Great video thanks. :) However, I have couple of minor constructive criticisms: especially my small laptop the actual note markings are very difficult to see and I also found the other drawings a bit distracting. I think zooming in on your score writing would be enough to make it visually interesting so you don't need the other scribbles. Anyway, a great video and keep at it!

The Eb is a sus4 with the G#/Ab

Yeah, whether Cornell did this on purpose or not isn't really the point, and it's been a bit weird seeing so many people act like it is. I kinda get where it's coming from, but still. Strange.

Yep, I'm pretty sure very few musicians, even ones who know theory well, set out with a particular set of theory ideas they want to apply to their music. That sounds like homework. What theory is, is a way for us to look at how stuff works. It's less like a how to guide for making good music (because there is some music that is damned interesting from a theoretical perspective but boring as hell to listen to), and more of taking apart what already exists and figuring out how it works. Less prescriptive, more descriptive.

You know, i had a similar thought this morning -- that some of our best art is "like a finger pointing at the moon" as the Buddhists say. By way of explanation, i listened to The Police's "Spirits in the World", then this song, followed by "Fell On Black Days". Figured someone else might find these quotes interesting: Sting explained the song's meaning in Lyrics By Sting: "I thought that while political progress is clearly important in resolving conflict around the world, there are spiritual aspects of our recovery that also need to be addressed. I suppose by 'spiritual' I mean the ability to see the bigger picture, to be able to step outside the narrow box of our conditioning and access those higher modes of thinking that Koestler talked about. Without this, politics is just the rhetoric of failure."" "A black hole is a billion times larger than a sun, it's a void, a giant circle of nothing, and then you have the sun, the giver of all life. It was this combination of bright and dark, this sense of hope and underlying moodiness." "I even liked the way the words looked written down," Cornell added. (Also of note: Black Sun is a 1969 sculpture by Isamu Noguchi located in Seattle, Washington's Volunteer Park. Chris had said elsewhere he'd visited the sculpture.) "'Fell On Black Days' was like this ongoing fear I've had for years. It took me a long time to write that song. We've tried to do three different versions with that title, and none of them have ever worked," he said. "It's a feeling that everyone gets. You're happy with your life, everything's going well, things are exciting - when all of a sudden you realize you're unhappy in the extreme, to the point of being really, really scared. There's no particular event you can pin the feeling down to, it's just that you realize one day that everything in your life is f--ked!"

I once read that the dudes in Soundgarden had no idea what time signature they played in, it all happened by chance. When you jam with friends and you hit the zone you know your there and that's when you make real music.

I mean unless you write or play music yourself it porobably really easxy to not realized that i want say 98% no one put this much thought in what their music is doing while writing it.

Blander Alexander Is having a stroke is it because I’m black?

Good Burger

@@j.pslaym0666 As someone who has written one or two songs, I can confirm that this is how it usually works. But in this case it was AMAZING!!!

^_^

He's left-handed, think like a mirror, and let the genius awaken!

dallimamma im left handed except on certain cameras.

Couldn't avoid laughing.. .haha

unexpected, have a nice day.

I suspect they thought about it quite a lot, although probably not in the same terms!

timwalkersings you're wrong tho

this song was written in 15 minutes

most rock musicians write music mostly by playing first and then writing it down instead of the other way around, i believe. its a less "technical" way of writing than what is used for example in classical music, i would say.

Alex Gray Many of them don't even write it down (they are not approaching songwriting theoretically).

I'll add it to the list, thanks!

Wouldn't be a little sharp

i think it’s tuned to 433hz? around there i think

Just tune the low E to D, don’t need to change any other strings (this is a common tuning, drop D)... when you play in this tuning, it is the simplest to play, like smoke on the water, mostly bar chords but sometimes without any other fingers other than your first

It’s a half step down/D# not D.

*Laughs in DAEAC**#e*

The melody in the beginning reminds me of something from a Spyro level. Particularly from Spyro 1 or 2 on PS1. Such a beautiful song. And a good nostalgic video game!

Thanks!

This too is my first viewing of your video. Reminds me of Vihart but for music instead of math.

Ditto! I'm a new subscriber noe

Vihart talked about music topics too.

Thanks, I love minutephysics!

The difference is that I actually understand most of the things minutephysics says

He knew music theory

Totally agree. He was a master.

Thanks, that's really great to hear!

Thanks, I'll add it to the list!

12tone legit subbing to see you analyze Epic, such an amazing song, FNM had some amazing shit

Epic would be a good choice.

Tobias Gilsenan I did in 94 and in 2015, solo. 2015 was 1 of 2 concert situation in my life that have been the only "religious experiences" I've had.

Tobias Gilsenan great song but not really complex

You are not alone. Also, 95% of what he's talking about here is completely not necessary to create music. Play every day and you will get better.

⁠@@ZeranZeranAll of what he said is necessary to write or perform music. If you don’t know at least basic music theory then you’re gonna have a hard time writing a song. I speak from experience.

@@deew_knird_reeb_ekomS Music theory is important. Following this video as a guide is not, and would hold people back

I suppose I'll have to reach out to one of my physicist friends for a collab, then!

Joe Rodriguez how do I get to the hole? Astral, dnt, or _?? To get to the father, have to go through the son!

@@TheGizzle85 you uhh... You might be on to something there as far as the lyrical content of the song goes

And that the first chord is a lil sus

@@TheGizzle85 Yes!

Yeah, I get that. It's a really weird, disorienting song, and the bizarre harmony really helps accentuate the lyrics.

Kakyoin Noriaki Man fuck black sabbath. Tired of that overhyped band.

RVPRSD yeah the band that influenced every metal band and some very good rock bands is overhyped.......

Jose D They are overhyped. So they were the first to do metal big deal. I dont hear people giving the first car props for being the first to do it. lol

RVPRSD if it weren't for them metal wouldn't be the same that's the big deal, if you don't like them that's fine, but you can't say they are overhyped.

Thanks! I know the feeling: For me that artist is Rob Zombie, and I'm hoping he lives forever 'cause I am not prepared to deal with that.

Thanks for the suggestion! At this point, though, we receive so many song requests that we can really only focus on the ones from our Patreon patrons. We just don't have the time to look at every song that comes in, unfortunately. There's a link to our Patreon in the description if you're interested in checking it out, though! There's definitely a lot of amazing harmony in Beatles music, though. We've already examined McCartney's Blackbird (kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rZeWgpmW1rzId4U.html ) but there's definitely plenty of other ones worth looking at!

Thanks!

Thanks!

Ricardo Siahaan Chris actually came up with most of their best riffs including this one.

Jerry Cantrell

@@mainsmain Billy Corgan too

Yeah, probably! Or rather, I think he probably just didn't care how complex it was, he just wanted a specific feeling.

That’s how the greatest music is created. Not with overthinking and theoretical analysis.

Thanks, and thanks for the suggestion! At this point, though, we receive so many song requests that we can really only focus on the ones from our Patreon patrons. We just don't have the time to look at every song that comes in, unfortunately. There's a link to our Patreon in the video description if you're interested, though!

Agreed.

Yeah, it's really phenomenal the level of complexity he was able to reach purely by instinct. Absolutely a genius.

Damian yep he didn't know theory. he couldn't shred an awesome guitar solo but damn could he come up with some neat riffs and melodies.

That only makes this more impressive.

It doesn't matter whether he knows what the building blocks of music theory are called: those blocks can be discovered by anyone who really listens and experiments with music. For example he knew that a dominant or a secondary dominant could be used to lead back into the start of a chorus in the relevant key but he didn't know the technical term, in fact anyone who has played guitar and written songs knows this relationship on the fretboard by feel because it is obvious.

It's also fitting when you consider the rhythmic elements (I'm a drummer so this is the stuff we think about) of Soundgarden, and how they fucked with rhythm and time signature (for good examples of that, see this song's solo and the entirety of Spoonman). They did it unintentionally, but it ends up being really cool.

*melody

Wasn't it proved that as long as you use 12-tone equal temperament you can't tell difference in Hz (like A=440 and A=432) of the pitches as long as whole melody is shifted the same?

I think there's a difference between conscious identification and subconscious comfort. I certainly don't think that, listening to it, most people will notice that it's out of tune, because everything's out of tune by the same amount, but it still stimulates a different set of hair cells than we're used to having stimulated. I could be wrong, though: I'm not a neuroscientist, and it's kind of hard to separate the tuning thing from everything else that's going on, but it's a thing I've noticed in a lot of songs that are trying to sound dark and uncomfortable (Pantera, for instance, used it a lot.) so I feel like there's something there. If nothing else, it will certainly seem strange if you've recently been listening to other music that's tuned normally, because then your brain has something external to compare it to.

Okay, thanks for super-fast answer! :)

+12tone Does it have something to do with the "standard" of tuning the A note to 440 Hz even though it used to be 432 Hz because 432 is more in tune with human anatomy and brain waves? I heard John Lennon took great pains to have his piano tuned for "Imagine" so that the D would be at 528 Hz because 528 is supposed to be "healing to the heart or brain" ...or something like that. I'm not a musician, but I find this fascinating how everything ties in together. I read that 440 was made standard around Hitlers time, and you can see videos about how sand and water react to the sound here on YT. At 432 Hz the sand makes beautiful patterns, but at 440 not so much, water seems more "at peace" at 432, where 440 seems to disrupt it. Since our bodies are mostly water, I think having standard tuning set to 440 is purposely designed to make people more aggressive and violent. Everything is vibration, I heard the word Cymatics, but not sure what it means I haven't researched it yet. too many irons in the fire. I still have my old violin and my dad's guitar. I wonder if I could learn it better the second time around?

Thanks! By the way, if you'd like to understand more, we have a series called Building Blocks that looks at music theory from the bottom up: kzfaq.info/sun/PLMvVESrbjBWplAcg3pG0TesncGT7qvO06

Thanks!

Thanks!

Heh, true... It's just so much cuter and easier to draw that way, though!

I thought they were mice. I must be some sort of idiot.

Their trunks are truncated.

I just assumed it was all the same one or two elephants, just doing different things...

I honestly thought they were mice...

Leave

Thanks!

I know right

the mon

Leave please

Thanks!

Thank you

Incisive, interesting analysis ...

Yeah, I think a lot of us are. We still have his music, though, and that's pretty amazing.

True! As a theorist I tend to focus more on the structure of the notes than the instrumentation, but it's definitely a song that uses the guitar well.

Yep. Have to agree. As someone who has been playing music on and off for decades, now. (Jeez! Am i really THAT old??) i DID study classically on the violin as a child, but sort of dropped out of that world, but then got into other stuff, like guitars, and bass, and have gone through my musical life with some, but pretty sketchy at best, knowledge of theory. And boy do i regret it, now. I find a disturbing rejection of theory, especially amongst guitarists who equate musical knowledge with a block to creativity. Which i simply don't understand, It seems that for every guitarist who proclaims they have no need for theory, they will site a favourite player (Steve Vai, John Petrucci and the like) who you know are pretty good on their theory. This is a big and divisive subject, and i guess there will be no convincing the players who claim they don't need it. Shame to limit yourself so much, but there you go.

Dave Grohl is a good example. Self taught, doesnt read music.

I don't know these people you speak of but will treat them gently if i ever come across them. i dont have the same coloured pool of knowledge as before and know there are many approaches one can take to create music.

Cyan Light but is it not their right? Unless they shovin it down your throat that's a different story, as a music lover not knowing theory, i had fun watching this vid

tim, they learn just enough to get confused and not enough to see the depth of knowledge and utility that can come with being fluent in this kind of stuff. I'm a classical horn player and I play keyboards in a rock band. I can't fluently read sheet music for piano. I mostly use my ear/asking band members what the changes are. It seriously makes things so nice. It's infinitely easier to understand why certain styles work the way they do, how effects are achieved, etc etc. These things work together with each other. theory is descriptive, not prescriptive, and I guess these guys don't learn that.

Aw, thanks!

please!

Thanks for the suggestion! At this point, though, we receive so many song requests that we can really only focus on the ones from our Patreon patrons. We just don't have the time to look at every song that comes in, unfortunately. There's a link to our Patreon in the video description if you're interested, though!

Its okay, I get it. Once I have some money to donate I would definitely love to help out! Keep on keepin on!

I'll add it to the list1

yeah, anything by steely dan would be amazing!

Aw, thanks!

Aw, thanks!

Thanks!

12tonefaphwenb

Thanks! You're probably right, they most likely just played things that felt right to them. Still fun to look at why it all works, though!

When you write music, I don't think any thought goes into the theory behind it until you've already written it. I don't think bout it until much later; not until we've already played it a few times.

MUN00K like many other great songs this one was born from it's name. Chris thought that he heard that someone said "black hole sun" on TV and he liked that. It's lyrics were written intuitively, without any concrete meaning. And that's the beauty of it - their most popular song is a result of spontaneous creative blast.

thumbs down

MUN00K well thanks for explaining that to 12tone, Captain Obvious. Did you seriously think he didn't know that?

^_^

Thanks!

I'll add them to the list, thanks!

I'd love to see Green Onions if you haven't already done it. This is the first video of yours I've watched. Thank you for sharing your gifts with us!

Josipa Horvat ya like jazzz?

Ditto: Coltrane's Love Supreme.

Thanks!

Thanks! Me too, if I'm being honest...

Stop and change your profile picture because it is a dead meme and isn’t funny

A mogus

We have all been damaged

I was looking for a comment talking aout the SUS

Aw, thanks!

Stop

Shut up. Please

Thanks!

Yes thank you

Yeah, music theory's a pretty hard class, especially if it's not taught well. If you'd like to learn more, though, we have a series called Building Blocks that looks at music theory from the bottom up: kzfaq.info/sun/PLMvVESrbjBWplAcg3pG0TesncGT7qvO06

Yeah, he was a genius. At least we still have his music...

AHAHAHHAHAHA

G sus

All of you stop. Now

Leave

^_^

Aw, thanks!

The producer had Chris listen to Sinatra before cutting the vocal. One amazing thing about the song is Chris heard the melody in his head while driving in his car, hummed it until he could get to a phone, and called his house to leave it on his answering machine.

Carlo Von Sexron I come up with melodies in my head all the time, sometimes in school, which is terrible because I don't have somewhere to record it or whatever and I still have hours of thinking so I don't remember it. It's very disappointing.

Ever heard of a mobile phone? I record things all the time. Sometimes have to whisper so not to cause embarrassment!

More complex than a Frank Zappa song.

Hardly. Not that complexity in itself matters, but Zappa covered such a huge range of music, from Doo Wop to pretty abstract stuff (see Jazz From Hell or the London Symphony Orchestra albums to name but two). Few people have come anywhere close to Zappa's range of styles. Don't get me wrong, i'm not denigrating Black Hole Sun, it's a great and powerful song, but i personally think there are very few people whoo can rival Zappa for sheer breadth of vision. If any???

Aaw, thanks!

Thanks!

Stop

Yet you like Gorillaz.

Aw, thanks! Feel free to share it if you know anyone else who'd be interested!

Yeah, I agree, he definitely wrote this much more from instinct than theory. I don't really agree that theory can't produce great results, but it's pretty impressive how theoretically complicated things can get when you're not thinking about theory at all!

I think the same could be said with films especially those of David lynch. He never gives answers to what things mean, instead he gives vague answers like things have many meanings. It's because he is probably using ideas that just come to him/ not to do with the fucking planets aligning or satanism

12tone im taking lorazepam like Cornell did and its really fucked up. Ive gotten so much help but nothing works. I went 1 year clean with literally nothing but caffeine and Im still really depressed. At this point the only thing thats keeping me alive is luck. And I'm only fucking 16, why couldn't this happen to my brain once Im at least a little older. If ur reading this go check the song "schism" but tool, the lyrics describe this perfectly, it will probably just confuse you though.

Riley Witting don't give up. It can sometimes take a long time to find the right balance of meds, dose, therapy, etc. if there's one silver lining to your struggles, pain can be the purest form of inspiration for art. Find your niche and pour yourself into it. You may find it cathartic and at least slightly helpful. I've been to some pretty dark places and felt like luck alone was keeping me here, I know in your current place these words may ring false or empty, but it gets so much better (consider this a message from your 33 year old self). Best of luck, and know that you're cared about, even by a stranger from the ether of the Internet.

Stucknnmx thanks so much

Please leave this comment section and take your non funny jokes to your grave

@@eggisawesome u kinda sound like an imposter rn,,

@@CelibateYoda I seriously hope you go to a psych ward

@@eggisawesome I hope your dad comes back

Thanks!