Man just turned a what's usually learned through a month long subscription course into a single video.

Honestly, man. I was a music major in college over 25 years ago. 2 years of theory under my belt, 2 years of ear training, some conducting and a few other things. I was mainly a woodwind player. Clarinet was my primary instrument. In my peak days I was 1st chair, concert master, solo's, yada yada and so on, but life happens and it took me in a different direction. I went into computer tech / software as a backup. I've missed music for so long and I'm about to finally start getting back into it again with synths and music production in Ableton. Mostly as a hobby with no expectations and purely for the enjoyment of it. You've helped me to reignite a spark I had for over half my life (from age 12 to 30) that I had to give up for a while. I just want to say I appreciate your passion for music. It's really is inspiring...and honestly, you teach theory better than some college professors that I've had, lol. Thank you for what you do and keep up the amazing work.

Why can't there be more people like you who are straight to the point and make something that most find complicated and turn it into something simplistic for anyone to understand. I think some "teachers" are actually gatekeeping. Gatekeeping- pretending to share information with others in order to look more important than you really are because you lack self confidence and do not find joy in helping others especially if they surpass you.

This guy was meant to teach! He has a great way of providing clarity of concepts that so many people make difficult to understand. Keep doing ya thing Ethan. You are helping so many people!

THE MOON EMOJIS TO EXPLAIN WHOLE STEPS & HALF STEPS IS GENIUS OH MY GOSH

I have tried to understand these terms; something scary and funny yesterday I was going over my theory book! And nothing better than Ethan connecting the dots on my brain. Hands down best teacher

This is simply one of the best videos on music theory. No distractions, straight to the point and very clearly so. And a very cool and chill guy. Thank you!

Just think I spent 2 years at Full Sail and 30k worth of student loan debt, could've learned it in 30 mins on KZfaq. Sheesh!! U made it simple my man. 2 thumbs up

You are a great teacher. Taking the complex and making it simple. Your humility and encouragement turn heart songs into real songs and from my songs into their songs. Bless ya bro.

It has been 15 years since I last played the piano. I was self-taught, knew the basics and was teaching myself to read music. but circumstances did not allow me to continue my 3-year adventure. now I am in my 30's all I think is music and my passion is still there. This video has reminded me so much and I am ready to go and produce and play my favourite songs. Thank you.

That was an amazing lesson. A year and a half into playing by ear now, it’s time to stop trying to create chords on my own. These tips are really going to come in handy for stepping up my game. I had a couple of ideas in mind just watching this. I do read music, slowly, my mom was a piano teacher so I learned some through osmosis. But the number system is a new one to me. Thank you.

I've watched many KZfaq tutorials for piano, but this one tops them all. I was self taught and learned cords and progression through ear/what felt right for my hands. I also used 2-3 and 3-2 as my guide for chords, the numbers being how many keys are between each played note. A minor chord is 2-3 and a major chord is 3-2. Helps for people who see numbers better than letters.

I have recently started production and I must say this video is PERFECT. Simple, and doesn't overdue the inform. Keep up the great work

This is one of the most well presented basics courses I have ever seen, I have sent this to all of my friends learning music theory and piano, even ones that know it already so maybe it can help them teach it better to others.

i have struggled with chords and you just showed me in 28 min, what i need to know. watched the video over and over again as i enjoyed the simplicity of your teaching.

Hey Ethan, I've always struggled with music theory. I've always gone by ear never knowing anything. You've broken this down so simply, I finally get it. You're right, it doesn't take you very long at all. Thanks for the explanation - keep making music! It's a lifelong thing

such a clear and concise way of explaining it… thank you! 🙏🏻

That's a lot of lessons packed into one video. Amazing to see how everything you do is making so much beautiful sounds.....I have to get back to learning now that your teaching skills have inspired me.

The way you teach is out of this world. Appreciate you

I leaned more on this 30- minute video than in 7 years of piano lessons and 2 years of band. So many songs I know just rushed into my head. It’s like breaking a code. Excellent! PB

90% of teaching well is not underestimating your student's ability to understand material, and finding the correct memory cues to keep them engaged. This video was fantastic. I've been considering taking up piano and what you did in the first twenty minutes of this video convinced me that I can actually have a blast doing this. Thank you!

he forgot one thing every major key has a minor scale for example: play cmajor and the 1st note so C go 3 semitones down from C so C to B, B to A# and then A# to A and there you have your minor key with the same keys as C major this works for every major scale to natural minor so E major = C# minor etc etc

What a great way to summarize , connect, and make some sense out of what initially seems so complex.

The pacing of the ending was so perfect. The moment you started to lose me a little bit, you'd relate what you just taught to a popular song and I'd get pulled right back in. Wonderful thank you for this dude.

I knew this for a long time but tell you something, i enjoyed watching your video as you put it across so simple and easy to understand for anyone who did not already know this procedure... Congratulations and thank you...

OMG!!!! The light just came on. I have been a disc jockey for years could not play mary had a little lamb, however I have thousands of songs in my memory, could not tell you what key... The Nashville numbering system is what pulled everything in focus.... now I know what they mean, now I know what a chord progression is. Thank YOu !!!

Thank you for making videos that help others. You will be blessed for it. I watch them all.

I just f*kin love this kind of videos. Straight to the point, clear explanation and minimum interruptions. If you didn't understand, you pause the video, go back and watch it again. No going around the same thing over and over again wasting people's time. I'm totally subscribing. Thank you!

The first 7 minutes of your video did what no other resource gave me for a long time. You gave me the tool, not the theory. OMG. It all makes sense.

Bro, thank you for helping me understand the whole chord thingie. Basically I was making music without knowing any of this, so I've been sampling from other songs and remaking them myself in a kind of similar way but different. I feel like now that I know this, I can make my own music without sampling from other songs. Thank you

This hit hard! Very comprehensive and easy to understand. I play well by ear and understand some things. This brought a lot of prospective. Thanks bro!

I don't know why I started to cry after watching this. With hdhd I never had a chance to understand it, but this video really laid it out in a manner that had me glued to the screen. I appreciate you man.

I understood so much just from 1 viewing. You’re a great teacher. I will be watching this a few more times.

I was waiting for this for a long time! Thanks!

I first got into music when I was 12(I am turning 21 next month), I started with a guitar and I was always told that I had a natural thing for it. I didnt know any notes but I was able to make good sounding plays just messing around on my guitar or on the class piano. I eventually learned the basic notes but thats pretty much it, Ive been able to make music with basic knowledge and just listening by ear. I tried to wrap my head around music theory for the past 2 years since I started producing but I havent been able to do so until I found this video. You just explained this, what I thought was complicated theory in a way to make it so easy. I just took notes on my journal and will read it over and over. Ive watched many videos about music theory and some were ok but this is hands down the best video on music theory. Thank you good sir!!

This is an absolutely sublime video. Im on holiday in Marrakech sitting on a terrace with an old piano. Perfect time to learn and practice.

I just wanted to drop a comment and say thank you SO MUCH!! I've been trying to make edm music for pretty much years now but only ever did sound design and then stop there because I never was able to write music well enough due to never having any background in music. Any guides I found felt too confusing, didn't explain enough, or explained with the assumption the person already knows all the terminology, so I often felt easily discouraged and hopeless. The way you explained things made it so much easier for my beginner brain to comprehend and the examples along with the visuals were also exactly what I needed to visualize what these words mean and what to look for when creating and learning. Also appreciate the explanation of terminology without sounding patronizing. No jokes or skipping over anything, just concise and informative. Exactly what I was looking for. Hopefully after watching this and practicing more I'll get the hang of it thanks to you! Earned my sub!

I knew the basics but you made me understand it completely, appreciate the effort. Great teacher

What helped me a lot with the different keys was understanding that c major and minor is basically the same progression, it just starts somewhere else: W_W_H_W_W_W_H ← image this as a circle by connecting both ends and it's obvious they use the same pattern (basically what you said at ~6:20). This helped me so much more than our teacher's "u gotta memorize it", back in the days.

The way you teach is the best i have seen so far. Idk if it’s just your process or how your videos are edited or both but it works great for me. Thanks!

Thank you man for all this value you bring to us

Well I lost you at the major minor chords.. I'll be watching this a couple of times.. Up to the beginning.... 😊

You’re a great teacher dude 🤘🏼 I’ve began to understand what I’ve been struggling to get forever. Thank you

Thanks, i really think your videos will help me. I just started 2 month ago building my bedroomstudio. As one of those, who never learned an instrument, i have to do all melodic stuff only by ear and trial and error. This simplified kind of a lesson is what i was looking for. Thx for that !

This is the best and easiest video I’ve found on explaining music theory and the Nashville number system! Thank you very much!

Been really into your channel lately man, thank you for sharing!

Bro I’ve been producing for a while now and always felt like I hit a wall with my beats but never quite put a finger on it til now and this video really helped me figure out what I was missing 💯💯💯🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾 ty I appreciate you

I will be watching your videos, especially this one , i been trying to learn music theory for a while, but you teach it very well.

Excellent lesson. Truly the cornerstone of song writing and music production. Nice job.

Ethan, you're an angel! Thanks a tonne for simplifying everything

Thanks for keeping it real. Alot of youtube producers these days are making videos about how you don't need to know music theory at all for making beats, then the first thing they do is pick a key and scale, write some chords, talk about why they pick the chords they pick and use terms like tension and release etc. And im like...bruh thats music theory 😂

Outstanding! Where were you when I was “trying” to learn music theory many years ago. If I was still a working musician/ composer, I’d jump all over this course!!

I was looking for exactly this! Thank you for such a complete and succinct breakdown of something so complex. Bravo sir! Bravo

That's a great video! I think it's important to mention that the major chord is root - 4 half tones - 3 half tones. Same for minor scale : root - 3 half tones - 4 half tones. A chord with C, E and G is named C major, because it C is the root, and it's major because the difference of half tones are 4 then 3. It's a little thing that I didn't understand for quite long, so I wanted to put it there! Back in the days, my only source of information was a guitarist and he was like "I don't know, it's just a C chord, and you play it like this". I never had a proper explanation before David Bennett and Andrew Huang, so it was difficult to understand why things work and other don't xD

I’ve been wanting to learn how to make beats and produce music and music theory seemed so confusing so I avoided it but after watching this and taking notes I feel like I can understand sooo much more

This is incredible. Thank you

Hey man just got my first keyboard and I've watched this video twice, on my third now to freshen some things up. So immensely helpful, thanks a lot

I really appreciate this, my technical ability has been high for a while but my theory knowledge i had NONE so this really helps me learn for my songs

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us

Dude, you've taught me more in 3 videos about music and life than I've learned on youtube in the past 5 years of producing music. Cheat codes bruh 😂

This is by far the best music theory video I have seen on KZfaq! Really resparked my motivation (and expectation) to keep making music :))

Been tryna understand this for since I was 10 and you finally connected the dots. Thank you sir

This is the best video i have ever watched on music theory, speicifcally for chords and progressions (i have probably watched hundreds) Thank you for providing such accessible knowledge while making it fun :) You have one new subscriber!

Spectacular video. I know nothing about music theory, but random tunes keep appearing in my mind. This class encourages me to start doing something about it. Thanks.

This is a great lesson. I’m no theory expert, but I’ve dug pretty deep into it over the past few years after having been a theoryless musician for a decade and a half prior to it. My only critique on your teaching style as someone who has learning these concepts still fresh in my memory is to start with intervals, or at least cover them early on. They’re so important to understand when you get to a certain point. You don’t cover modes here, but I highly recommend that when you do, please don’t stop at how they’re related to the major scale. I could not wrap my head around modes until I learned how to apply them practically. Their relationship to the major scale was completely useless information for me as a learner, and I think this is the same for a lot of people, which is why so many people constantly ask about modes. Rather than explain their relationship to their relative major, show people how they sound with applicable examples or progressions.

Bruh, you have a great approach to making it make sense...Thank you!!!

YOU DID IT PERFECTLY!!! Got my subscription!

Your an amazing teacher thank you so much for all you do to help us aspiring musicians learn how to play 🙏🏻🕉️♾️☮️☮️

Thank you for posting this and for putting it across like you did , first theory lesson I truly felt I was grasping , I feel empowered, just bought my first keyboard , 🙏🙏

Not even halfway through this video and I already feel like I can finally grasp this concept! Thank you so much.

Amazing tutorial. Thank you!

Very impressive. I didn't furrow my brow once. So clearly explained and it took me right along. Instant sub.

For any future viewers looking at this comment. WATCH THE FULL VIDEO, ITS WORTH IT!!! I’m a real person expressing a real appreciation for this video 😂.👍🏾👍🏾

Bro I've been searching for a music theory video all month and you just did it for me in 1 video and you made me fall in love with the theory so much that I might even dive deeper in this :) thank you very much

thank u so much! like for real i never thought i could learn piano but w some practice and patience and ur videos i will learn one day to read and play. thank u again ur videos r so helpfull!

I must say this.. that.. You are such a great blessing 🙌.

You are such a good teacher! Thank you ❤

Amazing video. This is the first time in my life ever writing a comment on youtube. You've earned it.

Great video, thank you so much!

Wow amazing!! Thank you for explaining this!! I’ve always skipped music theory videos but this one was much easier to understand for me 🙏🏼

WOW that was great! I feel overwhelmed but i also feel excited.. Thank you for sharing

Love your teaching style thanks

I like the video. He doesn’t clam to be a know all of music, but rather given anyone from any level to add to their toolbox. A true musician always is learning tricks and taking what they learn, stole, heard, etc to progress. In all its a cool lil video. Folks pay good money for a lot less stuff in life. So good video bro👍🏾

Man you really finna take me to new heights, thank you for that!

Love the stream of midi notes floating off the top.

thank you, i was struggling yesterday whit chords, and today i came across the answer i needed yesterday day. muchas gracias

Wow.... just blew up my mind, really really helpful....

Loved it. Thanks.

Fantastic explanations, thank you. Subscribed!

wow you did amazing with this explanation, thanks much

No bullshit, straight to the point, you taught me more than school could ever in years in 28 minutes, you are a godsend, you deserve more subs, thanks alot

I couldn’t wait to finish before I subscribed. Great work!!!!

MAN, THAT'S SO HELPFUL...

Excellent teaching and communication. I’m an extremely mediocre guitarist and have dabbled with piano off and on, but this video has inspired me to get back into it. Theory isn’t so daunting now thanks to you! Subbed for life

Your videos are so awesome man and you seem like a great dude. Wish I could hang with you and make music, feel like we'd get along so well 😄. Keep up the killer content man!!

An excellent tutorial that simplifies music theory!!!!!!!

Dude! You just summed up hundreds of hours of learning it took me to get some of this stuff 😁 great job making it simple!

You rock my guy! Broke this down amazingly!

There is an alternate way to remember an octave. If you start from C and end at B, it is 12 notes and is easier to remember because you can see an octave as 1 white key before 2 black keys together and one white key after 3 black keys together. I.e. C - B, Db Eb - F# Ab Bb. I hope this helped you.

thats why today all music seems to se the same... sometimes I heard a new music, and in the middle of it, I aleready know what the song will do next...