I'm a guitar player and I say it all the time I never learned as much as I did as when I started learning piano songs on the guitar, piano players are on another level

Elton said that he woke up from sleeping with the song that became yellow brick road in his head and that he had it basically written in fifteen minutes. Have heard this phenom about other writers too Hendrix in particular and Lennon said he kept a piano near his bed to be able to do the same. Seems that great pieces just sort of coalesce in the mind all at once and don’t need a great deal of agonizing to create. The skill would come in to knowing how to match a chord progression to the piece without actually trying to invent the whole thing. In other words, if you have to sit and try to put together a song using theory without already having it in your head, it will probably never capture the magic.

Like Yellow Brick Road, lots of songs don't start their chord progressions on the tonic in the vocal melody and that's a great way to build tension!

@marcio_souza007

4 ай бұрын

Or at least a sense of freshness to the ears of the listener.

@Wout1337

3 ай бұрын

Especially starting on the 2 or 4 always gives me a sense of movement/direction.

@sub-jec-tiv

2 ай бұрын

The fact that the verse starts away from the root ‘home’ and gradually flirts with returning home, finally returning us there, also supports the lyric of the song, which is about making the decision to leave the rat race in a shiny city and return to a simple and more satisfying life. The music does precisely what the lyric is suggesting. It deliberates on ‘awayness’ then returns.

@Mourinho335

2 ай бұрын

Make more vids like this please

The chorus starts with Bb flat minor 😊👍

Nice to hear someone talk about the structure of an elton john song. Every song he has is well written and a great song and i wish people talked about him and his music more.

I once played guitar with an Elton John Tribute band. It was brutal learning everything pre internet charts!

The C major functions both as a 3rd dominant in the scale of Ab and as a 5th degree in the original key of F. That's what makes the return to F as tonic so satisfying

His chords in his songs are really a revelation.

And all that in ONE song! Still he has done three chord songs, too. All for the song. A lesson for all of us.

There's one key omission in the chord sequences: in the chorus Elton plays Gm --> Bb --> C --> F. The Gm to Bb movement is actually very interesting and gives color and lift to the passage. A very similar sequence is in the prechorus, which is also missing a piece in this video: Elton plays Bbm --> Db --> Eb --> Ab --> ... which is exactly the same chorus sequence but in a different key. Again, the Bbm --> Db provides a lift to the harmony. Elton is a master of using hints and repeating themes multiple times in a song, without being obvious. For instance, the "I've finally decided my future lies beyond the Yellow Brick Road" section uses the same descending chord sequence at the beginning of the song

@stevemd6488

Ай бұрын

Agreed 👍👍

One of the key ideas hovering over all of this is that the song is built with sections. Each section has a distinct key center. That's what the modulation is doing, and what the repeat of the pre-chorus accomplishes. The effect of this is you go on a journey (get it?, Yellow Brick Road) through the structure of the song.

I'm complete addicted to Harmony and love this kind of content. Thanks!! Actually your Dm/C is F/C. Personally I prefer to use F C/E Dm F/C Bb etc... rather than Dm/C

I agree with most of what you discuss. I'm both a pianist and guitarist who's played every hit Elton John has written. The basic premise of what you are discussing is strong bass movements. Walter Piston (prominent music theorist) discusses this in his theory texts. I think you could have more cohesion to your video if you added the scale-like motion of the bass, why it works and why it's used. Elton John incorporates this technique in many of his songs which has contributed to his success as a songwriter. It's.much more evident analyzing it on a piano than on the guitar. Pattern playing melodies on the guitar is as easy as it is to pattern playing harmonic changes on the piano. Thousands of people on Reddit and Quora ask how to write a song... You've nailed one of those elements. Thanks for analyzing one of greatest songwriter's ever.

I’m ashamed to say, I have never noticed how pretty that song is! Props to Mr Elton and to you sir!

Fantastic analysis! I feel it's worth noting that much of what you talked about is a direct product of the lyric, since, like almost all John/Taupin songs, the lyrics came first on this one. The song is about someone who has found success, and is starting to think life may have been better without it. The lyrics evoke emotional instability when the protagonist bemoans their feelings of entrapment by fame, and resolve when the protagonist starts on their journey back home. The pre-chorus vocals sound like a wailing cry to me (layered with pristine vocals that make it one of the most beautiful cries ever heard).

Awesome. I learned this song years ago with a capo and never really understood the chord progression. Now I've been schooled 🤘🎓

Well done, mate! I love Rick Beato's "What Makes This Song Great" where he analyzes a song as a producer. I have been looking for a similar series analyzing songs as a songwriter. This is it! You should make this a regular series.

@mattbarrentine7056

4 ай бұрын

12tone is a great channel for this

@exxekhan

4 ай бұрын

@@mattbarrentine7056 I watch that channel regularly. But I want MOAR!

@rodrigofaillace2316

4 ай бұрын

Obrigado

@Wout1337

3 ай бұрын

​@@mattbarrentine7056thanks!

This is a great song to analyze, and you’ve done an A-1 job with it. It’s especially cool that you’ve done it for guitar. Probably 100-200-1000 lessons for this on KZread for piano, but how many done on guitar? And this is so much more than just a “How to Play” video. Elton was a genius songwriter, on a level few if any, will ever reach. The stories from his band and others close to him about how Elton would just sit down at the piano and bang out the chords and vocal melodies for the lyrics Bernie Taupin had already written are legendary. To say Elton is an Icon is a bit of an understatement. Nice guitar too, bro.

So glad I stumbled across this. It's a treasure trove for a musician like me with no formal education. Subbed.

I have seen a lot of videos on KZread on music theory and songwriting as an ex Music teacher- some good, dome bad, some decidedly ugly. This is in a new category of awesome videos. There are few presenters who are so beautifully analytical. Precise, accurate, well explained. This is right up there with the very, very best material you will find for free anywhere. Watch, listen, digest and apply. I have just made that sentence up, and need to put it on a T-Shirt🤓thank you!

I've been playing guitar for 47 years . this is one of the best explanations on youtube

This is a fantastic analysis of that chord progression. I've always been drawn to it, and could never put my finger on why it does what it does, until you took the time to walk us through it! Thanks for that!

Man i love that G&L. Sounds fantastic with those pickups!

What a masterful song.....we just don't get songs like this today.....

Thank you for a wonderful lesson, having the theory along side is perfect. Just mentioning the circle of 4th’s / 5ths has been a tremendous help and I urge anyone who hasn’t seen that song writers tool to go and check it out, it floored me at how powerful it was once I understood how it’s used and my ability to understand what all this stuff means just went up a level.

Awesome. Lots of moving bass notes. Seems this sounds more effective on piano than guitar for some reason. Great video!

awesome breakdown and explanation on the theory :):) what a great song - I wonder though ……. do you think the chords were built first or the melody came first ?

Nicely done man. I play professionally in Nashville and I’ve always been fascinated with this song. You just connected all the dots for me. Thank you for making me smarter

@blaisevillaume9051

2 ай бұрын

I bet you have a bunch of stupid hand tattoos, huh?

Played this on the piano, sounds great.. thanks

This is amazing. I am a self taught guitarist with lots of holes in my understanding of how music works. The explanation and breakdown of this song is just what I needed, and I need MORE OF THIS!

Love your 3 pickup G & L Tele. Sounds fantastic!

Excellent analysis. A common feature of the borrowed chords here is the stark 2 step jump: F --> Db, or the other way, F --> A7.

Fascinating. I’ve started a song on the 6 minor and started a verse on the 4 major, and use the 2 and 6 minor in all kinds of creative ways, and believe that unusual progressions are such a great way to expand your writing… thanks for this!

Yeah, I was lucky enough to hear Elton as he released his songs back in the 70’s. That “Mario” cadence at 15:40 is very useful, the bVI - bVII - I is a great way to end a minor song on the Picardy Third, the parallel major. People think a song is in say G Major or G minor, but it’s in the key of G regardless. Borrowing from the parallel major/minor, along with relative and parallel major/minors of your tonic, subdominant / dominant, opens a world of opportunities. You can never underestimate the ii-V7-I, as you can pretty much use it to modulate to any key you want. You can make any chord which exists sound good in any key, if you precede it with an ear worm. Great job mate, thanks.

@Wout1337

3 ай бұрын

Was looking for someone to mention the mario cadence!

He is absolutely amazing. I learned a lot of his songs on the guitar trying to emulate the keyboard. His structuring still baffles me. Thanks for explaining at least some of his magic.

Incredible analysis of this incredible song. I remember how much it blew me away the first time I heard it on the radio, and it still does today. It is exquisitely written, and stands the test of time. Thank you for sharing this. :-)

As someone that can’t justify course fees these lessons are brilliant. They are often so dense that someone with my rudimentary knowledge of theory will take a lesson like this apart multiple times and learn so much. Thanks. 👍🙏☯️

Marvellous explanation. Amazing job!

Always was one of my favourite elton john songs. Now i know more it is sheer brilliant composing.

Definitely the best song by Elton John. Definitely the best breakdown of this great song.

@psbretones

3 ай бұрын

Amen to that

@bullcrap9409

2 ай бұрын

Huh? Try Rocket Man. Amoreena. Writing. Burn Down the Mission. Where to Now St. Peter.

These have been my favorite chord changes since I was little. This guitar explanation is a priceless gift 🙏

Thank you. I'd watch as many of these as you want to do. Really well done. Also great insight into Elton's genius.

I friggen love the changes in this song. I’ve broken it down before when I’ve played it in shows, and something i thought was really cool that wasn’t mentioned, was that the chorus actually isn’t really the first time we hear the dominant III chord. In the chorus, it’s an A7 because we’re in F. But in addition to the C chord serving as a dominant V of F to get us back into that key… its also the first time in the song we hear that Dominant III chord, because that C is the dominant III of Ab. It serves 2 very cool functions at once… priming us for going back to F, but also priming us to hear that dominant III of F (A7) in the chorus. As you say around 17:33, hearing the borrowed chords earlier in the song sets us up so beautifully to love them in the chorus. This song is a masterclass in parallel modulation all around.

I love it when songwriters aren't afraid of a little theory. You don't have to be Beethoven but a little elegance goes a long way. Cheers!

Great video, really enjoyed this, and that G&L guitar is so cool.

Hearing a breakdown of these songs using guitar is massively helpful. Allows for seeing how the lyrics follow the chords sequences. Sort of putting one in the head of the song writer. Cool video.

As a piano player I'm hearing F C/E Dm F/C Bb Bb/C C F - Bb/C is similar to F/C but it includes a Bb note instead of an A which is what the ear wants to hear if we're resolving it into an F (4th note resolves into 3rd like a suspended chord). - Coming from Dm, F/C sounds better than Dm/C (lose the D note) Also Bb (Lydian) to Db sounds great because it works like a modulation from Bb to Bb- (Bbm/Db), like Lydian to minor Lydian.

This was a great learning lesson…thank you very much

Wow! I really enjoyed that.

This is a really well done video. Good job. Thanks for making it!

First time I heard YBR played loud, in stereo, at a dance - it actually made me feel uneasy and just a little nauseous, like the way one feels after getting off a roller-coaster - but it has become one of my favorite EJ songs since. :^)

Yeah man! Great one, really love to see this kind of breakdown and done so well Bring more of these, por favor amigos!

As an intermediate guitar player just starting to dissect songs and music theory, this video and channel couldn’t have hit at a more perfect time. Subscribed for more, thanks for the video!

This is fantastic.. very smartly done.. the shapes in the guitar with the bass notes are a little hard for a intermediate player but if played on the piano, it is easier and sounds great with the bass notes.. great job mate 🤗

Elton John is a genius! I love his music, particularly his early 70s period. Thanks Bennie!

That’s a real cool guitar you have there man! I love it. Sounds great and looks great. Thats a nice blue and the pickups are an awsome choice.

Benny, great resource here, thankyou. I have got loads out of these insights/observations. The tension, movement, stability, quality and resolution of chords. It's provided the science/rationale behind some moves I have already been doing - but now I understand more about why & when I might wish to engage them. There is plenty I didn't know and what a masterclass of a video and song to leverage! Big takeaways for me were to be bolder with my borrowed chords - write a progression I wouldn't then try to come up with a melody - super helpful breaking out of habitual patterns. I want to leverage parallel modulation now to create a sone with a sad key (minor ) verse modulating to happy (parallel major) or visa versa to provide stronger prosody supporting the lyrical message. I encourage anyone watching to sit down watch, pause, noodle, doodle, reflect and play - I've done this the last 3 mornings and it's been inspirational and really bedded in the knowledge. Thankyou Benny & Keppie for your continued high quality content that balances that instant gratification youtube "fix" with content meaty enough and worth enough of regular reflection and study. Happy New Year. More please 😁

Good analysis mate Elton seems to use a lot of Gospel type sequences on his songs and like most piano players has had some classical i fluence to maybe you could discuss this if you havent already ? Cheers

That thumbnail ! BTW, the real secret to EJ’s flow is his use of inversions

1) Intro: not only does the bass drop in melodic steps, but the melody above does similar a third above. Simple but very effective. 2) Verse: far more commonly called “Circle/Cycle of Vths”. 3) Pre-Chorus/Bridge: Cycle of Vths in Ab once again starting on the ii chord. 5) Chorus: A7 (3rd in key of F) is very common in gospel and blues progressions, a device Elton uses in dozens of his classic era tunes. 6) Db - Eb - F is another common EJ climb back to the Tonic. E.g., Don’t Let the Sun, Alice… Elton listened to a ton of great jazz growing up, then accompanied many blues and gospel singers with his band Bluesology. Those chord progressions hugely influenced his writing.

@GaZonk100

4 ай бұрын

xlnt

@Chimp_No_1

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing !

@Chimp_No_1

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing !

ALL KZread WITNESS- THAT is how you give a guitar lesson. INTERVALS…people. That is all. I’m subscribing 12 times to this channel.

0:20 "Looking for an island in a boat upon the sea." Bernie Taupin and Elton John. (Probably to buy it. Airport included of course.)

Thank you so much. I love GB Yellow Brick Road.

Excellent analysis, thank you.

The A7 and the D7 chords are secondary dominants (V/vi and V/II) respectively, the first one resolving as a deceptive cadence

@Wout1337

3 ай бұрын

Was looking for this comment! I was curious how he was going to interpret them as borrowed chords (because, borrowed from what key?), but he never ended up explaining that.

@metamizol1606

2 ай бұрын

True. And the Db-Eb-F on the chorus is a clasical backdoor cadence.

Elton was unimaginable genious

Thank you for this excellent analysis !! I always thought this song was extra special !!

This is a absolutely fantastic breakdown of chords in terms of theory. Extremely easy to understand. Would love to see a Stevie Wonder breakdown. He uses some resl interesting chord movements.

@jimrockford2335

5 ай бұрын

Me too, ‘Overjoyed’ would be a good one. I don’t understand a lot of theory, but I imagine there’s all kinds of magic going on in that one.

@GaZonk100

4 ай бұрын

yess!

@Art-zs6sl

4 ай бұрын

I bet the Beatles have a few interesting ones as well

@scflair6916

4 ай бұрын

I love this suggestion!!!!! Stevie Wonder, please!!

@ricos1497

4 ай бұрын

You want to see a Stevie Wonder breakdown? What did he ever do to you?

This is a great video to learn from! Awesome job, Benny. Thank you!

this was a great rundown, thank you!

Fantastic analysis, this was really a treat. I love that song and this discussion was so clear. Thanks again, you guys are the best!

Very VERY interesting. This is a great study. Thanks for the insight. I will definitely make use of it. Cheers to you 🍻

9:19 The band Suede loves to use the bVI chord; it shows up in a majority of their songs.

Fantastic lesson, technical but easily accessible because of your presentation! I subbed to see more of your content! Thanks for sharing!

great video! thank you. . Now I love this song even more

Dude! This is a FANTASTIC video. Great edit and excellent content. Thanks for the breakdown!! Looking forward to more videos like this. Thank you❤

Superb analysis...loved it thoroughly! 👌 ❤

Thank u for breaking down some Elton chord theory. More Elton, and maybe some Elliott Smith and Beatles!

A tremendously educating and entertaining analysis of one of my all-favorite songs. My head is swimming with all of the dots that were just connected for me. Standing ovation!

Wow this was excellent, I loved that. One of my favourite songs ever and seeing this kind of analysis gave me a real insight into the musical creativity behind it. Thank you!

I have always found GYBR an amazing song for chords. I've been waiting for someone to give it a good music theory analysis. Thank you!

As others have said, fabulous job analyzing the chord progressions. As I write it just made me think, is there anything as interesting to say about the melody line?🧐

As a guitar player who is now up to my knees in learning piano, EJ’s songs have inspired me for years. This was my first Elton album. Even though Zep and Sabbath were mainstays on my turntable, this music changed me. Thanks so much for your insight and analysis. Great perspective and video.

Prechorus chords are not Db, Eb and Ab, but Bbm Eb Ab Db which is exactly transposed version of four first chords of the verse. (2-5-1-4 in Ab-major). Thanks for a nice song, I did not know it before!

@ChrisOwenGuitar

4 ай бұрын

I thought exactly the same thing. Starts with a Bbm. Excellent video still.

@mohammedsarthajcm154

3 ай бұрын

Yes.

@mohammedsarthajcm154

3 ай бұрын

However Bb minor is relative minor to Db.

@mohammedsarthajcm154

3 ай бұрын

I feel Db sounds even better in the context

@piotrrusk

2 ай бұрын

@@mohammedsarthajcm154 It is. But I am talking precisely about the chords used. And while the Bbm chord (Bm7 even more!) is is similar to the Db chord - it is still different.

Great video. Thank you for making me fully realize what a masterpiece this song is. Ever thought of doing a John Lennon Chord Moves video?

Thumbs up for the beautiful G&L ASAT Special+ with an extra/middle pickup!

As many have said already, great job with this. I'm such a fan of Elton and his songs. If you were to do more of these songwriting breakdowns of tunes by Elton and similar artists, I'd click every time! Especially in the chord-diagramming sense. You did such a great job explaining the effectiveness of his chord moves. Cheers, and thanks for the great content!

Perfectly presented and so well paced!

Great analysis. Thanks. This is degree level stuff made simple!

Fantastic analysis ! Very interesting and informative ! New subscriber ! 👍

Great pacing on your video . And a great song to analyze

Really well done. Would love to see more videos like this. 👍

this is great explanation. It's so clear and enables creativity, thank u!

What an excellent and inspiring video. Well done.

One of my favorites especially for the structure/chord progression. I use it as a major example for all these elements when teaching theory.

That Db is the major #5 chord… relative minor of that is Bbm. Otherwise known as the iv chord (minor iv) of F. AKA the chord that solicits a tear in one’s eye! You are calling it the b6 chord which makes more sense. The Eb that you mention 7m into the video, is also relative the the minor iv chord. But it gives the minor iv vibe more of a m6/9 vibe.

Excellent presentation. analysis and explanation of the options available.

Great Job -------- on all aspects. Informative -- entertaining & a great music lesson. Really cool to see it on guitar.

Great job brother! Well presented 👍

very solid inspiration and material. thanks