Question: How many jazz musicians does it take to change a lightbulb? Answer: None. Fuck the changes!

i didn't read the first "giant" initially so i got really confused as to why a rock would be playing chords for 30,000 people

I read a giant rock at first and was like what¿

Status Quo said 3 chords and 30 years or 30 chords and 3 years

sounds like Green Day

I like that! Couldn't agree mo'

The only song I know with one cord is Eddie Grant's Electric Avenue. Surely one cord modern pop songs would be difficult.

It's the same man who wrote Candy Says which has a boatload of chords, though.

@@TheCelticbeast Some funk songs are only one chord

Rock n Roll is three chords, four at the most. Five they have you up before the committee-Pete Townsend.

yep.

Was about to comment this. I was very impressed when I tried to learn how to play the song and found out it was just two chords. It sounds much bigger

woa I never even noticed it was only two chords, it doesn't even sound too repetetive at all

i remember try to look up the chords for that song and was shocked to find out it's only Em and Dm,love the song tho,one of my fav!

That’s the exact reason I clicked this video, I was hoping I would see it here

You are part of the club man

i’m slowly learning

Same

If you can hear you’re in the club

@@mjl.9-19 bro poor Beethoven

it was in the songs using only minor chords video, along with sing, moves like jagger and some more where most of the songs had 1 or 2 chords

Good example! I mentioned it in my minor chords video too 🙂🙂

Also the sea shanty "the drunken sailor" switches between E minor and D major the wile time

that's where you're wrong

I was looking for this song to be in this video, glad others appreciate how good it is with how simple it’s chord structure is. If you’re asking what the songs structure is, if it’s E minor and D minor the song should be in the key of C and so it should be iii-ii. I have a very limited education in music so I might be completely wrong, but since the iii and ii chords share notes with other common chords, I think it may function similarly to the I-IV progression maybe?

They also play Molly's lips by the Vaseline.. (G and C)

The guitar tuned down a whole step for that one?... pretty sure it is... sounds low on the mtv show

montego bay is another two chord song

The arrangement on the album version is different than the MTV Unplugged performance. The verses use F#5 and D5 power chords on strings 5-6, while the choruses use F#sus4 on strings 3-6 and D5 on strings 2-6. I got this from Harmonix.

@@thisisawsome34253212 I think its because Kurt's guitar was tuned down a halfstep for once

"Put the Lime in the Coconut" did it 30 years before

EPIC!

I know it’s

Primus is like: "Amateurs!", releasing My Name Is Mud featuring a 0 note riff

@@ironmaidenjr.8471 bold of you to assume Primus would say amateurs in a coherent language

I was waiting for this one. I love it because the two chord progression helps to build the feeling that the song demands

The way he sings, the progression, the tone of the guitar, oof every part of that composition/recording is perfect for such a simple idea.

Molly’s Lips is another 2 chord song by Nirvana which isn’t as emotional, yet it’s still energetic

About a girl its only Em G

@@kristoffmarquez8541 along with C#, G#, F#, A and C, for a total of 7 chords.

Eleanor Rigby too

@@DanThomasUK yeah too! Em and C if I remember correctly

Me too...it sounds more complex

@@thesuncollective1475 EXACTLY, especially for all those armonies. It sounded like something quite complicated, that's why I was almost shocked when I found out it was just 2 chords

I agree the simplicity is crazy. Another one is hello goodbye ok 3 chords but what an original sounding song that is that simple

Isn't there a f major 7

@@bypig I think it moves from an Fmaj before settling into the main section.

"the two chord structure peaks and needs return to the intro as a transition/rest" So the piece is more than those two chords. There is tension and release quite apart from the alternation of those two chords. That's a point of interest you don't get when there are only two chords throughout.

@@rosiefay7283 It reads like you are trying to 'correct' the OP by making basically the same point he made you just invert the emphasis.

@@davidmcanally8272 they were talking about a different song

@@davidmcanally8272 the song it's called something in the way

The chords and scales were that very something that were the way

He was a genius, he didnt need to know any scales coz he had a great ear and he knew what sounds good and what doesnt

@@freebee8221 that feels made up

Life on Mars by Bowie

Lmto

Paranoid Android

Penny lane

I am ready for an entire episode of Yes music.

'So what' By Miles Davis, which has been mentioned in some other videos on this channel, uses two chords but is not mentioned in this video. However, in that case, both chords are tonic.

You're right, I never realized that until now that you say it...!

The band called it “the one chord wonder” before they recorded it. Honestly one of my favorites of theirs

thanks for this, I was a bit confused by that bit.

Why use a major scale at all? It sounds weird.

Thank you, that was going to be my question..

Now I want a refund

another song that sits on "i"->->bVII" is U2's Bullet The Blue Sky. also notable for the chord length being asymetrical (3 beats to 1 in each measure)

I know - but everything you’ve ever seen - every painting, photo, actually everything! - all of reality really - that you can visually perceive is made up of just three colours and some light or dark (light, really). Everything you’ve ever watched, seen or heard on your computer/tablet/phone, TV whatever - every film, song, picture, game, website is all just squeezed out of 1s and 0s. It makes three chords (so I guess at least six notes) seem an embarrassment of riches 🤯

@@BlueGrenadeTom nine notes - three triads 'powerchords' don't really count..

@@brendanoneil3489 And yet so many guitar-based songs use only power chords. That’s why I said “at least”.

@@BlueGrenadeTom ok stupid me .

Thank you! That really means a lot!

And they still wrote a masterpiece:)

@@MICKEYISLOWD yesss

As is Bad Religion by Godsmack (according to Crash Thompson)

Technically, it's two. Listen again.

@@felipecardoza9967 how about revolution 9?

yes man, but then you listen to the banana album and you notice they just smoke some weed and stand playing 2 chords for five minutes.. and you think "This is the gloriuous album?, cmon!"

Stolen comment

But when that chord change finally comes - wooah…!!!

yeah her song is easy.

4:33 is the only free song included with every purchase of headphones or speakers! To listen to it, simply stop any other audio that may be playing. You don't need a music streaming service or even an internet connection to listen to 4:33...

You can play it yourself. Anytime , everywhere. Without rehersing it. :-)

Wrong, it has all chords, played simultaneously. That's what you get.

Bad joke

It’s definitely on SPOTIFY!

Brilliant!

awesome. love woody guthrie

Well that rules out 90%of great records man

Till there was you & Something

Ironically it's only US singer/songwriters who say that... 🤣🤣

Nice example!

@@DavidBennettPiano thanks. I could list a lot more songs by the group - they seem to really like 2 chord songs.

B5 & D5 are not chords. They are intervals as they have only 2 notes (missing the 3rd). While they have been described as "power" chords by some they still are just intervals - loud.

Point is??

@@dondamon4669 Calling something with the wrong term is bad educational practice. When you play two notes together that is an interval. When you play 3 or more notes together it is a chord. Calling a bicycle a tricycle is clearly wrong. Ditto for calling an interval a chord.

Once in a lifetime’s outro is 3 chords. 5 different chords in the whole song.

@@Tyler53Durden I only ever heard D & G.

Guitars Cadillacs by Dwight Yoakam

Really? Once in a Lifetime chords: A, D, F#, G, by my maths that's four chords.

Grateful Dead - Fire on the Mountain :)

Teachers - Leonard Cohen. Matty Groves - Fairport Convention.

Love VU! Heroin was my first velvet song. Sister Ray may be my favorite of them but God they are all good. European Son, Waiting for my Man, Sunday Morning, entirety of White Light White Heat. Too many.

I got really bored with VU the first time I listened to them precisely because a whole bunch of the songs were the same. I love “Sunday Morning” or “All Tomorrow's Parties” but…

LA Woman has more than 2 chords

LA Woman has two chords for most of the song but there are parts of the song with other changes

@mark jagger yeah

One that didn't make the list is "River Runs Deep" by JJ Cale, I love that song.

Boring tho

@@jabulani9999 Not really because adding more chords wouldn't necessarily improve any of these songs. Don't be snob. Enjoy all kinds of music. It's not hard.

@@Chris-MusicTheoryAndFretboard i guess its hard for you to enjoy real music..

@@martimribeiro7538 He didn't say it was bad.My music teacher used to tell me the same thing.

Thanks! 😃😃😃

@@DavidBennettPiano You sir... are very welcome.🤘

Thank you 😃

@@DavidBennettPiano Thank you so much for explaining this so simply. I have been trying to understand this concept for years now and although I now know which chords go nicely together, I never learnt why.

Thank you!

😃😃😃

Thank you! 😃

That's one of my favorite songs to play on guitar (because it's easy)

There are plenty of tunes that rotate between major tonic chord and relative minor vi, it’s a trope of blues

@@AdrianJustRocks do you have any example ?

@@keithlucero3638 haha same

D?

I'm only halfway through this video, but I've been waiting for that mention. Guess it isn't coming!

Yeah i was hoping for Jane Says but it ain't in there. First time i heard it it reminded me of Led Zep's Over the hills and far away ; i kept waiting for the 3rd chord but it didn't come, so after a while i knew it wasn't coming at all. Then i grew to love that song.

Are you thinking of a different song? Over the Hills has many more than two chords in it.

@@dereknolin5986 I meant the chorus part of that song. But yeah, even if you take it whole, it has more than 2 chords. Never mind: you had to be there.

Built to Spill - The Wait

Usually it's not supposed to drop the 3rd. Dropping the 3rd transforms it into a Csus4 add 7/9 (or just sus9, if you take for granted that sus=sus4).

@@cliffpinchon2832 This. If the song is played over a drone, then you can play a lot of chords over that drone, but it will still basically feel like one harmonic function. In classical, this would be called "tonic prolongation" or "dominant prolongation", depending on whether the pedal point is the dominant or tonic. Should we call this "one chord"? That's debatable. I think when it comes to the Beatles example, you have a clear contrast between the two chords. BTW, the actual chord isn't Bb major over C. I'm also hearing an Eb in that chord. It's either Ebsus2 (or Bbsus4) or Bbadd11 (not 100% sure if I'm even hearing a D natural in that chord). The inclusion of Eb gives it even more contrast, because it basically goes from minor to major. So, to me, this justifies calling it a different chord. But all in all, I think even if there wasn't an Eb in the chord, and it was just regular Bb major, I think it's still justifiable to call it two chords. It's two chords over a pedal point. The Bb chord isn't actually heard as a "C11 chord". In this case, it's heard as "Bb played over C drone". You can have chords that are kind of independent of the bassline. Is it a different function? That's a different discussion. When it comes to functions, then I would say that it's basically all just tonic. But there's still a clear contrast between the two chords, so I actually think they aren't even functionally exactly the same. But this isn't traditionally functional music any way - the harmony doesn't create a sense of direction. "Tonic prolongation" is only meaningful term if the harmony is traditionally functional, and you expect it to move somewhere.

@@cliffpinchon2832 I only called it "Ebsus2" or "Bbsus4" (over C in the bass), because that's the conventional way of labeling the collection of notes that is Eb F Bb (that I'm hearing). As I said, I'm not sure if I'm even hearing a D in that chord. Either it's Eb F Bb, or D Eb F Bb (which would be Bbadd11, over a C in the bass - or maybe Cm11 if you treat the C as a "chord tone"). If I want to use a conventional chord symbol for that chord, then that's the proper chord symbol, even though I understand it isn't an actual suspension. (In other words, my labeling of it as Ebsus2 or whatever is not an analysis. It's just a label for a collection of notes.) I actually don't have a jazz background. I understand the basics of jazz theory and have played some jazz, but my "formal training" is actually classical. I don't analyze it as a suspended chord. I just label it as Ebsus2 because that's the conventional chord symbol for the collection of notes it uses. As I already said in my previous post, I think the purpose of that chord is to provide some contrast over the pedal point (which you also seemed to agree with). I would call it a "different chord" because it adds a pretty clear contrast. Honestly, I don't see how what you just said differs in any way of what I said in my previous post.

@@cliffpinchon2832 I agree, Ebsus2 is not a classical label, but it is a chord symbol that is used all the time in "chord symbol notation". And that notation system is quite standardized, so I would call it "conventional" in that way (there are other conventions than just the "classical convention"). We aren't talking about classical music any way, so using pop chord labels is pretty standard. I wouldn't use that chord label if I was analyzing classical music (since in classical context, Eb F Bb would not really function as an individual chord) but this is a pop song, not a song that follows the principles of common practice period harmony. Chord symbols are simply a fast way of referring to a collection of notes. Ebsus2 is a fast way of referring to the collection of notes that is Eb F Bb. So, if I say I'm hearing a collection of notes that is Eb F Bb, why would I not say I'm hearing an "Ebsus2"? That is not an analysis or anything - it's just a practical label for a collection of notes. Labeling things on its own is not analysis. If there's both Eb and D in the chord, then Ebsus2 is not a good label for it, though. Bbadd11 would make more sense, or maybe Cm11. _"There's a very good reason for that too -- it's objectively better"_ It's only better for analyzing a specific kind of music that is music that is based on functional harmony. This song is not based on traditional functional harmony. I do like roman numerals, but they were mainly designed for analyzing music that's based on common practice period harmony. This particular song isn't based on it, and I really don't see how much roman numeral analysis would explain about this song, since there is mostly just one chord. Roman numerals can also be used as "practical" labels for understanding the relationship between the chords and the key, and making them easily transposable (and in that case, calling this chord a bVII chord over the tonic in bass is fine), but if the song doesn't use traditional functional harmony, then roman numerals as an analytical tool don't really explain that much. As I already said in my first post, my analysis of the chord is that it provides some contrast. It''s not functional in the traditional way, but it still has a function that is other than the "home chord". It provides some form of harmonic tension and release, even though it's all played over the same bass note.

I think that song is better understood as A mixolydian, with the progression being VII to I.

@@rome8180 I went back and listened to the vocal line against the chords--you're correct. Also sounds somewhat reminiscent of Eddie Money's 2 Tickets (verse).

Speaking of Jamaican music, I often tell people that two-tone ska is called that because of the prominence of two chord vamps in the music! (in reality, I think the two-tones are black and white, that is black and white people coming together, but I could be wrong!)

Thank you!

Amen!!!

Most of the examples at the beginning of the video are very boring.

@@kellydalstok8900 I didn't even watch the vid if I'm being honest. But I will

Inb4 "Gilmour says more with 5 notes than Batio says with 500."

Damn, we really do live in a society...

Best song ever!!!!!!

You think you hear a chord change during the chorus ah-ha... but it's just a melody change over the same chords. Clever Ken Hensley

I too love heroin. But what are these chords you mentioned?

"Heroin" uses chords ... ;-) ?

Great 😊

Thank you! 😄😃

I'm pretty sure that the refrain also has C major

@@darthmuki2674 nope its just Am, G

@@CommanderGinyu Probably right, you just gave me an excuse to listen to that masterpiece again

That was the first song that came to my mind. One of the greatest songs ever (even using a drum loop back in 1970!), fantastic album, still a great band.

@@madisntit6547 No, their producer (and I guess even their manager) in the seventies was Gerry Bron. (Didn't he also produce Colosseum's 'The Valentine Suite'?)

Thank you!