66% of his major songs having the major 2 is crazyyyyyyyy

we’re entering the elliot phase of the channel bros

I'd absolutely love a hundred more videos on Elliott Smith!

Saw the title and instantly clicked

Elliott Smith is one of the few indie rockers whose songs are genuinely hard to figure out on guitar, even if you are advanced. He is deservedly remembered as an amazing songwriter, but I don’t think he gets enough recognition as the guitar virtuoso he was - seriously

It's remarkable how in Son of Sam he constantly modulates between a major and minor and it's so smooth you almost don't notice it

Please David can you do more videos on Elliott??

Elliott smith is so hard but rewarding to figure out. If someone could ever figure out how to nail his songwriting style they would still have to tackle his right hand technique lol. Genuinely one of the best artists to ever live.

The verse of Waltz #2 (XO) is such a satisfying chord progression to play. My favourite is Christian Brothers.

More! More! More! I got to see Elliott perform live three times. When he toured for XO, I saw him at the Paradise in Boston. I was right up against the stage, about 15 feet from him. Hands down, best concert experience ever. I'd love to see David do more videos about his music! Elliott is my favorite songwriter.

elliot smith on david bennet? im hooked

FINALLY BRO. The ONLY songwriter I genuinely care about and the current videos on him dont really do him justice. Thanks mannnnn

As far as I know he wasn't a trained musican which makes it more incredible how he pulled of so many songs that have such beautiful melodies and harmonys

Fantastic, David. Elliott is a long time favourite of mine. Almost impossible to pick one song but Independence Day is right up there. A whole video could be done on just that one riff alone! Such a phenomenal songwriter. Fiercely melodic, a master of harmony and one hell of a lyricist to boot. Long live Elliott Smith

Any video on elliott smith is something I'm gonna watch. An elliott smith video from you, on the other hand, I will watch immediately.

This is the next logical step after radiohead

Holy crap I'm a raging fanatic of Elliott Smith, amazing to see this here!!! 💙💙💙 One of my favorite songs is Tomorrow Tomorrow

Almost impossible to pick a favourite song, but the one that amazes me the most is "I Didn't Understand". The a cappella vocal arrangement is just out of this world, topped with a highly unusual, at times chromatically climbing chord progression in the verses. Just blissful.

I discovered Elliott in the late 90s when our local alt rock station started playing “Miss Misery.” Loved it from the moment I heard it and still think it’s an example of everything he’s good at. Thank you for making a video about him. Moore, please!

So happy to see you discuss Elliott, he is my all time fav. One of the greatest songwriters ever.

Such simple yet not common genius ideas. His melodies on top of it too. So clever. It's purely genius.

Man, I miss Elliott.

Please David, bring us as many Eliott Smith video analyses as many Beatles videos analyses, please!

In the last months he has been one of, if not the, most significant musician to me. So happy for this video, your channel is wonderful

He was one of a kind. Love his music.

Thank you so much David! I wanted this video for a long time and I like to think that you saw my comments where I ask for it ❤️ keep up the good work

Oh my god, finally a video on one of the best composers of the modern era

i am always amazed every time i listen to "everything means nothing to me". every single time.

Dear God I've been waiting for this for years.Love the channel and I am obsessed with Elliot Smith for the last 20 years

Please David keep analyzing artists this way, we learn so much Thnx for your work ♡

It's so nice to see a video about Elliott! hope you do more. It's really hard to just pick one song but one that I really like is Better Be Quiet Now or The Last Hour

ive studied elliotts music, a lot. this is a very nice overview of the basics of the basics of smith without going into more complex or niche stuff. the I II IV is so idiosyncratically him, and he definitely picked it up from the beatles.

This is one I've been waiting for. Elliott Smith's been one of my top 5 favorite artists for many years. I would also love to see a video analyzing Nick Drake's music.

"Shiva opens her arms now to make sure I don't get too far/I may talk in my sleep tonight 'cause I don't know what I am/I'm a little like you, more like Son of Sam." And that was Elliott in a GOOD mood. 🙃 I've never known what chords he was using, I've just known they were good ones.

Love to see some Elliott Smith content! It’d be awesome to see an analysis of his song “Happiness” - it’s one of my favorites, and I somewhat recently observed that the vocal harmony in the bridge is just 8 chromatic descending notes. Either way, keep up the good work!

Pretty Mary K is an absolute chord sequence masterpiece. Listen if you haven’t before!

This video is such a gift! Thank you for delving so far into one of my biggest loves

Was just reading an autobiography of Elliott Smith while learning his songs and this video dropped. Please do more analysis video on him!! Thanks for the amazing work

That major 2 chord really makes a big difference in how unique his sound is. Evidently that's one of the reason's I've always thought he was so much like the Beatles.

Yup! My buddy and I are always talking about how Elliott loved that Major II chord. He also loved a good minor iv and a bVI in a major key. And he loved that bluesy melodic pentatonic lick (5, 4, b3, 1) either with his voice or guitar, often on top of that Major II chord. One of the greatest modern songwriter IMO 😊. Great video David!

Thank you so much. Elliott means the world to me. I adore him & his music. Elliott forever! Xo❤

YESS ELLIOTT SMITH ON A DAVID BENNETT VIDEO!! WE LOVE TO SEE IT

Great video, as always! My favorite Elliott Smith song with an interesting chord progression is "Pretty Mary K". I think there's a Neopolitan 6 in there!

Ah !! only a couple weeks ago i was trying to figure out what is is about “LA” and “Son of Sam” that i liked so much. Your content is awesome keep it up ❤

Wonderful, thank you for making this... I play Elliot Smith on guitar almost daily, never picked up on this.

I love Elliot Smith, saw him live three times in London, the last was at the London Union which felt super intimate but a bit sad because he seemed quite off. From Rimsky-Korsakov to Elliot Smith, I feel we could really enjoy a beer or three. Thank you.

Always excited to see Elliott smith related videos. I’m just happy people haven’t forgotten about him.

Holy shit an elliott smith video!! Yes! Please do more elliiott smith!!

I’m currently learning Angeles on guitar and then this video drops.

I’ve watched these music theory videos for years and always wished it would be elliott smith but no one ever made them now years later finally a good one Ty Ty

David, please do more of these series where you analyze different artists' music, this is great 👍

huge elliot smith phase and trying to understand the beauty in his music just as you release this. thanks man

Now, since I am this early, let me take the chance to thank you very much for your amazing videos. You help me to understand music in a different way and I very much enjoy it :)

I rarely think of an artist being a genius. In this case I have no doubts, Elliot was a genius. Hard to choose one song but if I have to choose, Between the bars.

muito feliz de ver alguém com tanta relevância fazer um vídeo sobre o ellitott

His guitar playing is more piano like with his voicings and walking bass notes. Very distinct and effective!

Elliott smith is legendary

Just noticed you passed a million. Congrats David, your channel has been a wonderful resource and your quality has been unwavering

Needle in the Hay is probably my favorite... it's definitely got some modal interchange going on too, I think. I feel like Alex G does the same thing often, which may be part of why his stuff reminds me of Elliott Smith so often

Cant get enough of Elliott Smith content, this and the ESP channel are amazing

I discovered Elliot Smith this year when I watched a videos of yours about the minor 6th I think, and Between The Bars was there,but I didn’t find it that brilliant. One day in the same month I let Spotify playing some indie bands, and it started playing Between The Bars and hearing the entire song, I realized how good it is. Then, I went to Elliot’s artist profile to look for some other songs. I saw an album (XO) with a cool cover, then I saw that there was two waltz in the album. I was curious about why is waltz #1 after than #2 so I went to hear waltz #1, and it was one of the few songs that, listening for the first time, I let it play without pausing. It was love at first sight. This song is incredible in so many ways, like, how Elliot combined C# Lydian with Bb minor (changing to Bb harmonic minor sometimes). Now I think I’ve already heard it more that 100 times and I won’t stop. I also did find Everything Means Nothing to Me, a song that I think you should do a video about it, or include it at one. Because I think the modulations on the tonality are a really good subject (I still don’t understand perfectly what he does there, even though I know how to play it on the piano). In short, Elliot Smith is exceptional.

My fave Elliott tunes: Coming up Roses, Independence Day, Stupidity Tries, Biggest lie… ummm I could keep going….. so nice to see Elliott people on this thread💜

I've loved music all my life but never known anything about music theory, or been in any way musically gifted. Your videos are really good in giving me at least some understanding of what makes these songs memorable. When I saw Elliott Smith I clicked instantly. Would love to see more videos on him. As for a favourite, I'd say either Between the Bars or Waltz #2

one of my favorite channels covering my favorite musician???? i'm in love

brilliant video as always, thank you!!

One of my all time favourites and a bit influence on my music.

This is awesome im a huge elliott smith fan and I'm glad to see you make a video about him. I've seen you mention his songs before. Thanks so much :)

This is great! My favorite is Miss Misery.

Waaaah you just unlocked the secret of Elliot’s sound! Makes it even more beautiful to me. Love these major / minor switches. Much like the D to Dm in the chorus of « in my life » :)

This is phenomenal analysis. I would love to know a common trick like this for some of my other favorite songwriters like Guided By Voices, Townes Van Zandt, NIrvana, Pavement, Liz Phair….

Brilliant video! Thanks for your hard work

Thank you for your work and view

This is the the Atlantis chord progression by Donovan. It's fantastic.

I love Elliott Smith so much. You actually introduced me to him in your 14/4 time video. I love learning the music theory behind his songs.

I’ve needed this video for years

Love the analysis - thanks for sharing

My favorite artist. Truly a genius!

The Lydians, baby! Lydian (#4) and Mixolydian (b7) are such powerful sounds to access for music of all genres and instruments. Also note that the pentatonic scale does not include either the 4 or the 7, so you can take a pentatonic melody and run in through Lydian and Mixolydian moments with virtually no problems. Pretty useful!

3:12 C is the IV chord in G major, not the flat-VI

Fabulous analysis. As soon as you mentioned the two major immediately thought of the Beatles songs you won't see me and Sergeant Pepper which you both mentioned. There are other features of Elliott Smith songs that remind me of the Beatles especially Paul McCartney's compositions. Maybe you can try analyzing bottle up and explode in a future video.

Great way of explaining theory, this makes sense. Interesting video. I have often thought Elliot's tunes reminded me of The Beatles.

The interplay of the major & minor chords make the brightness that much brighter & the darkness that much darker. Like sun rays piercing through black storm clouds.

There is one degree of separation between Elliott Smith and the Beatles: David Bennett

Elliott’s music was heavily featured in the film Good Will Hunting, which is where I discovered him in the late 90’s. TBH I haven’t got much beyond Either/Or, but it takes me back to a certain period in my life and the events going on for me then. I had Shack, Janis Ian, Elliott Smith and Matchbox 20 on permanent rotation in the car.

Nice video David! For those of us who are fatigued by the barrage of strictly diatonic and strictly 4/4 music your channel has been a breath of fresh air with examples such as Elliott Smith who break from the norm. I had actually not heard of him but I'm definitely going to check out his music! Based on what I saw and heard in those chord progressions I agree with both the modal mixture analysis and the the Beatles comparisons. It seems like Smith often goes from this II chord to a IV chord, much like in some Beatles songs such as "Yesterday." That song is clearly borrowing from Lydian with not only the major II of G but the minor (as opposed to diminished) vii of Em, both of which are in F Lydian but not F major.

You just have me another reason to put on Elliott Smith. Great video as always!

Thank you, David. Delighted to learn about Elliott’s songwriting and left yearning for more. And you managed to get through this without mentioning the biggies: Waltz No 2, Between the Bars and (swoon) Angeles. I’d love to see analysis of these songs and also a couple of more obscure tracks that I think stand with his best: New Disaster and No Confidence Man. Have you heard of The Little Unsaid?

Super here for the Elliott content!!!

loving the elliot!!!! my favorite is Clementine!!!

'Shooting Star' may be my favorite track. The guitar tracks are still such a trip to me.

A video going into the many songs that use the flat 6 would be amazing. Literally so many songs use it and I would love to see you analyze it. Great Video

Thank you for yet another fantastic music lesson

Nice to dig into these progressions. Yeah, I was going to say that Maj 2 makes the C progression close to C lydian, or in G instead of C. Notice he's also playing the D7 sometimes, the V chord of G, and the II chord in C lydian. The Beatles did this sort of thing quite a lot. Also, the Am verse and A Maj chorus is how While My Guitar Gently Weeps goes. Cheers

Also something I've noticed about the Pop songwriters (like ES and Beatles) who create clever progressions like these -- particularly with an eye toward how the chord is voiced, is that, though they might be thought of as mainly playing guitar, they also played, or composed on the piano. I can say, for myself, this has been true. So this is my plug for stringed-instrument players to get on the keys, at least once in a while! And like many in the comments (who all have excellent taste, btw!), I'm a big fan of Eliot Smith too!

As usual, astute and very clear. You have a gift for teaching. Any chance of a video on Nick Cave’s songwriting? Do you like his work? He might not be harmonically adventurous but his chord choices correspond so well to changes in a song’s lyric.

I recently learned to play independence day, so atm it is my favourite

Between The Bars ...when I realized the narrator is the bottle I was amazed...one of the most beautiful sad songs ever.

Glad you mentioned the double-tracked vocals at the end. (I'll add that he often doubles the guitar track as well.) It really is critical to his sound. I think he also tends to use longer chord progressions than most singer-songwriters. "Pictures of Me" verse is a 9-chord progression; "Say Yes" verse is a 7-chord progression; "Happiness" chorus is an 8-chord progression; "New Monkey" verse is maybe a 14-chord progression? He also once said, if I'm not mistaken, that transitions were his favorite parts of songs to write, so it's no surprise that he uses pre-choruses more than the average singer-songwriter. (Probably, anyway. I haven't analyzed any data or anything.) "Say Yes" is also interesting because it contains two bridges.

We finally made it 🙌

Tomorrow Tomorrow is up there for me for its musicality and guitar work.