Thanks to Hooktheory for sponsoring this video. Use this link to get 20% off your first year of Chord Crush. www.hooktheory.com/davidbennett 🎼

@astro_cat030

Жыл бұрын

Hey David can you do a video about songs that use Relative Multipolar Tonality? I found it nostalgic and depressing at the same time might be a perfect video to do on. One example i found is "Creep" by Radiohead.

@detectordegados5292

Жыл бұрын

Check out the piano piece Odeon (1909) by Brazilian tango/choro pianist Ernesto Nazareth. It does this stepwise downwards motion but in Aeolian/Harmonic minor. Sounds cool as hell and is one of the most known and revered tango/choro pieces in Brazilian history. Feature 2 modulations (classic choro ABAC format) and a lot of interesting techniques as well.

@guff9567

Жыл бұрын

why capitalise?

@astro_cat030

Жыл бұрын

@@detectordegados5292 i agree with this

@astro_cat030

Жыл бұрын

@@guff9567 huh

“I Want You Back” doesn’t stop at stepping down the major scale, it careens downhill at a clip that feels almost out of control. When Michael hits that first glissade, it’s a perfect pop song moment.

@tonybates7870

Жыл бұрын

"All ah NEEEED!!!!" "OH! OH! I want ya BACK!! I WANT YA BACK!!! What a record!

@ExNihiloComesNothing

Жыл бұрын

yup. Noticed the Beatles were doing that too.

@tiyenin

Жыл бұрын

I've always noticed the descending motion in Somewhere Over the Rainbow 🌈 The melody features these "descending diatonic tones," one per measure, through the chorus.

Doubt thou the stars are fire; Doubt that the sun doth move; Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt that Paul McCartney will appear in a David Bennett Piano video.

@lynnturman8157

Жыл бұрын

It just goes to show how integral & influential Paul McCartney was in helping to create the harmonic & melodic vocabulary of popular music in the last 60 years. BTW, had no idea Shakespeare was a McCartney fan!

@thespeediestgonzales7704

Жыл бұрын

@@lynnturman8157 I think Shakespeare and McCartney were best buds.

@roguejaina

Жыл бұрын

@@lynnturman8157 2 great Bards!

@eugenewogan7690

Жыл бұрын

Very nice Piano playing at the end

@standard-carrier-wo-chan

Жыл бұрын

You can expect Radiohead and anyone from The Beatles to appear.

This is SO creepy...I literally decided to write my first song today (I have SOME music theory knowledge like basic cadences and diatonic chords) and I came up with the I-iii-vi-V-chord progression. I thought it was cool and was wondering if it was common since I hadn't come across it yet, and then I see this video lol

@Wind-nj5xz

Жыл бұрын

A lot of the comments whenever David uploads a new video lead me to believe David has psychic powers.

@Telorchid

Жыл бұрын

Hardly creepy since the major scale is a thing.

@johnmac8084

Жыл бұрын

@Damon Lopez Yes, but did it have a descending bass line?

@mastod0n1

Жыл бұрын

Off the top of my head I believe Santeria by Sublime uses that chord progression, but it doesn't make use of a descending bassline or chord inversions.

@damonlopez2197

Жыл бұрын

@@johnmac8084 yes actually haha. I remembered watching some random vid on how stepwise descending baselines are common/good and i was happy to see that this chord progression allowed for that pretty naturally

I laughed out loud when '21 Guns' came after 'Telephone Line'. I was like "Is he gonna do it? He did it."

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

😂

@DarkSideofSynth

Жыл бұрын

Me too but at that point, he could also have added All The Young Dudes ;)

@Lotschi

Жыл бұрын

Were there accusations that it was copied?

@JLBribiesca

Жыл бұрын

@@Lotschi Too many times kzread.info/dash/bejne/ZW1rxMyxj6m2gqg.html

@JLBribiesca

Жыл бұрын

@@Lotschi kzread.info/dash/bejne/lZuassV9dLbPdso.html and to add injury to insult, Tales Of Another Broken Home is Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire. And Holiday’s guitar solo sounds a lot like Weezer’s Surf Wax America, where they sing “You take your car to work”

love the multiple mcr examples in this! they're slowly being added to the David répéteur haha

@Christopher-md7tf

Жыл бұрын

*repertoire

It's been evident that the Beatles loved descending chord progressions so it stands to reason that Oasis and ELO would love them too.

Another good example of the four chord version of this is S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W by MCR, they really like that progression lol

the way we just got not one but TWO mcr examples here!!! my emo heart is going to die omg

One of my favorite close example of this is the song “father and son” by cat Stevens.

@NBrixH

Жыл бұрын

It’s not time to make a change

@ulsn5455

Жыл бұрын

@@NBrixH Just relax, take it easy

David, the “songs using chord progressions” series has had dozens of songs in each video, now up to an impressive 40. It leaves me wondering how you go about compiling them all. Is there some kind of search engine for chord progressions, where you can see what comes up? Or do you, Professor Piano, have so much encyclopedic knowledge that you just know about them all? PS: respect for the video editing effort. Splicing all those songs together, with the beat transitioning relatively smoothly between them, and in sync with the graphics that show which specific chords are playing when, must take up many hours of work.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

It always starts with my only knowledge of examples. But then I supplement this with other songs that I find through a range of sources. Hook Theory actually have a chord progression search feature which always throws up some examples I didn’t know!

@TheSeeking2know

Жыл бұрын

@@DavidBennettPiano Oh wow. Good point about Hook Theory then.

@GuillaumeBetous

Жыл бұрын

I don't want to know how he is sorting it's CD collection 😄

@slimhazard

Жыл бұрын

@@GuillaumeBetous I suspect that Professor P‘s system is actually quite simple. It has sections B, R, and Miscellaneous.

@NNnn-zc2bm

Жыл бұрын

@@slimhazard 🤣

My favourite has always been McCartney's 'For No One". The b7 major chord is so good.

@arcynic5404

Жыл бұрын

@ghost mall Ikr. It is insanely underappreciated.

@timbir

Жыл бұрын

One of my favorites as well!

@bellygunnermusic

Жыл бұрын

same chord sequence used by McCartney on chorus of 'Hello-Goodbye' except he alters it every other time. C, C/b, Am, Am/g, F, Aflat.... C, C/b, Am, Am/g, F, Bflat

My personal favorite example of this is “She’s Got a Way” by Billy Joel. That secondary dominant also adds a lot to an otherwise simple progression

@fs55261

Жыл бұрын

love that song 🥰🤩

@DarkSideofSynth

Жыл бұрын

Pure bliss. Spot on!

@ExNihiloComesNothing

Жыл бұрын

Great example! Also love that he and Charles Cornell are showcasing him lately.

@fs55261

Жыл бұрын

@@ExNihiloComesNothing Right? He deserves more attention 😅

"Care of Cell 44" by The Zombies is another example. I think you could make a video for halfstep-wise chord progressions too! "This Will Be Our Year" by The Zombies is one, along with this obscure song, "All" by Skycycle.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Great example!

@bryce3754

Жыл бұрын

@@DavidBennettPiano the musical Les Miserables uses this chord progression a ton. It’s like a motif in songs like I Dreamed a Dream and One Day more

@sebastiano728

Жыл бұрын

Kokomo by the Beach Boys also has a halfstep down chord progression!

@TenorCantusFirmus

Жыл бұрын

@@sebastiano728 "Hotel California", the Verse, also uses a chromatic (half-step) descending progression.

@ChordyRingler

Жыл бұрын

@@TenorCantusFirmus Never noticed! Fantastic example.

It took everything thing I had to not scream out "WHEN I WAS A YOUNG BOY, MY FATHER TOOK ME INTO THE CITY" the moment I heard the progression.

I just have to say, as a music teacher, I LOVE THIS SERIES!!!!! You have no idea how much these videos have helped me explain chord progressions to my students. Thank you so much.

You explain things so well.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

You are an artist, David. That outro was absolutely perfect.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

Dude! I’ve learned more about music/music theory in the past month from watching your videos than I have since I first picked up a guitar in 1988. Thank you so much for these videos!

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

That’s great! Thank you 😃😃

Alternatively titled the Billy Joel expose video

@jrp335

Жыл бұрын

…and Billy Joe Armstrong!

@sarahdrawz

2 ай бұрын

More like the Beatles 😂

Beautiful piece at the end there David!

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thank you!

OMG the closing jam is like the platonic ideal of background music for otherwise silent demo videos. Sort of "arpeggiate the step down chords with a flourish". Every time I hear that, I expect a painting video.

Great video, another great example of this chord progression is "Our House" by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Great example!

I immediately thought of Friend of the Devil. Slight variation because there’s not quite a turnaround, it just keeps walking all the way down to the I chord.

"Ear Candy"...lovely phrase that sums it up. Thank you David!

I can easily hear the descending bass but how you've decided what exact chord to label each one is beyond me. The upper voices are often barely heard, sometimes muted, and sometimes it just feels like a top pedal point!

I only started playing the piano 3 months and our Conservatory hasn't knocked at my door yet. But I've been watching David's videos for years even though I really didn't understant what he was saying more than half the time. But he must have done something even for an old dog like me since I have passively learned what he had been saying and now it's really become a passion. Merci, David. Your videos are well appreciated.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Great stuff! Keep it up 😃😃

i always love seeing billy joel and elo on your channel

Some more examples that spring to my mind are - Mott the Hoople - All the young dudes. Weezer - Falling for you. Daryl Hall - Dreamtime. Vampire Weekend - Step. The Wonder Stuff - Welcome to the cheap seats. Heart & Soul - Multiple versions. Nina Simone - My baby just cares for me.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

My baby just cares for me! How did I forget that! Nice one 😃

It's interesting that the tonic chord can be used at any step in a progression that eventually resolves back to the tonic chord. It does not have to be avoided because it's not yet the end of the progression.

@rosiefay7283

Жыл бұрын

If it's inverted, it doesn't sound as much like an anticipation as it would if it had the root in the bass.

You should do a video on the Viva la Vida progression, it's used in: Viva la Vida by Coldplay Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano Danny's Song by Loggins and Messina Shallow by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper Only You by Yaz(oo) Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House (just the chorus, the verses use a modified doo wop progression) Santeria by Sublime Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton I Want to Hold Your Hand by The Beatles Blowin' in the Wind by Bob Dylan Rude by Magic Walking in Memphis by Marc Cohn The Man by Taylor Swift My Love by Petula Clark Foreigner Suite by Cat Stevens Love Again by Carly Rae Jepsen Have You Ever Seen the Rain by CCR Bad Romance by Lady Gaga Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffett As Tears Go By by Marianne Faithfull Night Changes by One Direction Eve of Destruction by Barry McGuire Dancing in the Moonlight by King Harvest

@bismuththebi

Жыл бұрын

YESS

@wolfrayet25officialfilms

Жыл бұрын

VI-VII-III-i chord progression in minor key.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Good suggestion! I’ll include it in an upcoming video! 😊

@toddpacker4683

Жыл бұрын

Where is it in good riddance? And it’s in Taylor swift “the man”

@aristotleasparaguspodcast1129

Жыл бұрын

@@toddpacker4683 I'm not a music theory genius, I just did some searching online and I think it popped up

I love these chord progression videos. I'm learning so much about applying the theory classes I took years ago. I really appreciate your playing out of the progression at the end of the video, too. Thank you!

Would love if you did another video where you discuss the minor versions of these stepwise progressions, i.e. lament bass progressions. I think these may be even more popular than their major counterparts, or at least more distinctive.

I absolutely love the breakdowns of progressions. Thank you for these.

Thank you for these mini lesson videos! I’ve been tinkering in some music software and you have helped me improve my songwriting in a big way. Thumbs way up!

Also Komm Susser Tod (the End of Evangelion final song) has a marvelous sweet descending stepwise chord progression. Just like in "a whiter shade of pale" the song provides a sense of stability and conclusion at the same time. I also think it's really liked by pianists or mainly played on piano (elthon john, billy joel, the beatles and procol harum) cause it gives them the opportunity to use the huge range with lots of notes outside the classic major/minor chords. As a pianist descending chord progressions are among my favourites indeed : )

@zakaryhenderson9512

Жыл бұрын

I was looking for the first comment to mention this. Alot of the songs in the soundtrack have a deja vu sound to them. Komm Süsser Tod particularly reminds me of Piano Man, but almost every song I feel like I've heard somewhere before.

@rosiefay7283

Жыл бұрын

Are you sure? Check the second chord's bass.

I am loving all of these new chord progression videos! Keep up the great work David!

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Sean 😊

Explorers by muse has a really cool descending line in the verses with: C Cmaj7/B C7/Bb Fmaj7/A Fmmaj7/Ab Cadd9/G D7/F# Fo7 Cmaj7/E Ebo7 Do7. The use of the diminished chords really makes this progression stand out and its also noteworthy to mention the bassline doesn't really follow this but does its own thing melodically and the arpeggiation of the piano chords allows the descending line to occur.

@Telorchid

Жыл бұрын

By ‘the bass line…does it’s own thing melodically’ you mean it does a very straightforward chromatic descent? Probably a subject for a future DBP vid.

@jyotektosgaimur

Жыл бұрын

@@Telorchid idk it just has its own line with run ups and run downs

@Telorchid

Жыл бұрын

@@jyotektosgaimur the bass line, as you have it there, is exactly one semitone down each step. C-B-Bb-A-Ab-G-F#-F-E-Eb-D. Maybe the voicings move up and down but the baseline just goes in one direction :).

@jyotektosgaimur

Жыл бұрын

@@Telorchid the slashes I wrote were the root notes of the piano arpeggios, when I was talking about bass line melody I was referring to what the bass (instrument) was doing.

@Telorchid

Жыл бұрын

@@jyotektosgaimur gotcha.

For No One & Hello Goodbye and Our House come to mind right away

@bapples

Жыл бұрын

No one else Weezer. Don’t look back in anger Oasis

bonus points for including an Oasis B-Side! You are always too cool for school :)

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thanks! Masterplan is one of my favourite Oasis tunes!

@slidenaway

Жыл бұрын

@@DavidBennettPiano good man, that's how I know you're a proper Oasis fan!

Oh my I always wondered why Vienna and Telephone Line sounded similar….I guess I know why now! Thanks a whole bunch David 🥰

Your teaching is very inspiring, you know your stuff and it shows. Simple and to the point, great video editing. Listening to you want me to know everything about music. Thanks for the pleasure.

you bring so much joy and knowledge to the world. thank you david

Man I love how your videos are tying into each other like a series. The last time we'd looked at inversions and the one before was about Canon in D. All leading into each other sort of like a series. Great job my dude.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thanks 😃😃😃

Good stuff dude, enjoyed your playing at the end too, keep up the good work

Weird that you didn't mention A Day In The Life The Beatles really loved these chords.

@heiswatching

Жыл бұрын

Can only fit so many Beatles examples in one video!

@Gnenguin

Жыл бұрын

A Day in the Life doesn't quite fit with the descending stepwise progression (the third chord in the progression is repeated instead of playing the usual fourth, also an F chord comes in later that isn't in the typical progression)

I'm a sucker for songs with descending chord progressions lol. I have a Spotify playlist that I call "The Perfect Playlist" and probably 90% of the songs on it have descending chord progressions

Nice! But the "five steps" songs leave me wondering "so how does the progression end?".

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Different songs end it in different ways. A popular way is to wrap it up with V I and back to V

Just found out that this is my Favorit chordprogression so many songs that I absolut adore are using it. Now I know what they have in common.

When I first started writing music I was determined to create a new chord progression using descending stepwise motion. But nothing I tried felt new or satisfying. And yet I don't find it stale when used by other songwriters.

@althealligator1467

Жыл бұрын

i III/7 VI iii/5 iv I/3 bIII V/2

@beatrixwickson8477

Жыл бұрын

@@althealligator1467 Nice. I would have been pretty pleased with myself if I'd written that.

@althealligator1467

Жыл бұрын

@@beatrixwickson8477 Cool. I literally just came up with it after reading your comment. The trick is to throw every "rule" and even "guideline" you know out of the window any time it gives you something you find boring or uncreative, but to know how to use them when you need the harmonic motion to sound intuitive . Writing harmony like the this is easy, it's writing the actual piece and its arrangement that gets difficult.

Curious about the opposite - stepwise rising chord progressions. Perhaps a future episode topic ?

@bugholeguitar

Жыл бұрын

The chili peppers ‘breaking the girl’ does both in the chorus :)

@iancurtis123

Жыл бұрын

Boys don't cry by the cure does this.

Thank you for another great video!

Thanks for another great video!!

One of my favourite (and an obvious) examples of this progression is the early Gerry Rafferty/Stealers Wheel song "Found My Way To You" (which goes down five steps to the fourth). Another song which uses it beautifully is Simon & Garfunkel's song "America".

I love your channel omg thanks youtube for recommend me your vid, pls make more content about chords progression bro huhu your explain in every vid so detail and amazing 🥹❤️‍🔥

Another cord progression I really really love. Thank you for putting this together. Many people describe as tone deaf but I am glad to say I really can hear this progression. Maybe it is because it is so simple but either way, thank you for helping me recognize this.

My favourite example of this concept is "Steve Forbert's Romeos tune." The bassline in the melody descends through every pitch in the key if im not mistaken. A very quirky song you should definitely check out.

Awesome video as always!! I see you’ve been getting into a few mcr examples too. One of my absolute favorite (but obscure) songs using a descending chord progression is Les Rallizes Denudés’ “But I Was Different” which I would highly recommend.

@Alberto-ny7kf

Жыл бұрын

love rallizes, what are the chords to but i was different?

So many thank, your job is awesome !

So many of my favourite songs use this progression.

Nice video! I’m enjoying these types of videos from you. A couple of my fav’s using this step down progression not on your list are “Our House” by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and “These Days” by Jackson Browne

Please never stop making these videos they're an incredible study resource

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!!

Nice! Always liked the ELO telephone line song and the downward decending line.

@andrewpappas9311

Жыл бұрын

Yeah, it’s a great song

Apparently, I'm a huge fan of these types of progressions, because for every song I was like, "Yeah, I love that song." Now I better understand why. Thanks for your great content. You have a nice easy manner - yet there are no wasted words.

Thank you, very clear.

It kind of works in natural minor too, but the temptation is strong to switch to harmonic minor on the 4th chord, thus slipping into the Andalusian cadence.

Awesome how many examples you find and show every time! I am wondering if there's an interesting video to be made about tuplets, and hearing/seeing examples of songs that use quintuplets, etc.

Absolutely love these videos. Best harmony lessons ever

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

😃😃😃😃

Wonderful wonderful stuff. Your content is awesome 👌

Great video! I always find these fascinating.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Cheers!!

I'm just in love with you. I can't stop seeing your videos!

I heard the progression for All the Young Dudes there as well, if I'm not mistaken. I've been looking for a progression that was above my composition ability that I could build from. This and your Pachelbel video have given me great ideas. I think I'm gonna try to combine them. Thanks yet again for the vital information! ❤️

I kept hearing Pachelbel’s canon in D, but something was different and I couldn’t figure what. So yay, I’m 64 with tinnitus but still learning how to recognise themes in music through David’s vids.

Killer video. Dude, you're so good. Much love.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Cheers!

Great Video Dave. I had to view this again.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thanks 😊

Thanks David, luv your videos man

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Peter!

You are amazing! I have a degree in music theory and composition. You pull musical ideas together and turn them into sublimely simple beautiful musical ideas. Peace & Love

Another excellent video, thank you , David.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thanks Peter!!

Nice video David, as always.

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Thanks!

this is it!!!! my fav chord progression!!!!

I immediately thought of Liability by Lorde when you played that Progression in the beginning

@everydayicry5963

Жыл бұрын

i wanted to write about liability too! sometimes when im listening to that song i like to jokingly sing the black parade over it because i discovered they were almost the same thing but sideways a couple years ago

An interesting variation is "Shine" by Take That, which ALMOST uses the full progression in the chorus. The second chord is iii7, which could easily have been inverted to put the bass note on the leading tone, but is actually in root position.

"When Will I See You Again?" does this, too, for all 8 bars. They turn around with Vsus - V7. Need more 70s tunes in your examples. :)

Doing good work, more than I have the energy to do, but very helpful.

Amazing stuff David! As a musician you never stop learning...On a side note..when you started playing at the end of the video I thought you were playing 'The watchmaker' by Steven Wilson, it is exactly the same notes..at least for the first seconds.

Fantastic video!!!

I love this guy's videos 😌🙌

Thanks for putting the chords up.

Mind Games, Father and Son, Free Bird, and All the Young Dudes are all great examples as well, though that last one gets really creative with the chords and doesn't actually got to the IV chord. But what did you expect? It's David Bowie.

One of my favourite songs with this progression is Liability by Lorde. Easily her best song.

These get better every time David!

@DavidBennettPiano

Жыл бұрын

Cheers!

I feel like this progression is the go to melancholic/introspective progression.

thank you for unlocking loads of nostalgia with your examples tonight, haha

Well ... I feel called out lmao. I love so many of these songs haha. Now I know why. Apparently I love this progression! Thank you!

elliott smith - say yes also uses this progression (:

A nice example of a 4-step progression is Heaven by Depeche Mode. I’m not sure if it actually steps down the major scale but it still achieves that similar melancholy, bittersweet descent. You should check it out because it’s a really nice, beautiful song with quite a powerful music video.

"Go Now" by the Moody Blues along with "Whatever It is" by the Zac Brown Band are two of my favorite examples of the 5-step descending progression.

I was fully expecting 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' to pop up and shocked that it didn't. I suppose its because this video is keeping it diatonic and the verse of WMGGW descends chromatically.

Have you done, or would you consider doing a guide to changing key? I write a lot of songs for my band and it's easy to run out of chords (staying in the same key and mode) and I struggle to jump from one key to another (to avoid these sort of chord tropes). Thanks for all your vids, they're so informative and excellent explained, as well as entertaining.

I really appreciate the love being given to Billy Joel lately with you and Charles Cornell. He often doesn't get the love he deserves and is overlooked and disrespected.