidbennett 🎹
Thanks again to Joe for allowing me to use his amazing cover of the song: • Radiohead - Myxomatosi...
And here is my video analysing "Sail To The Moon" by Radiohead: • Radiohead's most compl... 🌙
Myxomatosis was not only the first Radiohead song I ever heard but it is also one of my absolute favourite tracks of all time. This track is also not the first time that Radiohead have managed to make a 4/4 metre sound very un-4/4! Let's have a closer look at how the rhythm of Myxomatosis works...
The outro music to this video is my track "Clap" which you can hear in full on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/0wKKJ...
And, an extra special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
0:00 Myxomatosis
0:30 Time signature?
1:51 Polyrhythm
3:28 the rhythm
4:05 Daydreaming's polyrhythm
4:35 HDpiano
4:59 the drums
5:59 the chorus
6:58 Joel Edelmann
7:41 Patreon
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: / davidbennettpiano 🎹

[@mbossaful]

Loved the bit where you were chanting "nice cup of tea" over the remarkably dark & angry guitar riff.

[@wyattstevens8574]

Callback to his previous video!

[@gnoelalexmay]

😆 yeah! ...I especially liked the full pronunciation - none of this "nice cuppa tea" business! 🤣

[@dancoroian1]

It's got the vibe of like a little kid's mantra as he holds his hands cupped over his ears while mommy and daddy are fighting lol

[@Gameboy-2007-yt]

Yeah the tea was indeed good

[@cdprince768]

The biggest champion of Radiohead on the internet gets copyright strikes for enthusiastically promoting Radiohead. Yay, corporations.

[@TheNextDoorNeighboor]

For someone who loves Radiohead so much, you don't do that many analysis videos of them (at least, not anymore). This took me by surprise

[@LightspeedAstronaut]

How is your comment 13 days old when the video was uploaded an hour ago ?

[@TheNextDoorNeighboor]

@@LightspeedAstronaut it was originally unlisted

[@wyattstevens8574]

​@@LightspeedAstronautI think there is a one-word answer that could make sense: Patreon!

[@SonyaBladesBooty]

He doesn't really care much for Radiohead. He's said so

[@WizzDude]

I thought Radiohead fans didn’t like surprises (or alarms)

[@mikeprice25]

Colin greenwood sits down in the studio and nigel hands him a mug… Colin goes “ahh that’s a nice cup of tea” Jonny swoops round on his swivel chair “What did you just say” “…. I just it was a nice cup of tea” Jonny starts muttering to himself and picks up his guitar Points at Phil “Oi Phil, play swung 3s on the hat” Two hours later, myxomatosis

[@JoeEdelmann3]

Thanks for the shout David - another fantastic video! Never really thought deeply about the 3s on this one but it makes a ton of sense. It gets even crazier with the double drum variation they do live nowadays, with Clive Deamer adding some of the mid-bar switchups from the studio version.

[@gnoelalexmay]

I was truly blown away by your version of myxomatosis! I initially didn't realise it was a cover, and thought it must have been an alternative mix. Though I was only listening through my TV, I honestly thought the bass/synth rivaled the original and was perhaps more to my taste. Will defo check out more of your stuff.

[@felixabrahamsson6783]

finally a radiohead video, it has been to long

[@mungofinalfi4480]

*too

[@rocketshiptoaltair]

@@mungofinalfi4480 tooo ;)

[@BlueSR]

yess more david bennett radiohead!!! Please cover some The Smile songs! They've got tons of wonky time signatures, songs that are in 7/8, 11/8, 5/4 and so on

[@th.nd.r]

Not to mention some other really weird rhythmic things, like Jonny’s use of delay where he delays notes by like 5 beats to create riffs on a few songs, or rhythmic illusions where the “1” seems like it’s in a different place than it is, or songs like “I Quit” where the “1” seems like it’s nowhere at all in a way

[@HappyAppart]

Meh. To me, The Smile sounds like all they wanna do is play with time signatures.

[@Trendyflute]

Now everytime I listen to this song I'm gonna hear David saying _nice cup of tea nice cup of tea_ 😅

[@Tangent_Frank]

Phil is such an underrated drummer

[@rodrigoodonsalcedocisneros9266]

They all are underrated as individual musicians.

[@Tangent_Frank]

@@rodrigoodonsalcedocisneros9266 in all fairness, i think most people fully respect the skillsets of Johnny and Thom and even Ed, but it feels like even a lot of Radiohead fans don't seem to appreciate the genius and subtlety in the rhrythm department, Collin and Phil. Who, without Collin's subtle bass fills and Phil's iconic modern twist on snare and hi-hat beats that almost feel inhuman. They really are, at least in my opinion, the real backbone of Radiohead. But yes, each member of Radiohead really carry an incredible degree of professional musical discipline and prowess on par with classical musicians, and should be treated less as simple rock musicians, and more as sophisticated composers.

[@XNaturalPhenomenonX]

As soon as i register the drums, it just stays in 4/4 for me. The "nice cup of tea" is immediately where my mind goes.

[@riquiffer]

Just realized that David is making videos about my three favorite bands, Radiohead, Oasis and Blur

[@marivg8948]

90s forever

[@riquiffer]

@@marivg8948 and I wasn't even born in the 90s hahahah

[@NeonRadarMusic]

I feel almost bad commenting this but always kind of sounded like 4/4 to me. The drum accenting isnt a standard 4/4 rhythm but its pretty easy to follow. In fact its one of the most headbang-worthy Radiohead songs. It's closest they came to sounding like early Muse (instead of the other way round)

[@gnoelalexmay]

That Myxomatosis cover is FANTASTIC! 👏👏👏

[@th.nd.r]

Joe is so good at these Radiohead covers

[@re5870]

He does them live as well with the tribute band There There kzbin.info/www/bejne/roTXg6qjhZesiq8si=DS_7wuqG-nqmlEF3

[@gnoelalexmay]

@@th.nd.r must check him out. Any you'd recommend?

[@re5870]

I particularly love my iron lung but all are really good

[@michael1]

All you need is a tuna toastie and a cheese toastie and you can be mixingmetosties too : don't feed them to a rabbit though, it's fatal.

[@Somebody-lv9rz]

You should take a look at The Smile. Their new album is full of rhythmic complexity like this.

[@QKvox]

Finally a Radiohead video, been a while, this is a banger as usual though. It’d be fun for you to do a video analysing a The Smile (Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Tom Skinner) song, a lot of their stuff is very rhythmically complex so it would be interesting to hear your take on it.

[@aroamingwitch]

This is awesome thank you ❤

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Glad you like it!

[@Baton793]

Thanks for yet another great and informative video! I remember the first time I listened to it, thinking to myself "wow, they really outdone themselves with this one, I have no idea what this is in" until I fell back on the most basic method - simply counting quarter notes until the next repeat. Despite 12 years of music education this riff still managed to fool me.

[@the1gip]

I had to repeat about a minute of this video after you said "nice cup of tea" as I was so compelled to give it a go 😂

[@georgewhite1972]

Nice cup of tea is probably the most English sounding thing David has ever said in a video!

[@Steynie]

so fucking happy to see a video on this song

[@meowertwelve6262]

I was thinking of the song before I saw this video, so I have to watch it!

[@razzmatazz1974]

What a great analysis, thank you ❤

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@TheInselaffen]

Myxomatosis is Thom Yorke's dancing turned into music.

[@IKEAMAN]

This is such a banger 😊

[@EasyPianoTutorials]

It's definitely got a fun beat!

[@noscrubbubblez6515]

I heard their song 'Creep' earlier on the radio today. For a long time I thought the little chug that happens 3 times before the guitar goes into overdrive (on the lyric 'I'm a Creep') I thought was the sound of the guitarist depressing his overdrive foot pedal. When I had a Fender 75 amp it had a foot switch for over drive allowing one to switch to ear bleeding volume of the Pete Townsend magnitude. It's a real crunch of a mechanical sound, I'm not sure if you weren't supposed to hear it. But that was back when I lived next to a boat sales dealer. Imagine roaring power chords that drown out the sound of power boats. Volume is relative/ might make an interest subject to explore..

[@jeremiahlyleseditor437]

Wow!! I can see why this is your favorite band. Not so much for them being popular, it's their skill. It impresses me since I'm not so skilled like that.

[@rohiogerv22]

Interestingly, when it's not following the synth rhythm, the drum pattern is ALMOST a hand-foot paradiddle. And the way that I hear it, at least, is that while the snare follows the rhythmic divisions through the 3s, when it deviates, it's actually playing a backbeat. So part of what's so satisfying about the song is how it kind of "cascades" into a traditional 4/4, where the hi-hat holds the line the whole time, the snare and bass fall in line early, and the synth ties up the knot JUST before the finish line.

[@mr.beaverchair3622]

I've always felt it in 4/4 but at half the tempo you're putting it at (i.e. the rhytmic cells would be dotted eighth notes instead of dotted quarter notes).

[@huntercrawford6490]

same here

[@Micha-ni9vy]

Nice vid, can you do a video where you Analyse the first few minutes of shine on you crazy diamond 1-5?

[@tomasruckett]

To carry on with the Radiohead theme, would love if you did one of those “guess the song by the isolated drums/bass/guitar/vocals” with Radiohead!

[@ceroberto]

Gorgegeous

[@maryfreegirl2029]

One of their best songs!!!!!

[@nieznanipatroni]

This is so criminally underrated song (the best from the whole album)

[@FluidTomato-iq9vl]

i thinks band you should talk about more is soundgarden, they essentially music theory’s wet dream

[@IWishUWereTacos]

Comment for the twitching and salivating algorithm

[@toast3]

Awesome to see more quality content (as always). Is there a term for the 3-3-3-3-4 grouping pattern, like how 3-3-2 is tresillo? It seems to show up everywhere. Myxomatosis, Pyramid Song (rotated), event the Macarena.

[@steve9126]

3-3-3-3-2-2 is called double tresillo! It might be a little different to 3-3-3-3-4, but it's very similar

[@prongs0611]

Shoutout Joe Edelman

[@DonovanPresents]

Have you talked about the chord progression of "killing moon" by echo and the bunnymen yet?

[@nijolas.wilson]

I never focused on the hihat, interesting I missed the 3:2! Seems obvious when you point it out! I always hear a 4:3 polyrhythm where the riff is the 4, which ofc uses that short note to sync every third (short) bar. I would instinctively write this as two bars of 12/8 followed by one of 8/8, repeat.

[@riordanskt]

I've heard you mention on your live stream indicating other KZbin channels that you love Elliott Smith, could you bring some of his songs for analysis? It would definetely be great some Elliott Smith here on the channel. Thanks for this video though!

[@MenschenImHaus]

Hey there, I really appreciate your videos! But, have you ever concidered to make a video about Ha Ha said the clown, by Manfred Mann? I think there are really a lot of weird rhythmic shenanigans going on. Keep up the great work!

[@carrowinabox]

Nice cup of tea 🍵🍵🍵

[@corey8760]

Could you PLEASE do weird fishes one day? I can NOT find my way around this song. Great video!

[@HappyAppart]

What do you mean ? Just follow the drums

[@corey8760]

@@HappyAppart the drums follow a different pattern than the guitars, they only come together at certain times when the math adds up

[@jayzo]

Why are the dotted 1/4 notes that don't fall on a beat split into a tied 1/8th and 1/4 note? The ones overlapping the bar division I get, but the ones in the middle of the bar?

[@salty_3k506]

because it's easier to see where the beat lies. like you said, they don't fall on a beat. but when you see a single 8th note, you know that it's off beat which makes everything easier to sight read. and the first quarter note is dotted to make a visual distinction from the other "dotted" quarter note probably.

[@ascendedalchemist2551]

Pls make a video about songs that use octatonic diminished scales. They're used in Bebop jazz sometimes. Some classical composers like olivier messian and bartock explored them too. And just by radiohead begins with the scale

[@jimlawton4184]

Love your Radiohead analyses! Also, I heard the same rhythm as ‘Hot cuppa tea’, I think it works better phonologically. The H is easier to place on a beat because of the onset, whereas N has more of a gradual/indistinct beginning because it’s a consonant that continues compared to H which has a defined moment.

[@unknownfeeling]

4:30 that was smooth lol

[@Alsike]

one of my favourite tracks on my favourite album

[@108u9]

Came for the Radiohead, stayed for the cup of tea

[@FL00527]

*_Nice cup of tea_* 🍵

[@andrewdevine5223]

‘Nice cup of tea’ was the original name for ‘(Nice Dream)’ 😉

[@joeblack007forever]

💕💕💕

[@Varshavallagi]

Hello there! I would like to know how to change the same melody over different time signatures. I am trying to figure it on my own but my results kinda feel weird. I cannot thank you enough if you could provide an answer for this. Love your work mate, Cheers!!

[@CalebChrisR]

def never assumed this was in 4/4

[@rodrigovazquez1292]

4/4

[@Nynex]

Never heard this song I love it. Reminds me of Bitches by Louis Cole.

[@circumferett]

Personally, I hear it more as two bars of 3/4, one bar of 2/4, then two bars of 4/4. The drums seem to also suggest this, so maybe that's why I hear it like that. I see your interpretation, though.

[@Moonless_Future]

David, do you listen much to The Pineapple Thief? I think you might find a lot to appreciate in their music.

[@CheeZboi1234]

Good band

[@viktorvaughn8007]

would love to see a video on some d'angelo songs - especially from his album voodoo cuz man that album is just insane

[@variousthings6470]

3:20 - "So the 3 over 2 polyrhythm can continue as far as here..." So in other words, what you're saying is: it can go this far, but no further?

[@user-uo1zd2nq8w]

It's a type of vertical hemiola rhythm

[@MisterWondrous]

Another one for the playlist. Love this kind of thing. Have you covered the music of Cecil Taylor? There's some odd maths, I figure.

[@furiousxXxpyro]

I feel it like 2 bars of 3, 1 bar of 2 and then two bars of 4 due to the drums. You can count 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 to the beat and it feels very smooth.

[@furiousxXxpyro]

And then 4/4 for the second part

[@SamBrockmann]

You didn't listen to the drums then, did you?

[@hendricstattmann3638]

It might have taken less time for Thom to create this rhythm than for David to explain it.

[@gnoelalexmay]

🤔 ...I've just noticed... David Bennett hasn't aged a day since I started watching, which was before the pandemic 🤔 What's your secret, David...? 🤨 ....thanks for another great video! Would you consider doing a vid on how adding a third note to a two-note interval can completely alter how we perceive it? ...my favourite is how a harsh Maj 7th interval is tamed by adding a 5th or a Maj 3rd. Thanks 🙏

[@gnoelalexmay]

🧛‍♀️ Vampire? 🤔

[@inrainbows1829]

My 3 favorite radiohead song Hot take but Hail to the Thief is their best album

[@efiug]

can't be a hot take when its the truth!!

[@stephenbarber6533]

Not my favourite but Sail to the Moon GOAT

[@scartissue121]

It didn't have the strongest impact on me upon inital listening (such as Kid A obviously), but it really is the one I keep coming back to after all these years

[@fictiontaster5794]

You should analyse the smile's work too. Wall of eyes has a lot of rythmic and harmonic gems!!

[@haykkotanjian6]

hey, I want to know why you can't write two quarter notes with dots next to each other? in 4/4

[@ArenHill]

As far as I know, you can - as long as you add enough notes to fill in the remaining quarter note space.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

A dotted quarter is worth 1.5 beats. So you could place two in a bar of 4/4 and wind up with 1 beat left over in the bar. Or do you mean, why do we use a eighth note tied to a quarter note instead of a dotted quarter note?

[@haykkotanjian6]

@@DavidBennettPiano yeah! i compose music and i have exactly that pattern, i thought there's an issue in putting two next to each other, I'm about the writing way only

[@DavidBennettPiano]

@@haykkotanjian6 yeah, you can’t put a dotted quarter note on the 2& beat, you have to put an eighth note tied to a quarter note. Otherwise it’s hard to sight read it because you’ve hidden where beat three is in the bar. Hopefully that makes sense

[@haykkotanjian6]

@@DavidBennettPiano oh i understand, thank you so much!

[@allisonandrews4719]

You should take on Andrew Bird. Some era. Similar song titles. Similar levels of musical skill. One band huge one guy niche. Yeah different sound, sure. But Andrew Bird does words better and whistles.

[@madmac66]

You’ve done lots of analysis type videos that cover origins of certain theory or rhythm tropes, so I wonder if you know the origin of the term ‘chorus’? I always imagine the chorus like as in ‘chorus line’ - a bit of the song we can all sing along together too. So in that regard, could Radiohead be “accused” of having chorus in their songs? For me not since the Bends. Their songs are far too clever for their own good to be sing-along-able and I would argue that this song definitely doesn’t feature a chorus. But I defer to your greater wisdom on the subject.

[@levanataylor790]

That is a good question. I do not know how you can determine which piece of a complex-structured song is the chorus, and maybe that is a topic for David. But if you go back to really simple songs, they have what is called a "refrain" (from an old French word meaning "break") that is a repeated phrase as a break between lines or verses. Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la. Even if you don't know the words you can join in on the fa-la-la, right? And that is the classic structure of a sea chantey, which has a true unison chorus, repeated. The chanteyman sings while everyone pulls: "Santy Ano's gone away" Then the crew readjust their grip on the line and all sing "Away, Santy Ano" And so on. "Santy's gone to Mexico -- Away, Santy Ano" So okay, how does that translate to pop and rock songs that have a few more twiddles than carols and chanteys do? Well, popular music usually still has repeated parts. It's satisfying coming "home" to a refrain between verses, and yes, you can sing it: it's most often shorter and simpler than the verses. That really is how you can tell which piece is the chorus when the structure isn't just verse-chorus-verse-chorus etc. Suppose you start with 2 verses, and then there is a shorter piece that somehow feels like a break or a homecoming? And then that piece will come around again at least a few times.

[@Wolfe16]

Can you make a video on Feel Good Inc by Gorillaz

[@lilmusicguy.official]

David! New song alert and its from WILLOW. It's called symptom of life and it seems to have a mix of 7/4 and 8/4 time signatures and a really cool piano part! You should check it out, maybe make a video on it or with it!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😊 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j6m8h3iXlNqlitE

[@lilmusicguy.official]

@@DavidBennettPiano I had no idea you already made a video! Definitely an interesting song!

[@FiveFigsDigital]

You are so British! Jonathan Flynn.

[@johnthefrogakakrazert819]

This almost sounds like messhugah

[@anti_honey]

Polyrhythms or polymeters??

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Polyrhythm

[@deleted740]

I usually count in 8/4

[@royjames-pike3129]

It’s 6/8 not 3/4. The same number of 8th notes in each bar but 2 beats in the bar not 3.

[@mikolajbogdaszewski9519]

Would you like to make a video about Bill Withers "We could be sweet lovers" chord progression? I think it's really uncommon... Am I wrong?

[@JBDazen]

This has been puzzling me for ages and I haven't been able to 'feel' the rhythm of this song to this very day. The band all seem to know what they're doing, completely spacing out. I'm just hopping insecurely.

[@usurysuspect826]

I got step dad bro sis

[@lonelycake4114]

13/4?

[@1MU51C4L]

Listen to Nextra by Deadmau5. It's also in 4/4. But the spacing is like 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3.

[@ClownWorldOrder]

It never felt like anything other than 4/4 to me.

[@slidenaway]

good for you? How is this top comment lmao

[@ClownWorldOrder]

@@slidenaway Because people agree with me that this video doesn't make sense. No offense to David

[@familiarstranger9617]

​@@ClownWorldOrder then you're not paying attention to the accents in the music i suppose

[@slidenaway]

@@ClownWorldOrder no they just wanna feel superior, just like you want to I would bet a lot of money that if you asked 100 random people (or even 100 random Radiohead fans) what time signature this song is in, you’d get less than 10 4/4 answers But I can’t really back that up with any proof besides my own common sense based on 30 years of being a musician so, like you I guess it’s vibes all the way

[@ClownWorldOrder]

@@slidenaway You are delusional lol

[@rozzgrey801]

Tune into DJ Borg Bunny, Mixing the Most Hits!

[@supereric2206]

third

[@bezoekers]

FIFA FOOTBALL 2004

[@DavidBennettPiano]

That’s how I first heard this song too! And it was the first Radiohead song I heard 😮😮😮😊😊😊

[@doctorsloth213]

I love David Bennett videos, but I despise radiohead. No more radiohead, please!

[@SamBrockmann]

What?! When you listen to the drums for a second, it is Cleary 4/4. Who cares if the guitar riff feels off-kilter?!

[@2slowly1846]

Its 16/4, not 4/4.

[@MrLuchador]

Time Signatures are for nerds, just cram all the notes in and make it work.

[@BlurredTrees]

Running low on topics.

[@succadick2424]

Great video ❤ Putting out another request for an analysis of The Smile's songs! I would love it if you covered Read the Room. It's my favourite off Wall of Eyes and it's got some fun time signature stuff too!