It all started with the big bang, mother of
all bass drums, and since then
the universe is swinging! The famous string theory is based around the idea that the smallest particles swing
just like the strings of a guitar.
Pythagoras discovered musical harmony is at base of simple math. For example,
plucking a string at its half will make its pitch exactly one octave above its original pitch.
Plucking it at 3/4 of its length produces a perfect fourth,
and so on. Earliest evidence of making music dates back 45000 years; Neanderthals were playing instruments
like flutes that seem to have been based around what we call diatonic scales. On a piano
that's the white keys.
Hi and welcome to the first episode of Tricks,
the music show with the...
[sound effect]
Our aim is to inspire and give insights on
how music making can be more than just...
[superprofessional beat]
My name is Tracky Birthday and that’s my
friend and assistant Hasi International™.
I can live off art itself!
Today we’re gonna start with a true fundamental of songwriting: Harmony. The chords used in
a song and their order is what defines its
tune and mood.
What does it actually sound like if we play
all white keys on a piano?
Incredible, really does sound like Neanderthalian beer fest.
While playing all black keys may result in
something like this.
Interesting, the opposite colored keys on
the piano sound like the opposite spots on
earth, from Bavaria to Asia.
[Today's episode is brought to you by: T-shirt.]
Another aspect of harmony is the distinction between major and minor chords. Major chords
are known to sound happy while minor chords seem sad. Why is that so? Well, when talking
we use certain melodies as well. Tell me something jolly, Hasi!
I have beautiful, thick brown hair!
And now something sad.
But there's not much left on top...
[That’s why we robots sound so cold. But
we have feelings too, you soft monsters]
Anyone who had a crowd of people slowly singing happy birthday to them knows that major doesn’t
always sound happy though.
On the contrary, minor chords can sound awfully happy if you ask me.
Certain melodies seem to sound extraordinarily pleasant. If you consider learning an instrument
be sure to first learn these four chords:
In Roman numeral analysis it w ould look like this:
It's called the 50s progression because almost
any song released in the 1950s was written
in this tune. You’ll find this progression
in endless songs outside of that time period
as well.
Some, who read den jungen Haslauer or the
Internet might know similar activities, but
that doesn't matter nobody never.
By the way, if you’re too lazy to learn guitar or ukulele for example, you can just tune
them into a harmonic major or minor chord and press down all strings on the same fret
to easily get another fun chord progression.
À l’impossible nul n’est tenu.
Harmony is something so strong you can play a solo consisting of only one note
and it will still sound awesome.
In Dub music the lead melody doesn't even appear in the music, it rather develops in
the listener’s head thanks to the harmonic
overtones.
