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  • the world of four chords

    I found this video hilarious (makes fun of how most pop songs use the same four chords) and thought this forum might enjoy it as a break from relatively 'heavy' music:



    Cheers 

    Anand


  • Tηe period of 25 years picked by Rick Beato is more or less the period when everything musical has turned to excrement, and it certainly also applies to film music and musical theatre (excepting the old guys still composing and very few other efforts).

    I don't know whether I can be as charitable as Beato regarding the quality of the songwriters who are allegedly repressed by radio executives. If you are a good composer you will still write the great songs once you have written the first 2-3 stinkers in order to get recognition. I haven't heard many, so... Although I admit I am not on top of the pop charts like I was more than 25 years ago.

    In film however, and although it is the illiterate and uncultured directors and producers who encourage the pure methane 'Epic' sound, the almost always out-of-context eastern vocalises, the out-of-tune piano and glocks in horror (yes, great ideas when first used, lazy clichés now), the "composers" themselves could not write any other music if so instructed, being themselves illiterate and uncultured - as opposed to the pop artists Beato claims to be capable.

    I will also add that those four chords in the video have resulted in many really inspired songs in the distant past. I cannot say the same for soundtracks that have obviously been computer-"assisted" - I say generated (arpeggiators, copy-paste computer patterns, ready-made "inspiration(!)" patches, etc.). Not one!

    Dumbing down the naturally entropic human race is easy. Raising its standards was hard. Executives facilitating this sepsis have incinerated centuries of careful cultivation with the lightning speed that technology allows for today.

    Williams, Morricone, Elfman: Go join the dead ones, eat the dust of the mouse-cavalry...


  • True that the four chords themselves are not to blame. Probably most of Mozart's sonatas or symphonies at least start with I IV vi V....this sonata repeats these for almost the entire introduction:



    No one can complain about this music!

    Speaking of film music, I recently say 'Get out' and was quite impressed by the sound track. I thought the film hugely benefited from the score. It ranged from beautiful African music to advanced orchestral techniques. 


    Some of the tracks are so scary I cant listen to them even by themselves.

    Refreshing to hear anything other than the repetitive crap that pervades movies today, popularized by 'you know who'.

    Anand


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  • A couple of his cards were wrong at the time they were playing!   

    The Mozart has a section after the beginning that modulates to a secondary dominant doesn't it?  Or did I hear that wrong?  Anyway to compare Classical Era music is a bit unfair since there was a general, deliberate simplifying of harmony and working within those parameters as compared to the often more complex "barbaric" harmony of the Baroque and Rennaissance  - or obviously the Romantic and later eras.  Mozart is the ultimate master of using simplicity with absolute immaculate perfection.  But even the Rennaissance was sometimes more complex - for example Gesualdo if you want to hear some wild chords way beyond I IV V and VI.  I love his stuff! 

    That is interesting to hear about the Beatles and something I never thought about, though I always liked how even their simple early songs often had nice harmonic progressions beyond I IV V VI.  Their later stuff like Abbey Road is fantastic in its use of harmony far beyond that simplistic stuff. 

    I agree with Errikos on how it isn't just the executives causing this.  It very similar to film music as he points out.  Herrmann simplified his style to create music that was exactly suited to film, but was always musically interesting.  A lot of composers (not all but many of the really highly paid ones) today are imitating his approach but leave out the musically interesting aspect!!!    


  • Yes it modulates to G indeed for the second theme in the sonata form, but then again works mostly with I IV V in G until it comes back to the tonic. Still, he produces so much interesting stuff just with these 'basic' chords. One of my favorite pieces (among the few I know) to play.

    Funny you noted some cards of Beato were wrong, I wasn't quick to catch that. Beato is an interesting guy. I watch him more out of amusement for his energy than musical content. 

    Anand


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    You guys might be interested in this video from Youtube called, "The TRUTH Why Modern Music is Awful"



    It actually provides scientific evidence supporting what we've all been screaming about here on the forum and other outlets for years.

    The presenter concentrates more on the Pop scene but his presentation can be universally applied to all music.

    You may disagree with the conclusions the presenter reaches but You might find yourself jumping up and down in your seat saying, "Yeah! This is what I've been talking about!"

    Basically I think he's saying that we are being taught to be dumb.


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  • Even the "four chord song is overdone" song is overdone :)




  • PaulP Paul moved this topic from Orchestration & Composition on