I never noticed the somewhere over the rainbow thing. That's so clever.

@thegeekywitch2352

7 жыл бұрын

Ik same here

@chaoticgeorgie722

6 жыл бұрын

Definitely Catherine I never noticed it either. It's so cool

@hannahduggan3599

5 жыл бұрын

I love Somewhere Over The Rainbow. It's such a beautiful song.

@theengineer_0

2 жыл бұрын

Both are good and cool song.

@AuthenticStories

Жыл бұрын

Isn't it

I find it so impressive when people are able to just play shit. I think too much I'd never be able to just sit there and play which is one of the many reasons why you're becoming one of my favorite people to watch. Not only is your personality and humor addictive, but watching you sight read or just go off a theme is hypnotic.

Watching people talk about their love for music with a spark in their eye is hands down one of my favorite things in the world

You're piano skills are out of this world goddamn

man, your face is bloody screaming Jonathan Groff at me

@astrowiz3544

6 жыл бұрын

IKR

I love how this just became a rant about how great Stephen Sondheim is. Honestly, same.

That little improv towards the beginning of the video was amazing. Kind of wishing it was from an actual show!

I'm helping write a musical right now, and it's pretty similar. The entire plot of the musical is focused on the young prince of this underground world, and so his theme comes up pretty freaking often, and since I'm writing the orchestrations and co-writing the lyrics with the composer, I decided to take Wagner's approach to themes and give each theme to a specific instrument, so the young prince's theme is almost always played by a glockenspiel. The prince as an adult and the queen have very similar themes that you can actually play together that gives the end of their themes a very nice harmony, which signifies their closeness (also the queen's theme, or just anything she has, is usually played on an oboe). However, while the king's theme is also of a similar nature, if you try to play it at the same time as the adult prince's and queen's themes, it's rather unpleasant, as the notes and chords don't line up, showing how the king wasn't close with his son, who ended up passing away before he could teach him the ways of being a king, and his wife, who left him for being a dictator (his theme is played on a bassoon). There's lots of other examples, but it's really fascinating to see the royal family in this. I freaking love this show.

@irisgrey7484

5 жыл бұрын

Hazel Grey can i listen to this anywhere???

@dankhnw8

5 жыл бұрын

That sounds amazing holy fuck, I really hope you do well so I could blast it everyday hahah

@AvitalShtap

5 жыл бұрын

You guys are geniuses!!!! What is that musical called?

@CLPark-ht6zp

3 жыл бұрын

Literally I want to listen to this

The music paints a mental picture without words. Thank you for this. You really do great stuff.

I love Stephen Sondheim. "Sweeney Todd" has to be my favorite musical of all time. So clever and daring.

@nat5464

6 жыл бұрын

PastelMagpie I'm playing this show right now and the music is so gorgeous and complex and it's taking over my life

I totally agree with what you said about themes!! People like you NEED to write musicals you were born for this kind of thing!

@KevinLynchNJ

6 жыл бұрын

Working on it :)

I know you've said that you don't particularly enjoy the simpler musicality of Hamilton, but have you noticed the themes of the characters within the music? It's not as complex as Sondheim or the older composers, but it's present. Also, Next to Normal is fucking brilliant and needs more recognition.

@AtlanticGiantPumpkin

7 жыл бұрын

Sondheim IS Lin-Manuel Miranda's mentor. Lin worked with Sondheim to adapt lyrics for the Spanish version of West Side Story, so it's pretty much guaranteed that he learned those tricks from the legend himself.

@ed-210

Жыл бұрын

Taking your advice and listening to Next To Normal now.

I want to write a musical about 2020 where the theme is existential dread

@savannahbeingchaotic7242

3 жыл бұрын

same, i actually already have the 1st song written out lol

I feel like I'm listening to a high-end musical professor in college. There's not a lot on KZread about how to write a musical, but this was exactly what I was looking for! Thanks!

Can I have the entire Rite of Spring with you staring at me and raising your eyebrows? That was gold.

I agree, I feel like so many musicals are missing a lot of this these days.

@KevinLynchNJ

2 жыл бұрын

It's so sad

excuse me while I learn more from you than any of my former music teachers. I listened to Something Rotten on your recommendation and haven't heard a smarter musical in years. I loved the incorporation of themes and references from other musicals in 'A Musical'! :)

I love for this kind of video! This is the reason Music History and Music Theory were my favorite classes in music school! Hearing how themes show up in operas and musicals are my favorite things ever. Please do more like this!

Clicking on your video was the greatest decision I've made today. Thank you for this, Kevin!!!

@KevinLynchNJ

2 жыл бұрын

Fantastic!

I would actually bloody love to hear/perform/see a musical you write. Because the short clips of you improving songs are incredible you’re so talented.

I love that you love the off putting chords too. Also, that you state yeah I’m “trying” to get organized as a writer. Aren’t we all. lol😅

Your facial expressions are just amazing. They make me laugh so much x

Listen I know that you hate Hamilton and such but Lin does a lot of the musical theme stuff that you are talking about throughout the play, such as Angelica's theme played first at the beggining of "Satisfied"

Holy fuck his playing is beautiful!

possibly one of my favourite videos of Kevin's that I've seen. its nice to hear someone talk so passionately about music

Yes!! I love Sondheim!! What's a really cool show to me is Preludes by Dave Malloy. Malloy is recently famous for Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812, and I like Great Comet a lot, but honestly Preludes is just as good if not better. It's based on the life and work of Sergei Rachmaninoff, and where Malloy really comes through is that his theme for the show is Rachmaninoff's composiitons. Basically all of the music is Rachmaninoff's, appropriated and set to lyrics by Malloy. It really pays homage to the man himself while also honestly telling the story of his three-year depression following the debut of his first symphony. A lot of the cast recording is just dialogue set over Rachmaninoff's compositions while other parts (like The First Symphony and Lilacs) involve a lot more singing. Either way, it stays true to the source material and provides this really cool outlook on classical composition. God! I love Preludes! I'll plug it basically any chance I can get, and I can't do it justice.

Kevin: *plays masterful, improvised runs on the spot* Also Kevin immediately after playing it: I dunno.

I really hope your channel continues to grow. I absolutely love you and your videos!

HOW CAN YOU PLAY THE PIANO SO FAST AND MAKE IT LOOK EASY WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK THIS IS AMAZING

I don't know if you've seen the series on Sweeney Todd from Into The Hoods youtube channel, but he covers much of the same thing. What a phenomenally crafted musical, and my absolute favorite.

I’m writing a musical at the moment this was really helpful thanks!

Ask and you shall receive apparently. Thank you so much for uploading this! I'm out of compositional shape thanks to a two year break (long story) and you just reminded me of all the options available to me with thematic writing and from outside sources. Music is so much easier to write (and often times better) when starting from some kind of source. Also, by the way, loved listening to your EP, I'm glad KZread's algorithm finally brought me to a channel I like!

I love this video so much! I related a lot to your bursts of “IT’S GENIUS, IT’S AMAZING” because if that isn’t me, I don’t know what is. It’s what I love about musicals, they’re so thought-out, all the themes and motifs and underlying countermelodies and reprises, it’s genius. I love how musical composers are just able to translate drama into music. It’s the same with movie scores, you know that something is an action scene, that something is an emotional scene, a happy scene, a where-all-shit-hits-the-fan scene, etc. You can tell all of that just by listening to the score alone. But what I want to know is HOW to do that 😂

Your facial expressions while playing makes me love this video so much more.

This is the first time I’ve seen your stuff and I subscribed in about a minute 😂 my musical theatre performer ass loves everything about this video

i know you aren't a fan of hamilton, but there's a ton of recurring themes in there, plus a ton of it is inspired by sondheim

You are insightful and hilarious! Love it!

*tears streaming down my face because of how much i love sweeney todd and now you're explaining to me exactly why*

He’s so genuine

God damn get it. Also, Next to Normal. I could talk about that god damned musical for ages. Such a well thought out video, obvious dedication and passion put into what you obviously love. SO good.

pleeeeeeeeeeeeeez do a video on The Great Comet because Dave Malloy does this kinda stuff all the tiiiiime.

THIS VIDEO IS SO GOOD OH MY GOSH THE EXCITMENT I FEEL

Gosh, you deserve more subscribers! You are brilliant!

Dude you're fuckin amazing you're brilliant on the piano and I appreciate your opinion on musical theater and things like this. I absolutely love Sondheim

I have never seen someone swear so much in a video about music XD This was fantastic, though, and also hilarious, but very educational at the same time

I wrote a musical version of THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO that uses the Dies Irae as the central theme.

I love hearing you play the piano!

Recently I watched your Carrie the musical reaction, and this video reminded me so much of it. Like, I agree, Carrie should have all these themes and chords and shit that just gives you chills and just, yeah, it's just in your face like you said, not those super sweet songs that sound just like every other broadway show out there right now. Just, imagine Carrie the musical with the examples you just gave! It would be fantastic!

why is your improv better than 90% of the shows currently on broadway

Okay this video is AMAZING

3 seconds in and I'm already in love with this video

I'm ALL about this! Rotational thematic organization in particular is what I liiiiiiive for. I come from an operatic background, which is full of this. I was just in Suor Angelica by Puccini and the musical themes in it are soooo genius and they are used perfectly at just the right moments. There's a beautiful mix of gorgeous legato lines and really biting and downright scary music depending on the character and the situation. Suor Angelica's big aria Senza mamma brilliantly displays a few of the big themes you hear throughout the opera in many forms. In one case, the theme is introduced fast in a moment of agitation by another character interacting with Suor Angelica and Suor Angelica brings the theme back in the aria half speed in a moment of longing. Or how about (spoiler alert) during her death how she's going through suuuuch a struggle because she's killed herself to be with her dead son, but she realizes that in killing herself she's committed a sin and will never see her son and she laments and laments (while the prayers from the beginning of the opera by the chorus return behind her, but the chords clash what she's singing) but then... ah, I won't spoil it. But anyway, this opera is SO CLEVER! I could talk about Suor Angelica forever, it is so underrated and deserves so much more love. Also Gershwin does a lot of this in Rhapsody in Blue, Porgy and Bess, the list goes on and on. Awesome video! I don't know Sweeney Todd very well, only a few songs here and there, I've never listened to the whole thing or have seen it live, so it was really cool to see you point out Sondheim's structure of the thematic material and using themes in different ways throughout the work, makes me wanna listen to the whole thing now! So so cool.

A year after i did a did a big sondheim project at uni I come across this video! Perfect!

Thank you for sharing! You are so intense and hilarious! I too think that music should be visual without the words. l've been working on a musical...gettng bits and pieces....I definitely NEED HELP!!

This guy seems fucking insane and I love it. Subscribed

Ugh, I love these videos. And you're so talented ^_^ I could sit there listening and laughing for hours! -B

Jeez!! You're my inspiration!! I would love to write music, but I need to learn an instrument (piano) and some basic chords... sadly,,, i suck. You give me inspiration though! Thank you!!

"You can make up all kinds of shit." Alright great I'm ready.

I’m writing a musical about an Italian teenage girl during wwll and this is super helpful! Thanks!!!

At first I clicked because I thought it was Jonathan Groff. But soooo glad I found your channel!! I could listen you explain shit all dayy

You"re awesome.

I made those likes go from 999 to 1k you’re welcome

@BDLabs2

5 жыл бұрын

You've done your part.

You should definitely check out the musical "Razia's Shadow". It is my favorite musical at the moment.

this guy looks like half the people in the simply piano adds and I can’t unsee it also nice video it helped me

YES. Next To Normal is amazing. Should have ran longer! Been praying for it to come to London. What do you think about the Broadway staples: Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, et al?

@KevvyBoyy

7 жыл бұрын

Oh really!? Why no interest in Phantom?

Hi Kevin , I’m Jackie.... and I loved your videos. So, I have written 2 musicals ( meaning songs and script) but since I don’t play an instrument I just have all the words sitting with no music to some and to other songs the music is in my head....please tell me how I can put music to all these songs down on paper🤪🤪..... any bunch of notes that go together or easy chord progressions???

as soon as you mentioned the dies irae motif I began singing Symphonie Fantastique in my head fucking thanks a lot

Can you do a list of your favorite musicals and why you like them?

thanks for the information on themes.

I've always really admired the fluidity and almost conversational feeling of Bill Finn's music and how it compliments the same aspects in his writing style. I was wondering, what do you think of his work?

Dude, you're awesome. I have tons of questions, and would love to pick your mind. You're (from the videos I've seen) super talented and super smart. (I'm subscribing nonetheless) but seriously, I would love to ask you some questions, especially about themes- I have a love/hate relationship with musicals. They all sound the same. I hate them and love the weird ones for that reason. Rambling done. *awkward shrug*

Thank you

Not sure if anyone has said it before but,He reminds me a lot of "James the angry video game nerd", with a bit of "Tyler Mount" (the way he says "Bye-ee!"It's "Kevin, the angry musical theatre nerd!"

Hey, Kev, ever heard of The Drowsy Chaperone? came out late 2000s on broadway and I personally find it a great show. It makes fun of musical theater a lot too, but in a clever way, and it's got what I consider to be some pretty good music. If you haven't heard it, give it a listen

I learned things! :D

I'd really like to hear your thoughts on 'The Great Comet of 1812'. I've only been able to listen to the cast recording but I've really enjoyed it so far!

I just love to here you rant about Sweeney Todd and Sondheim cuz I love it too

just so you know, i'm making this up as I'm going~!

You are so amazing at piano! How long have you been playing?

@poptarts5003

7 жыл бұрын

Molly Todd He said he plays piano for 20 years in one video :)

Dies irae also appears in RENT right when Mark sings the first verses of La Vie Boheme. And of course we know how much Larson adored Sondheim :)

Do you have any advice for someone who is trying to write better and more clever lyrics?

Curious to know your thoughts on Jason Robert Brown. He does theme type stuff in his musicals for example The Last Five Years.

There's more to it than that too, the beggar woman's theme is the same as the minuet when his wife goes to judge turpin's house, also when he's singing in epiphany, it's meant to show him going insane by playing the same theme for killing everyone as the theme for him seeing johanna again.

What's your favorite component about musicals in general?

What do you think of Heathers (or movie to musical adaptations in general)? I'm wanting to write a musical based on a book/movie (that I'm not going to mention because 1] I don't want anyone to take the idea 2] you might think it's dumb) and am really inspired by how Heathers was turned into a musical. I would want to put a lot of reoccuring themes in the musical I'm thinking about but I'm not much of a musical composer, more of a director/plot structure/writing person. Do you think that it's trashy or weak to take a fairly popular late 90s movie and a less know mid 90s book? Is there a song structure formula to when/where/WHAT a song should be (like the I Want song goes HERE and the villain motif goes HERE, and the reprise goes HERE, and the intermission quartet smashing of all the themes together goes right before the intermission HERE, etc.)?

quick question... do you like the shoe falsettos?

@anthonymerolla3935

7 жыл бұрын

*show

@fjz10706

5 жыл бұрын

I love Falsettos! It’s amazing and has made me cry, laugh, and way more

How did you get so good on the piano?

Just curious, if anyone could tell me the chords he played at 1:25 that would be amazing

why hasn't he hit 1 million yet? He is youtube gold! MAKE HIM FAMOUS!

I’m intimidated by you but I love your videos

Please tell me how you played that song at 1:30min

What are your thoughts on American Psycho?

U summed up perfectly me pissing around at a piano I like exactly the same things and styles as u and that kinda crUnch hhhh I vibe u so hard

I'm playing in the pit for our high school production of Legally Blonde, and I just wanted to hear your opinion on that musical. It's really predictable as a story, but the music is just so much fun to play (at least for guitar)

@astrowiz3544

6 жыл бұрын

Story doesnt mean shit for productions based on existing movies

See I have a love hate relationship with themes, because I can usually pick them out real well. And when I do, the music just starts getting boring and repetitive to me. However, I do agree it is GENIUS to be able to do something like that and connect the story to what is happening in that exact moment.

For my senior project in humanities I have to "learn a new skill". Am I absolutely crazy to think I can write a 15-20 minute musical in 8 months? Especially since my knowledge of music theory is...limited?

I'm a composer myself (at the age of 15) and I just finished watching the anthem of the heart... Now I suggested my friend and composer that we could write a musical.... Do you think it's a good idea?

What musicals are your favorites?

@gracestier6447

7 жыл бұрын

Good choices!!

I love this video and I love the thing about “in your face.” Gershwin said, "I'd like my compositions to be so vital that I'd be required by law to dispense sedatives with each score sold."

Theatre joke Where do people weigh their pies Somewhere over the rainbow Weigh a pie