that pitch shifted bowie line sounded freaking hilarious

@yvonnecampbell7036

5 жыл бұрын

Like an Anticlimax!

@theguitardude5613

5 жыл бұрын

It was worth waiting for. I saw your comment first.lol

@MrKite_

5 жыл бұрын

gruforevs C U R S E D

@midapita

5 жыл бұрын

Where?

@rickymurraymusic

4 жыл бұрын

I know, right!

I think it's entirely possible that Bowie knew exactly what he was doing. If you see some of the chords he uses in the context of guitar (with which I believe he did most of his writing) as opposed to a piano there are a lot of chord shapes that are quite exacting and specific. It feels very deliberate. And when you also consider the many fantastic musicians he worked with, Nile Rogers springs to mind, I think it all adds up to some very carefully crafted songs, which would be a large part of why they're so enduring. Great video as always.

@augustincitrin9305

5 жыл бұрын

Happy someone said this, David Bowie 100% knew what he was doing he was not only fluent in guitar and wrote in it, but also wrote a lot for piano, he also knew how to play saxophone and many more instruments. He was also very familiar with music theory, a good example being Life on Mars, his use of line cliché and the repetition and intentional break show lots of intention behind the music theory.

@DavidBennettPiano

5 жыл бұрын

I agree with you ,but too often people get sidetracked about whether or not the use of modes, or whatever, was intentional or not. This particularly happens when I discuss the Beatles. People go on about whether the Beatles 'knew about theory' which completely misses the point of what theory does and what my videos are about! Theory describes what music is doing... it doesn't prescribe what music should do... so it doesn't really matter if the writer knew what they were doing or not when I'm looking at their music and describing what I see

@tcfween

5 жыл бұрын

I totally get what you're saying here. And I also really liked the video you did on the Beatles. And I think that Modal analysis actually takes on a deeper level when one compares acts that didn't likely specifically know what they were doing and those that did. Each has different but equally interesting properties. To me it's like comparing Pollock and Da Vinci, the instinctive versus the meticulous (which makes me wonder what you think of Elvis Costello's music). It speaks to the various qualities of Quality. @@DavidBennettPiano

@DavidBennettPiano

5 жыл бұрын

@@tcfween I love a bit of Elvis Costello !

@flugumadur

5 жыл бұрын

I think the Nile Rogers connection is interesting. Because that is one ridiculously competent guitar player and he's spoken at length about the state of Let's dance when Bowie first played it for him. My feeling is that Nile owns a lot more of that song than he gets credit for. Not to take anything away from Bowie.

Trust me, he knew. His composition style was full of these little details, he just inspired all the genius people working with him to deepen the idea. From Space Oddity to Killing a Little Time, he masterminded everything. Pure deity.

@alecrodriguez5037

Жыл бұрын

He knew all these music theory ideas in his mind, but I doubt he knew the names of them. I’d say he just understood them!

I like to think of Mixolydian as “rock major”. 🙂👌

@DavidBennettPiano

5 жыл бұрын

I agree! It's super common in rock... maybe more common than the use of major scale! Leonard Bernstein refers to rock music when he is talking about mixolydian.

@spritualdiary

5 жыл бұрын

Major Tom..😊

@DirtyOldSkunk

5 жыл бұрын

Lol you guys have no idea what the hell you are talking about

@MyXxx77

5 жыл бұрын

That's pretty much what it is. I think of it exactly the same way.

@divisix024

5 жыл бұрын

@@spritualdiary Can you hear me?

the musicians who worked with Bowie in the early 70s said he used strange sequences of chords so sometimes it was a bit tricky for them to play them and a jazz musician who worked with him in the last album of his life said he was amazed by the fact he came out with very strange chords and sequences so we can say he knew what he was doing.

I heard Bowie in an interview where the person interviewing him pronounced it "Bough-ie" (as in when the bough breaks the cradle will fall...) and Bowie corrected him and said it's "BOW-ie" as in a bow tie.

Absolutely spellbinding exploration of Bowie's music (and the genius of his many collaborators, of course) I suppose I'd just become rather deaf to the 'tremble like a FLOOWAH' moment in Let's Dance after hearing it so many times, it was so interesting to hear how it 'should' sound. I'd love another vid about him, though I'm sure there are just too many other topics to put time into. Amazing work, truly.

Fascinating. Have always loved Bowie's chord structures and use of melody. Look at "Sons of the silent age"! It takes you through a wonderful and strange musical landscape.

@loveispatientloveiskind2205

2 жыл бұрын

Ohhh wow! Love the mystery of that

@felixmarques

8 ай бұрын

SotSA is one of my all-time Bowie favorites and it's a shame it's not better known.

Considering he took his name from the American Bowie knife, I use that for pronunciation. But if there's anyone I would think wouldn't need a disclaimer about possibly not knowing anything about the theory behind his music, Bowie would be one of them. He started getting into music by learning the Jazz saxophone, so I think it's pretty certain he had at least some idea of it.

@rogerdaltrey1

5 жыл бұрын

...and his last album and arguably songs like "Sue," are possibly a very deliberate statement by Bowie to clear any doubt about his 'jazz ear.' Not to mention, 'Bring Me the Disco King,' which could have been easily penned by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. His late period co-conspirators were straight up jazzers: Tim Lefebvre and Donny McCaslin. As per his reading and music chops playing alongside the likes of Rick Wakeman, I'm sure he picked up enough theory and texture to know what he was 'hearing.' As per his modus operandi in the studio, I liken it to somewhere between Duke Ellington and Andy Warhol. Thereabouts. But then again, he would assert and rarely compromise what he 'heard.' In the Lodger album he's collapsing and splicing many genres. Check out the song 'Move On.' It's straight up Buddy Holly but what is happening rhythmically is totally subtle and unique. I believe it's before Yasasin on Lodger. (A sea shanty/reggae tune employing a major western tonal center but then 'settling,' into a middle eastern, quite possibly, Turkish mode.) Quite different modal textures and rhythms. And the theatricality of it all. Programmatically, Bowie quite intentionally ordered the songs to make strong juxtapositional and contrasting statements. Much like a painter would put three canvases together to make an overall statement. Now THAT is quite rare too. I believe John Lennon and the Beatles were quite deliberate in doing this sort of thing too. With characters like Bungalow Bill, Sexie Sadie, Maxwell of silver hammer. All very theatrical characters. Not just thinking about the song key order or whether the tune ended a fourth or a fifth above the next one, but perhaps more likely 'scene order.' It's an almost theatrical way and very visual approach to creating rock tunes. They probably lifted it all off 'Uncle Ray' Davies, all said. I mean, c'mon, 'You Really Got Me,' and 'All Day and All of the Night,' early heavy metal/punk. Not enough is written about poor Uncle Ray. After all, he is the master of the three minute novel? kzread.info/dash/bejne/iWeDu5ObkrXNhLw.html

@suhaib168

5 жыл бұрын

This.

@ginrudy7613

5 жыл бұрын

Quite right.

@erwinwoodedge4885

4 жыл бұрын

I think I once read that he himself doesn't care whether people call him Bow-ie or Bo-wie, but I'm also quite sure he used the latter pronunciation himself.

@brianwolle2509

4 жыл бұрын

it's boe-ee, not boo-ee.

Dude you are awesome. The Garson piano solo is absurdly great, I still listen to it a lot, after decades.

As a songwriter, I’m always looking for more options to create interesting hooks and melodies. I love your analysis of Bowie’s work. Thank you!

Very interesting videos. We want more!

Loved this video. I will never get tired of Bowie content. That clip at the end summed him up perfectly... :)

Very cool. One of my favorite artists. Nice to see Bowie’s modal magic up close. I’ve heard Bowie pronounce it Bo-ee. If you do more Bowie theory videos, unpack Hunky Dory! What a great record. Thanks for this!

This was a brilliant video. Thanks.

Very good video make more please! Cheers from México!

It's such a pleasure to hear songs I know so well illuminated anew through your incisive analysis.

Fascinating! You have amazing musical understanding. Keep the insights coming. Thank you!

Amazing stuff, David was such a brilliant composer. Could you do the same video for Björk?

@thiagoskapata

5 жыл бұрын

How she uses Locrian... :D

@kennytan728

4 жыл бұрын

@@thiagoskapata he oready did that

Great video, man. Great material in this channel.

Do one on Pink Floyd. Great video man!

I was lazily scrolling through David Bennett's videos and saw this for the first time. I love this one, as I had only recently noticed how often Bowie (in the melody) goes to flat 7 at an especially dramatic place in a number of songs. Maybe this is common among other songwriters? Anyway, I learned even more from this great vid. Much appreciated.

@DavidBennettPiano

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks. 😃😃

David, your analyses are always enlightening and enhance our listening pleasure. They’re technical but so clear

Very informative. You must catch up on Life on Mars and explain why it works so well.

He pronounced it the first way you said it bow(tie)ie, I've never heard the second way you said it. But I have heard it boo-ie, as in Bowie knife.

Interesting modes on the LOW album !

Thanks for this analysis. And whilst I understand this video, as a teenager (when I had zero musical knowledge) I always felt that the transition from Aladdin Sane to Drive in Saturday was somehow perfect. It released that sense of strange confusion and darkness. Aladdin Sane is a masterpiece.

I really like in your videos how you show the alternatives, of how things would sound if you just followed the rules of the key/mode. It really drives home the point and helps explain why these songwriters are so good.

Yes, more Bowie! And great piece of interview at the end. Perfect conclusion.

The interview you put at the end fits so well with what you've talked about. Great job again!

You're doing a fantastic work here, I love popular music, andI love Bowie's music as much as anyone else, but being able to see the songs you love under a new light really made my day. Great stuff!

It's pronounced 'Bowie'. Hope that helps. Great vid.

@ugo5200

5 жыл бұрын

Nah dude, definitely 'Bowie'.

@ianlins2792

5 жыл бұрын

@Sonny Pickering Exactly! I was thinking the same thing.

@stulora3172

4 жыл бұрын

I always pronounced it "Bowie". As in Bowie. Am I doing this right?

@apenasmarcosfelipe

4 жыл бұрын

Bowie Wowie, guacamole!!!

@johnjohntv1195

4 жыл бұрын

Wait, are you saying Bowie, or Bowie?

The mixolidian mode is the least surprising, considering that Bowie was a massive fan of blues throughout his youth. Thank a lot for the thoughtful analisis; would kill to get any info like this about his Berlin albums and 1995 1'Outside. Thank you.

@253timeandtimeagain2

4 жыл бұрын

Bowie and Brian Eno! 4 albums together, 4 masterpieces! And 1.Outside is super-underrated.

The resolution in Ab at 09:02 on let's dance is hilarious. It really made my day, thanks.

You deserve more views and subs, Saludos desde La Paz, Baja California Sur, México.

Bow as in the tie: yes! More Bowie: YES!!!

Love your videos about modes!! I especially loved the one you made about John Williams. I'll be glad to see more videos regarding music from films.

Enjoyed that!

Brilliant video - extremely insightful as are all your videos and great for the musician who is looking to take things beyond the basics. I've subscribed. Thanks.

Brilliant as always David. And yes I mean both Davids.

Great video, would love to see more Bowie analysis!

Another great video David you’ve opened my mind to modes!

I believe it was Bowie to rhyme with Zoe (or, as he spelt it, Zowie)

Another very spot-on video. Thank you for sharing your interesting knowledge!

Just found you today and ADDICTED. This is fascinating stuff. Subscribed.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS VIDEO, I never liked David Bowie that much, but now thanks to you I found a lot of interest in his music, and now I want to analyze the harmony from all his songs!!! you always upoad so great content!!

All your videos are gems, thank you David !

Glad you did Alladin Sane and looked into some of his stuff. I would suggest you do a few videos of long form in rock and roll and pop - especially as long forms were explored quite a bit starting with The White Album until about the early 80's (Thriller probably being last big commercial song that has a long form). You could focus on how harmony keeps rather long forms tightly together For Bowie, try "Station to Station" or again some his earlier work - "Belway Brothers", "All The Madmen". Check out some of Meatloaf's extended songs. Early Emerson Lake and Palmer (about 1972) might be quite interesting. Finally a video on musique concrete, tape manipulation offers much - you can start with Tommorrow Never Knows from the Beatles, one of their best songs and feature musique concrete and manipulation of sound through tape looping and relay and distortion (the seagull for example originated as Paul McCartney laughing). This song was inspired of course by the experiments of classical composers such as Stockhausen and Lucier (I Am Sitting In A Room being a great example of how by simply having a person saying the same phrase through a microphone in a room the words become completely distorted). later on you have the work of Brian Eno (Here Come he Warm jets - his first solo after his work with Roxy Music) and of course Pink Floyd. This might be a completely new series for you and little outside your focus but might be worth checking out anyway.

Brilliant job as usual!

very great video and very interesting topic !! I'm also under the impression you are now much more skilled in video editing than 6month ago !! Thank you, cheers from Paris :) Louis

I totally loved this Bowie video and I think you should do more videos like this :)

Hey, I caught one early! Love your videos, man! Keep it going!

Great video! Very interested in more videos about use of modes of different artists!

bless I've been waiting for a video like this

Bowie consistently used tonality and modality in interesting ways throughout his whole career and was well aware. He definitely studied some theory as part of his early training in various instruments, but given his usual methods of randomizing and found poetry for writing lyrics, it's very likely that he did compose by ear and didn't bother analyzing it beyond “it works”. He still worked very collaboratively, so he surely knew how to name the stuff he came up with.

That interview clip at the end was really nice! I feel very inspired by just listening to him talking about his art

Great video and great work on your channel. I’ve been learning a lot, thank you

Amazing work David!

Great video! Another great modal use in Bowie’s music I’ve notice is the two very distinct Lydian chords, #4 suspensions, on A and E successively that start Lady Stardust.

I was hoping for "The Man who Sold the World". But great video anyhow!

I love videos like this. Please do them as much as you can! :D

Love this video hope you do more. Thanks so much

Seriously awesome analysis and insights !

Another really interesting video - thanks David.

Super insightful stuff! Thank you!

Very informative. Thank you for doing the research for us!

Excellent,another great video.Thank you.

Thank you for making these!

Couldn’t you really argue that the final G major chord of Heroes’ verse is acting like a pivot chord to the chorus, now in G major. The complete absence of the flat 7 in the vocal line would then be explained as G is now our major I, C is our IV, D the V and A and E minor as the ii and vi respectively. And the E minor sliding to D major could then just be a shift back to the key of D for the verse again. To me it just makes more sense within the context of a pop song to see it as a simple shift of key center than a deliberate modal shift. Especially when one sees the purpose of the chorus in the form of popular music.

@nirke_

5 жыл бұрын

D still sounds like the I to me. It just resolves much better.

@DavidBennettPiano

5 жыл бұрын

I like the idea but the verse of “Heroes” sounds very grounded in D major to me... it definitely sounds like I - IV. Not V - I which is what it would be if we were in G major. Just because a song doesn’t use C# doesn’t mean it’s not in D major. I don’t even think it’s a “modal shift” for the chorus... it’s just modal interchange. Thanks for your comment

Really interesting about leaving the 6th out of the melody thus being able to switch minor modes without a hiccup. Great video. Thx.

Excellent journey into the modal morass - I am starting to use modes for my writing and this helps a lot!! Thanks ...

Awesome video! Very informative!

I didn't know what you were talking about most of the time but I really enjoyed every second.

Thank you, men. I love this kind of content !

Excellent video, great work!!

@DavidBennettPiano

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks 😊

Fantastic and fascinating video!

Amazing. Don't stop!!

As the Hyperpope of the David Bowie inspired Cult “Plastic Soul” the official way to Pronounce “Bowie” from David himself is... “However you want, I know I am not sure.” Thank you and find out more at Cult of the Month: Where You Belong!

Just found your channel and binging your videos now... Radiohead is my favorite band... but I like *all* your videos.

Brilliant video, has Lou Reed/The Velvet Underground ever done anything to do with music theory? Also, I personally pronounce Bowie like a bow knot.

@UnitedFeodor

5 жыл бұрын

They mostly didn't. Half the songs are V - I. Heroin, Sweet Jane chorus, Rock'n'roll chorus and so on

@BartSchuller

5 жыл бұрын

Lou Reed: "One chord is fine. Two chords is pushing it. Three chords and you're into jazz."

@patriciofernandez2711

5 жыл бұрын

Lou was famous for talking shit every time he opened his mouth though. A lot of his songs (especially in the VU days) contained modulations and modal interchanges. Candy Says, Who Loves the Sun, the Sweet Jane bridge, New Age, What Goes On, Beginning to See the Light, She's My Best Friend, etc.

@4scended498

5 жыл бұрын

Ok surely he can stretch these out to a whole video: After Hours I’m sticking with you Who Loves The Sun? Sweet Jane Candy Says Modern Dance Endless Cycle

@bartonone2005

5 жыл бұрын

Yes, "Perfect Day." It was not a V-I or a I-IV-V structure and Lou Reed used key changes throughout. The intro is modal. I think he knew more about music than he let on.

Another brilliant video! I always feel that a lot of 90s Brit Pop has a very specific feel and have noticed how many artists used interesting or slightly unconventional chords or progressions, even if its just 1 chord. One of my favourite songs is 'Its my Shadow' by Ocean Colour Scene and it wasn't until I actually looked at the chords did I realise the brilliance of the writing, especially as it doesn't really have a chorus.

Wow this is a great series! Love the break down and analysis of these songs. A wealth of knowledge here. Keep up the great work. Would love to hear you do some Police songs.

Yessssss pls make more videos about David Bowie I enjoyed it very much :)

I think he chose bow like the tie, but that he also gave up and got back to making the music. The book "The complete David Bowie" by Nicholas Pegg is a great resource into his music, by the way!

Chorus of The Man Who Sold the World is a mixolydian mode

really interesting, Ive never seen a music channel be so clear about illustrating theory with examples a more casual listener might know! I was always obsessed with "Zeros" from the unpopular never let me down album but I would love any more Bowie, Zeppelin, Rush, Kate Bush...

Very interesting. As I get older I listen more and more to classical music and less to pop music. But I never get tired of Bowie's music. I'd like more videos on his music. Would be interesting with an analysis of some of his more recent songs from for example Heathen and Blackstar.

Wow.... hearing heroes made me cry. I miss that man so much.

Yes, please continue to share you great analytical skills. This was brilliant and things like that do justice to David Bowie's talent. I seem to remember seeing an interview with him where he was asked how his name should be pronounced and he said it was as in "wow". However, I'm pretty sure I later heard him (years later...) pronounce his name as in "bow"...

Never clicked faster on a video

More videos like that please, love that

I love that you talked about Aladdin Sane!

@DavidBennettPiano

4 жыл бұрын

I love Aladdin Sane!!!

@strangedivine

4 жыл бұрын

David Bennett Piano I have been obsessed with that song since the first time I heard it. It’s so brilliant.

I have no idea what I just watched but it was thoroughly enjoyable and I think I might have learned something.

Thanks. I really enjoyed it. This is the way to understand the modes.

The Aladdin Sane piano solo

Awesome!!! more of Bowie please!!!

It was a stage name that he got from the Bowie knife. So it's like a bowtie if we're English! Great video. I would guess he knew exactly what he was doing.

Excellent. Enjoyed that.

Your vids are VERY well made!...

@DavidBennettPiano

4 жыл бұрын

FTarquin thank you!

Love it! Thanks so much