How The Beatles used Middle 8s

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Don't forget to check out @AimeeNolte video as well: • Beatles Bridges - What...
Today I'm taking a look at ten different Beatles songs featuring middle 8 sections to help us get a better idea of what a "middle 8" really is.
Throughout this video I've used recreations/covers of the original Beatles records to avoid the video be demonetised and/or blocked. Check out these talented musicians whose recreations I used...
Ably House: / @ablyhouse
ManWithNoExpression: / @manwithnoexpression
The Beats: • The Beats - Yesterday
Seán McAusland: • Lady Madonna (The Beat...
Michael Sokil: • Nowhere Man - The Beat...
And, an extra special thanks goes to Peter Keller, Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: / davidbennettpiano 🎹
0:00 Introduction
1:05 From Me To You
2:11 I'll Follow The Sun
3:08 Yesterday
3:49 I Feel Fine
4:27 And I Love Her
5:05 A Hard Day's Night
6:20 Lady Madonna
8:01 Hooktheory
8:52 Norwegian Wood
10:21 Nowhere Man
12:11 Eight Days A Week
14:00 Outro

Пікірлер: 497

  • @christopher19894
    @christopher198944 ай бұрын

    The Beatles were so good at writing melody hooks that every section was effectively a "chorus". It blows my mind.

  • @AimeeNolte
    @AimeeNolte4 ай бұрын

    David how crazy is it that we both used Somewhere Over The Rainbow as our classic AABA song?! Thanks again for doing the collab video and to David’s fans who made it over to my video as well! Let’s do it again!

  • @DavidBennettPiano

    @DavidBennettPiano

    4 ай бұрын

    I think Over The Rainbow is the true archetype 🙌🏻🙌🏻😊 pleasure collaborating with you!

  • @georgerussell9525

    @georgerussell9525

    3 ай бұрын

    @@DavidBennettPiano -- Wonderful song.

  • @KentBuchla

    @KentBuchla

    3 ай бұрын

    I just checked: not crazy at all, actually. The proper authorities have been informed. 😮

  • @joecrowaz

    @joecrowaz

    3 ай бұрын

    You think that's crazy? The song almost got canned by a studio head! He said it had no place in the movie! 😮

  • @Qboro66

    @Qboro66

    3 ай бұрын

    Great minds think alike?🤷🏽‍♂️

  • @wgrandbois
    @wgrandbois4 ай бұрын

    The real question is, has ABBA ever used AABA?

  • @smithjohn383

    @smithjohn383

    4 ай бұрын

    I think that would need Björn again.

  • @astroandyborgloh

    @astroandyborgloh

    4 ай бұрын

    Safe to say, they never used a C-Part, though ... ;-)

  • @paulembleton1733

    @paulembleton1733

    4 ай бұрын

    So I read your comment and thought of a double beef burger and two middle eights, and wondered if there are any ABBA songs?

  • @spindriftdrinker

    @spindriftdrinker

    4 ай бұрын

    But has Genesis ever used Abacab ?

  • @wandajames143

    @wandajames143

    4 ай бұрын

    ba dap tsh

  • @marivg8948
    @marivg89484 ай бұрын

    I think that is what made The Beatles stand out from other "British Invasion" or "Mod" acts of the time; those classic American 30s-50s influences makes their work timeless yet familiar and comfy.

  • @zzzaphod8507

    @zzzaphod8507

    4 ай бұрын

    Yes, thanks to Macca's dad's influence for one (as mentioned in the video), probably George Martin helping with the structure/arrangement as well

  • @peppymartian9382

    @peppymartian9382

    4 ай бұрын

    daria pfp 👍

  • @adamfindlay7091

    @adamfindlay7091

    Ай бұрын

    Hmm I suppose their neat yet complex chords guess gave them a wider soundscape,?

  • @G60syncro
    @G60syncro4 ай бұрын

    Can we take a moment to appreciate the sheer amount of flawless recreations the Ably House guys have put out that allow genuine sounding audio to be played without striking out on the copyright deal!!

  • @jeffh8803

    @jeffh8803

    3 ай бұрын

    Ably house is amazing on the instruments but I’m pretty sure David has put the original lyrics over the top.

  • @In_Set

    @In_Set

    3 ай бұрын

    @@jeffh8803 Yes, those sound like the original vocal tracks to me as well. That said, this is a fantastic video, with the concepts once again brilliantly explained by David. This channel is a treasure.

  • @chillmore97
    @chillmore974 ай бұрын

    "Things We Said Today" from A Hard Day's Night is my favorite Beatles middle eight. The tempo picks up and you can practically hear the seams in the production where they dropped it in to the song. It's so good, they ran through it it twice!!

  • @leocomerford
    @leocomerford4 ай бұрын

    Those recreated Beatles tracks have got really good. It’s dangerously easy to forget that you’re not listening to the original.

  • @allancerf9038

    @allancerf9038

    4 ай бұрын

    You understand it's not 'AI' so called? It's a band "Ably House." They've made these recreations for years.

  • @danielvillalobos4265

    @danielvillalobos4265

    4 ай бұрын

    Came to say exactly this 😊

  • @leocomerford

    @leocomerford

    4 ай бұрын

    @@allancerf9038 Yes, I’m aware they’re recreated ‘manually’, I wasn’t thinking about AI.

  • @adb012

    @adb012

    4 ай бұрын

    Exactly my thought. As I read through the fine print at the bottom that had the name of the performer, I thought how many great Beatles tribute bands out there!!! They are REALLY good.

  • @hisham_hm

    @hisham_hm

    4 ай бұрын

    I've noticed the Ably House tracks are listed as "recreations" and the other ones as "covers". When I search the Ably House KZread page I see a lot of instrumental covers of Beatles songs. I think David is taking the Ably House instrumentals and putting the original Beatles isolated vocals on top, hence dubbing them a "recreation" rather than a "cover". For the other credited covers you can clearly tell it's other people singing.

  • @GBPaddling
    @GBPaddling4 ай бұрын

    "Things we said today" is a truly outstanding example, a lot of songs slacken off somewhat in the bridge, this one jumps in energy and firms up moving seamlessly in, then back out to the verse.

  • @althealligator1467

    @althealligator1467

    4 ай бұрын

    My favourite on A Hard Day's Night

  • @jeff196330

    @jeff196330

    4 ай бұрын

    From minor to major. Even the teenage girls dug it. Listen to live versions

  • @jprg1966

    @jprg1966

    4 ай бұрын

    An underappreciated song all around. I love the 2009 remastered version, which brought out George Martin's menacing, rolling piano underneath Paul's vocal. It adds to the breathtaking tension of that middle eight.

  • @prettyshinyspaghetti8332

    @prettyshinyspaghetti8332

    4 ай бұрын

    "Love is here to stay and that's enough to make you mine" This line blew me away because it so seamlessly ended the middle eight and went into the next verse. Its a complete line in itself but can also be broken into two parts

  • @althealligator1467

    @althealligator1467

    4 ай бұрын

    @@prettyshinyspaghetti8332 One of my favourite things about lyrics is when each line makes reference to the last in a very concrete way so that the entire text feels like a cohesive web rather than just a bunch of lines that sometimes go together (which is most often how songs are and is completely fine). My go to example is Stromae's ave cesaria, which, I guess if you don't speak French, you won't really get, but every single line just makes me go "ooooh," which is itself my single favourite thing about lyrics. I don't want them to just pass by unnoticed, I want them to catch my interest one way or another - sometimes sheer easy memorability is enough to do that. But yeah that line in Things We Said Today absolutely does that for me.

  • @luke5100
    @luke51004 ай бұрын

    Michael Stipe describes “Losing My Religion” as a song without a chorus, which is why he was surprised it was such a big hit. I’m thinking I should listen to it again now and see if maybe this explanation is a better fit for its structure

  • @chrisn221

    @chrisn221

    4 ай бұрын

    Funny I just looked that song up a couple days ago interested in how some of the things Ive learned from David’s videos would apply. Was surprised to learn not only is there no real chorus but the whole song is simple chord progressions from key of A minor (A Aeolian). On top of that, Michael Stipe only sings two notes (B and A) for 90% of the song, with the occasional G or C thrown in. Goes to show how talented REM is by turning the most basic chord progressions/melodies into something amazing.

  • @donweatherwax9318
    @donweatherwax93184 ай бұрын

    Nice to see "I'll Follow the Sun" getting a little love. It's one of Paul's less-acclaimed melodies, perhaps - even by Paul. (On the other hand hand hand, "Follow" was also George Martin's favorite track on _Beatles For Sale._ So it's got that going for it; which is nice.)

  • @DenKulesteSomFins

    @DenKulesteSomFins

    4 ай бұрын

    It's definitely one of my favorites. Very folk. Almost like a great Dylan song, but with actual good vocals

  • @luke5100

    @luke5100

    4 ай бұрын

    That is hard to believe. That is such a beautiful little song! It almost brings tears to my eyes

  • @luke5100

    @luke5100

    4 ай бұрын

    @@DenKulesteSomFins oh come on. The “Bob Dylan can’t sing” trope is so dumb. Bob’s distinctive voice is honestly a huge part of the appeal

  • @bobtaylor170

    @bobtaylor170

    4 ай бұрын

    I'll Follow the Sun is a GREAT song. It has that quality great songs have, which is that they seem always to have existed. I have heard an audiotape of McCartney which is probably from 1960. He has the idea for the song, but at that point, all he has is singing the line, "I'll follow the sun" over and over. It's fascinating to hear.

  • @cjay2
    @cjay24 ай бұрын

    I just love hearing all these great Beatles songs one after the other! The older I get, the more I love their music. Thank you David.

  • @jonesybones13
    @jonesybones134 ай бұрын

    Dear David- You're a Great music teacher and have re-re-reignited my love and respect for the Beatles. Thank you!

  • @DavidBennettPiano

    @DavidBennettPiano

    4 ай бұрын

    😊😊😊

  • @Lotschi

    @Lotschi

    4 ай бұрын

    Same here! I always get inspired to dive deeper into songwriting myself.

  • @JumpingCow
    @JumpingCow3 ай бұрын

    Hearing these snatches of Beatle songs all together like this from different eras boggles my mind. The Beatles were gods of truly inspired creativity. It never ceases to amaze me how great they are.

  • @fabioalbertani945
    @fabioalbertani9454 ай бұрын

    Great video as always David. Another peculiarity in Beatles songs is when in the intro they do a shortened version of the chorus like in Help and Can’t Buy Me Love

  • @luke5100

    @luke5100

    4 ай бұрын

    It’s like getting to watch the trailer followed immediately by the whole movie lol

  • @ri3545

    @ri3545

    4 ай бұрын

    Isn't that pretty common though?

  • @fabioalbertani945

    @fabioalbertani945

    4 ай бұрын

    I don’t think it’s so common but I could be wrong

  • @gorgolyt

    @gorgolyt

    4 ай бұрын

    @@ri3545 I think the Beatles are known for popularising it. "She Loves You" is a famous example of jumping straight into the chorus. How many other famous examples of this can you name? Not too many, I guess.

  • @ri3545

    @ri3545

    4 ай бұрын

    @@fabioalbertani945 I've definitely heard it a lot. Obviously it's not the majority of songs, but I don't think it's that uncommon

  • @blindpink
    @blindpink4 ай бұрын

    My fav Beatles middle 8...."This Boy"....Superb.

  • @basstian

    @basstian

    4 ай бұрын

    The harmonies there are absolutely gorgeous!

  • @-l5905
    @-l59053 ай бұрын

    The way you used the blocks graphic to show the progression was great! It makes it easy to visualize, I hope you use it again. Thank you

  • @neurokodama
    @neurokodama4 ай бұрын

    My favourite example would be The Long and Winding Road, and for a personal reason: it was only when I was trying to play it on the piano that I "noticed" that the structure was not the verse-chorus-verse-chorus that I was used to.

  • @johnnicholls5344

    @johnnicholls5344

    3 ай бұрын

    And the A section is 12 bars long while the middle 8 is 8 bars long.

  • @collinrichardson1184

    @collinrichardson1184

    3 ай бұрын

    Exactly! I noticed this when I learned the long and winding road too!

  • @RanLevi
    @RanLevi4 ай бұрын

    Fantasticly eye opening video, David! Amazing as always.

  • @westfield90
    @westfield904 ай бұрын

    Always look forward to your Beatles videos. Never disappoints

  • @NomeDeArte
    @NomeDeArte4 ай бұрын

    Thank you for another Beatles video, David! Best regards from Argentina

  • @hazukilazy
    @hazukilazy4 ай бұрын

    Great as always🎉 I’m amazed at the visual delivery. I’d like to watch more videos about song structures from you.

  • @BebopDesigner
    @BebopDesigner4 ай бұрын

    Absolutely brilliant! 🤘🏽✨ I could listen to these Beatles examples for hours 🙏🏽🔥 Love both channels by the way ☺️😊

  • @JustAFocus
    @JustAFocus4 ай бұрын

    Nice video -- I always appreciate your analysis and music theory videos. Keep 'em coming!

  • @TigerRogers0660
    @TigerRogers06604 ай бұрын

    Excellent video again David!! Some of these Beatle middle 8s i've never really thought about. I like how you've used the Ably House backing tracks with the REAL Beatles vocals!!

  • @Lefty7788tinkatolli
    @Lefty7788tinkatolli4 ай бұрын

    Very interesting about Yesterday having a 7-bar A section rather than 8 bars. I have ALWAYS noticed something was off, like the repeat of the A started too early, but never counted the bars!

  • @user-vh2kb2qy3v
    @user-vh2kb2qy3v4 ай бұрын

    Great video. From myself being in the graphic design business most of my life I must say that the graphics created in this video to visualize the bars and other musical elements is superb! Bravo!

  • @Davysprocket213
    @Davysprocket2134 ай бұрын

    Amy Nolte is fantastic, as you are also. I’m delighted to see any kind of collaboration between the two of you.

  • @composer7325
    @composer73253 ай бұрын

    excellent video, David. Thank you for this upload.

  • @DavidBennettPiano

    @DavidBennettPiano

    3 ай бұрын

    Thank you 😊

  • @leoruizdiaz9478
    @leoruizdiaz94784 ай бұрын

    Tipazo David! Gracias por tanta data y el amor a los Beatles. ❤

  • @paulcamus8944
    @paulcamus89444 ай бұрын

    Great stuff. Beautifully explained. The kind f thing I always think of sitting down and getting done and never get around to. Thanks so much!

  • @basstian
    @basstian4 ай бұрын

    What I love the most about middle-eights is how they cleverly create contrast with the rest of the piece. I'll add a Beatles example and a Queen one for each element I'm listing: - Change of key (different tonal centre): For No One; The Show Must Go On. - Change of mode (with the same tonal centre): Here, There & Everywhere; I Want It All. - Change of metre: We Can Work It Out; Bicycle Race. - Change of singer: A Hard Day's Night; Sail Away Sweet Sister.

  • @johnmc3862
    @johnmc38624 ай бұрын

    Cant believe you missed 'We can work it Out' where it goes from a 4/4 verse to a 3/4 middle 8. Fantastic.

  • @northernbrother1258
    @northernbrother12584 ай бұрын

    I love a good middle 8, like a song within a song, and consider it an art form unto itself.

  • @adrianhepton9362
    @adrianhepton93623 ай бұрын

    Somewhere over the aaba. I've just come back onto this channel after having a digital break and what an educational and inspirational treat was awaiting me!

  • @royalex21
    @royalex214 ай бұрын

    Thanks for this, both to you and Aimee. This is a topic that always fascinated me. You know, Beatles scholar Aaron Krerowicz has a post on his old blog on the Beatles use of Middle 8s.

  • @chasebethersonton5169
    @chasebethersonton51693 ай бұрын

    This video was incredibly helpful to me. I know talking about song structures may seem boring / too simplistic for some, but it's often these small decisions that make the biggest difference to a song. Going over these examples helps give me the freedom to make creative choices that I might not have had the confidence to do otherwise. It is a really big deal. I would love to see more stuff exactly like this.

  • @warrenburroughs3025
    @warrenburroughs30253 ай бұрын

    Aimee's video came up on my feed right behind yours. I'm off to watch it now.

  • @aminahmed2220
    @aminahmed22204 ай бұрын

    What a fantastic video have a wonderful day David ❤😊

  • @Smithy67
    @Smithy674 ай бұрын

    Very interesting and informative David, thank you

  • @andrewcrocker9432
    @andrewcrocker94323 ай бұрын

    Great video about my favourite band, David. It still amazes what they achieved. It also amazes that there are people out there who consider them overrated!

  • @TexRenner
    @TexRenner4 ай бұрын

    Thank you for explaining these concepts in words I understand.

  • @SziontificMystic
    @SziontificMystic4 ай бұрын

    You & Aimee Nolte released a Beatles middle 8 video within like 8 seconds! blew my mind LOL

  • @nomnom112

    @nomnom112

    4 ай бұрын

    seems like some sort of weird collaboration / promotion.

  • @knonky

    @knonky

    4 ай бұрын

    in the first few seconds of the video, he explains that it is indeed a collaboration

  • @thepostapocalyptictrio4762
    @thepostapocalyptictrio47624 ай бұрын

    Aimee Nolte is great.. glad to see the collab

  • @Soule6
    @Soule64 ай бұрын

    Excellent video, clearly articulated.

  • @VincentLoraine
    @VincentLoraine4 ай бұрын

    Your videos are so intelligent, so profound, so well made and they show so much passion for music. And they show also, what we can learn from the Beatles and George Martin, which for me is the 5th Beatle. Thank you for your work and your passion!!

  • @giampierogirolamo7134
    @giampierogirolamo71343 ай бұрын

    Well done❤!

  • @StephenMarkTurner
    @StephenMarkTurner4 ай бұрын

    Thanks. I checked Aimee's video as well.

  • @5150show
    @5150show3 ай бұрын

    Incredible, thanks

  • @paulwood4142
    @paulwood41424 ай бұрын

    Can we please get this good man to 1m subscribers? The best song structure analysis to be found on KZread.

  • @DavidBennettPiano

    @DavidBennettPiano

    4 ай бұрын

    thank you!!

  • @carlospadinmartinez

    @carlospadinmartinez

    4 ай бұрын

    @@DavidBennettPiano you'll get there soon, patience master. ;)

  • @In_Set

    @In_Set

    3 ай бұрын

    IMO, it's so good it should be funded by the government as a necessary utility. Not joking.

  • @mediatechjohn3088
    @mediatechjohn30883 ай бұрын

    Often I love the middle 8's more than the other sections.

  • @zzzaphod8507
    @zzzaphod85074 ай бұрын

    Great video! Really helpful to have the blocks showing the bars as they pass by. Did this form including the middle eight get used much in the 70s and 80s or did it die out? I forgot about the cowbell in Hard Day's Night--I guess that's Ringo showing us where the Middle Eight is!

  • @DeSlagen8
    @DeSlagen84 ай бұрын

    I’ve only just got deep into the Beatles discography, what a treat

  • @asdqwe123610
    @asdqwe1236104 ай бұрын

    Great video! Please do more songs about song structure types! There could be a whole series on different common structures like all your videos about common chord progressions.

  • @1oolabob
    @1oolabob3 ай бұрын

    I was a little kid in 1964, which means I have heard and enjoyed Beatles songs for over 60 years. As a 20-something in the late 1970s/ early 1980s, I hosted singalongs with friends gathered around a Beatles songbook. I'm not a noob...but because of this video, I have a whole new appreciation of the kind of songwriting they did and the musical logic they followed so well that is--I'm sure now--a big part of what make their songs so memorable. Thank you so much, David! It's like learning magic, except that it's not a trick.

  • @justin81706
    @justin817064 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much for this video. I have been wandering forever what the middle 8 is? Thanks!

  • @h6rts
    @h6rts4 ай бұрын

    Thanks great video. I now have more understanding of what counts as a middle 8

  • @david.hauksson
    @david.hauksson4 ай бұрын

    My fav fab4 middle8 is in No Reply… “lf I were you, I’d realize…” Amazing shift which transforms the song and the mood if the song and lyrics. Amazing stuff!

  • @extremadrummer
    @extremadrummer4 ай бұрын

    Thanks, David. My favourite song? I love them all

  • @Dylanthestudent
    @Dylanthestudent4 ай бұрын

    For some reason I thought a middle 8 was a complicated musical device and instead it’s such a simple but effective writing tool! Thanks so much for this informative video! 😊

  • @MichaelRadi
    @MichaelRadi4 ай бұрын

    As a musical theatre writer I loved seeing this!

  • @AlexRamirez-fj4dj
    @AlexRamirez-fj4dj4 ай бұрын

    I’ll cry instead has a great middle 8 also things we said brings up the tempo for the middle 8. I’m glad you help decode beatles songs and why they work so well.

  • @LuciensMusic
    @LuciensMusic3 ай бұрын

    Something to ponder while working on some new tunes🙂

  • @PlanetoftheDeaf
    @PlanetoftheDeaf4 ай бұрын

    Andy Partridge (XTC) has described the A section of the classic AABA song as a "Vhorus" which kind of makes sense, as the verse and chorus (and indeed the main hook) are all in this section. XTC's The Disappointed is in this format.

  • @jpsilvermusic
    @jpsilvermusic4 ай бұрын

    I enjoy your videos thanks mate

  • @MarkRidesCoasters
    @MarkRidesCoasters4 ай бұрын

    This is an important video to understand song writing and arrangement!

  • @MLFranklin
    @MLFranklin3 ай бұрын

    Great analysis! As I listen to these, the lyrics of the middle 8 often sound like the introverted introspective view of the overarching theme.

  • @ryanwells2820
    @ryanwells28204 ай бұрын

    I gotta say, Middle 8 was definitely one of the best settings for a fantasy novel series

  • @propfoce7941
    @propfoce794118 күн бұрын

    this is my favorite form. i don't even know why but a few of my favorite songs to play use this form

  • @jcxz100
    @jcxz1003 ай бұрын

    I must compliment you on a fine explanatory video - as well as extremely good sounding that-can't-be-real-beatles-audio-can-it soundclips 😊

  • @lisamarieligreci-newton7804
    @lisamarieligreci-newton78044 ай бұрын

    I just want to chime in about how much I love I'll Follow The Sun. It's always been on eof my favorites, even as a kid....something so sad and melancholy about it even though it wasn't exactly a "sad" song.

  • @Fred.pSonic
    @Fred.pSonic3 ай бұрын

    Among so many other things they did so well the genius of The Beatles is that none of them could read nor write standard notation. So much of their music was literally conjured out of thin air and as such is as pure as music gets. Perhaps that's the true underlying reason they've endured and will continue to do so. The way you broke the four bars into manageable blocks was genius. It made me not only hear but *see* their songwriting craft at work and how even their middle 8's could have developed into separate songs of their own. Thank you for your great analysis David, one of the best I've seen.

  • @user-qm7nw7vd5s
    @user-qm7nw7vd5s3 ай бұрын

    FINALY! A clear, concise explanation of the elusive “middle 8”…

  • @olivarionline1
    @olivarionline13 ай бұрын

    It's funny because I've always considered these AABA as songs that start with a chorus, as opposed to more usual 'don't bore me get to the chorus' type of songs. It's interesting how they approached songs as well. Can't Buy Me Love started as a 12-bar rock with a middle-8, but George Martin stuck half the middle-8 to the beginning effectively turning the middle-8 into a more recognisable chorus by the time we listen to it after the two 12 bar verses.

  • @luke5100
    @luke51004 ай бұрын

    These song examples are so damn catchy it’s hard to believe many of them don’t really have a chorus. This makes so much more sense now. I think in songs where the hook is pretty brief, like “tomorrow may rain / so I’ll follow the sun,” I kind of perceived that as the chorus, short though it was, but the AABA explanation makes a lot more sense. I will say, with “Eight Days a Week,” I think that “hold me / love me”part seems pretty clearly like a chorus, though I see that it can also be described as AABA. Interesting stuff all around!

  • @althealligator1467

    @althealligator1467

    4 ай бұрын

    But that's the thing, the concept of a "chorus" is not an objective thing that's set in stone. With a lot of Beatles songs, it's like the entire song is a compilation of two different choruses. Like you could often easily make the argument that both the A and the B section are choruses in Beatles songs. Either way, any verse-chorus structure can be described as an A-B structure, because using letters like this rather than a descriptive word is completely indiscriminate.

  • @luke5100

    @luke5100

    4 ай бұрын

    @@althealligator1467 right. That’s more or less what I arrived at by the end of my comment, just saying, interesting how you can explain and examine these things from multiple perspectives and none of them are necessarily wrong

  • @althealligator1467

    @althealligator1467

    4 ай бұрын

    @@luke5100 Yeah exactly right. I guess I didn't really address it properly, but my main point was that it doesn't really "makes more sense" because you've described it as "A-B" rather than "verse-chorus," because they're not mutually exclusive descriptions. If "A-B" "makes more sense," then you should describe everything as "A-B" and it'll always make more sense - but it doesn't; it's just a less discriminate or narrow description of the same thing. Plus "verse-chorus" doesn't really give you insight into anything other than how the song might have actively been written by the composer.

  • @GaZonk100

    @GaZonk100

    4 ай бұрын

    and a peek into the 'human thing' lol

  • @guilhermetavares1975
    @guilhermetavares19754 ай бұрын

    Great topic!! The Moody Blues have some of the most beautiful Middle Eights! Check out Dawn Is a Feeling, So Deep Within You, Dear Diary, For My Lady, etc. Thank you, David!!

  • @urwholefamilydied
    @urwholefamilydied4 ай бұрын

    The Beatles are the masters of the "middle eight". Their middle eights often eclipse the actual song. "I should have known better" always breaks my heart. It really gets you in your gut. It's not just pop music. Shit gets real.

  • @mikahattunen4502

    @mikahattunen4502

    3 ай бұрын

    Yes, great example of how Lennon made heartbreaking melody line to a middle eight.

  • @battyjr

    @battyjr

    3 ай бұрын

    XTC as well! Have you ever heard the bridge to "No Thugs In Our House"?

  • @TK-fk4po
    @TK-fk4po3 ай бұрын

    This was a very enlightening video. I never really knew how to categorize these tunes. Versus? Chorus?. This note makes it much clearer. I will say, however, I stand by the fact that nowhere man has a regular verse chorus arrangement.

  • @r.w.bottorff7735
    @r.w.bottorff77353 ай бұрын

    This is super cool. I am not keen on musical notation but it's exciting to see that I've written a few songs that I thought were especially catchy and now I know why, I was writing my own middle 8s. Thank you!

  • @jokermaan1

    @jokermaan1

    3 ай бұрын

    Which is why I think it's a mistake to read too much into what the Beatles wrote in musical theory terms. They instinctively wrote catchy songs! They were pretty much musically illiterate in theory terms, but they had a feel for it. They also had help and advice from George Martin who was of course a classically trained musician, steeped in musical theory.

  • @denisecaringer4726
    @denisecaringer47264 ай бұрын

    Very interesting. Thank you.

  • @jonathanj-g-yyelle6144
    @jonathanj-g-yyelle61444 ай бұрын

    Ahh! Good presentation! When at the conservatory, what differentiated a "Middle 8" from just a B Section, was that it had more "contrasting" elements or modulation. In comparison to the A Section or Chorus/Refrain if there was one, that is. _A modulation to the subdominant minor or major was very common._ "Lady Madonna" by The Beatles is an excellent example! I did my studies in the 1980s. Some successful (pop) composers at the time were Billy Joel, Elton John and David Foster. They used these elements for contrast, building tension and to musically tell a story. And in the process, they expanded and lengthened the song structure. Thank you for this informative video! Cheers!

  • @johnsosnoski6238
    @johnsosnoski62384 ай бұрын

    We Can Work It Out is a good example. No Reply is probably the best middle 8 (or in this case 16) ever.

  • @matthewbartlett3442
    @matthewbartlett34424 ай бұрын

    I got an ad with you right before this video lol I’d consider that a success😂

  • @user-pc4oi2ov7z
    @user-pc4oi2ov7z4 ай бұрын

    Muting the vocal line when you interject with the voice over is a great new detail! Is it AI that has enabled this?

  • @Reglar_Dawg
    @Reglar_Dawg4 ай бұрын

    Thanks for straightening me out on some of this stuff, David. I was under the deluded notion that the middle 8 was the instrumental break. My partner in musical crime comes from an instrumental group and composes in AABA form, whereas I compose in Verse/Chorus form. Typically I'll call out the "A" as verse, the "B" as chorus, and any bridge as a "C" part. But glad to hear from you that there are no hard and fast rules for this. Maybe you could do one on refrains!

  • @nethercreature1624
    @nethercreature16244 ай бұрын

    David- your piano program advertised right before this video. I got an ad from you right before your video XD

  • @bluestarbear
    @bluestarbear3 ай бұрын

    Great video

  • @georgerussell9525
    @georgerussell95253 ай бұрын

    Mary Wells's "You Beat Me to the Punch" has three verse-chorus sections and a middle eight after the first two. The middle eight drives the story: A - start, A - development, B - conflict, A - resolution.

  • @spindriftdrinker
    @spindriftdrinker4 ай бұрын

    Another thing the Beatles sometimes used that few rock bands ever used was the "verse" - in the lesser-well known meaning of the word - some introductory lines such as in a Broadway show tune before the main sections of the song get started. Songwriters like Gershwin and Cole Porter used the "verse" very frequently to kick off a song. The Beatles did it in songs like "Honey Pie". "If I Fell" has a very elaborate verse. "Here, There and Everywhere" also has a verse to start the song.

  • @charliejoseph6465
    @charliejoseph64654 ай бұрын

    I liked your videos about the orchestra. Perhaps you could do one about arranging for orchestra. Maybe you could arrange a song for orchestra and explain your process.

  • @reverb.deluxe
    @reverb.deluxe4 ай бұрын

    The Rain Song's middle 8 is one of my faves -- "I felt the coldness of my winter, I never thought it would ever go..."

  • @petepande333
    @petepande3332 ай бұрын

    Many great Beatle middle 8s-and even better, they often repeated them to let you enjoy them more than once in a song. One my my faves is from You Won't See Me. Adds energy, emotion and great vocals and harmonies. Thanks for these paired explorations. (Other great middle 8s: Steely Dan-my other favorite band-does not always have them in lieu of a solo following the verse/chorus structure, but still some great examples are in With a Gun and I Got the News.)

  • @DovidM
    @DovidM4 ай бұрын

    Another possible model was Calypso. Calypso started as a 12 bar verse and 8 bar chorus. Aldwyn Roberts (Lord Kitchener) then created songs with 16 bar verses and 16 bar choruses. He later created songs with 32 bar verses and 32 bar choruses. Most calypso songs thereafter followed the 32 bar verse, 32 bar chorus form. Lennon and McCartney in the 50s had a connection to a Liverpudlian Calypso artist, Lord Woodbine (Harold Adolphus Phillip). Woodbine was a performer, and McCartney and Lennon became his drinking buddies. Woodbine arranged their trip to Hamburg. An early effort of Lennon’s was a song called “Calypso Rock.”

  • @JumperXxXCables
    @JumperXxXCables3 ай бұрын

    You saved the best song for last. Eight days a week has got to be my favorite Beatles song with Yellow Submarine a close second.

  • @chrisn221
    @chrisn2214 ай бұрын

    Hey David fantastic video as always! What is the music playing during credits? And please do a video on Beatles vocal harmony! (bonus if you include Beach Boys & CSNY)

  • @NinjaMatt2201
    @NinjaMatt22014 ай бұрын

    The internet didn't exist back then, so the Beatles pretty much just heard about the middle 8, and learned how use only a middle 8, not the 32 bar in general. So they just applied the middle eight to any format of song. Pretty much, any time they thought a song they were writing was getting too repetitive, they'd throw in a middle 8 at the point the song would start to get too repetitive. Or, during the Get Back documentary, while John was performing the demo version of Don't Let Me Down for the rest of the band to learn it, the rest of the band thought the B part wasn't working as a B part, so Paul suggested they use it as a middle eight instead. Which is what they played on the released version of the song. And sometimes they would have incomplete fragments of songs they were stuck on, so they'd put 2 different pieces together and arrange them into a complete song. Like A Day in the Life. It needed a middle 8 or something, John was out of ideas, and Paul had a song fragment he was stuck on, so they just put the Paul bit in place of the middle 8.

  • @pulsarlights2825

    @pulsarlights2825

    4 ай бұрын

    What does the internet have to do with anything? There were no books, libraries, schools, music teachers.? What did Mozart do before there was recording studios?

  • @NinjaMatt2201

    @NinjaMatt2201

    4 ай бұрын

    @@pulsarlights2825 The Beatles didn't have access to any of that.

  • @NinjaMatt2201

    @NinjaMatt2201

    4 ай бұрын

    @@pulsarlights2825 Today, people are used to being able to easily look anything up. But I heard Paul talking about how they pretty much had to find someone who knew a certain chord the Beatles didn't know. They'd ask someone tgey know from school, he wouldn't know how to play that chord, but he knows a guy from out of town who does, so they'd have to take to busses to get to that guy's house to ask him to teach them how to play that chord.

  • @NinjaMatt2201

    @NinjaMatt2201

    4 ай бұрын

    @@pulsarlights2825 They would read any music magazine they could get their hands on, maybe a famous musician they like mentions a middle 8, but doesn't explain it in detail. Maybe there is a library they can get to, but maybe the library just doesn't have the right book in stock. The Beatles didn't have proper music theory education, so some books they just wouldn't understand. George Martin had to translate how the Beatles explained music theory/what they wanted for a music piece into what the orchestra could understand. While the Beatles knew music theory to an extent, they largely developed their own way of talking about it. They didn't know the names of all the chords they learned and would have to come up with some other way of describing which chord they are talking about, for example. So even if they find a book that explains a middle 8, if it's too advanced an explanation, they might not understand it too well. So they had to ask around if anyone knew what a middle eight was.

  • @NinjaMatt2201

    @NinjaMatt2201

    4 ай бұрын

    @@pulsarlights2825 Oh, we are also talking about things they mostly learned as teens, and they pretty much went from being kids to Beatlemania. By the time they had money and resources, they were rather busy.

  • @PlanetoftheDeaf
    @PlanetoftheDeaf4 ай бұрын

    "Love in Song" from Paul's 1974 Venus and Mars album has a lovely middle 8, showing he hadn't forgotten the format.

  • @EddieReischl
    @EddieReischl3 ай бұрын

    Watched Aimee's video as well. Like I commented there, "I'll Get You" is a great bridge. It's almost as if they used bridges to introduce more interesting chords into their songs. Lennon not being able to decide between the two bridges for "I'll Be Back", rightly so, because they're both great, kind of hints that they wanted to use those sections of songs to shine and really give the song something people would remember.

  • @BritPopLivesOn72
    @BritPopLivesOn724 ай бұрын

    I thought he would have spoken about the key changes and chord progression changes that the Beatles pulled off in their bridges, rather than the song structure form. I know he had covered that in other videos very well like how the Beatles used modes and a few others. Thank you for sharing

  • @SeanMcAusland
    @SeanMcAusland3 ай бұрын

    Delighted you used my version of “Lady Madonna”, thank you! 🎹

  • @DavidBennettPiano

    @DavidBennettPiano

    3 ай бұрын

    Your performance was one of the most faithful covers I could find 😀😀🥳🥳

  • @johntyndall1373
    @johntyndall13734 ай бұрын

    I'll Be Back always inspires me.