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Beethoven Sucks At Music
There are no Great Composers. The first 1000 people who click the link will get 2 free months of Skillshare Premium: https://skl.sh/12tone0820 For centuries, we've been told that some composers are just special. Their work is divinely...
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Understanding Uptown Girl
There's been a lot of words written about "simple" pop, and Billy Joel has long been a posterboy for that debate, but honestly, it takes a lot of skill to make good music that still sounds good, and Joel is a perfect example of that....
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The 7 Levels Of Vocal Harmony (feat. A Capella Science)
We really don't talk enough about harmony vocals. The first 1000 people who click the link will get 2 free months of Skillshare Premium: https://skl.sh/12tone27 Background vocals are such an important part of modern arranging, but most...
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How One Instrument Defined A Generation
How the 80s became a genre. Try CuriosityStream free and get Nebula included: http://www.curiositystream.com/12tone and use promo code "12tone" Every time period has its own musical sound, but few are quite as recognizable as the 1980s....
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Understanding Superstition
Groove is one of the most underrated aspects of modern music, at least from a music theory perspective. The way a good funk groove layers lots of different rhythms with different lengths and different layers of complexity in order to...
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My Brand-New Take On Four-Chord Loops
Revolutionizing music theory one video at a time! The first 1000 people who click the link will get 2 free months of Skillshare Premium: https://skl.sh/12tone26 So... here's the thing. I'm not entirely sure, but I *may* have come up with...
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Hip Hop's Greatest Invention
Or why hip-hop lyrics are a million times more complicated than any other style. Support the National Bail Fund Network: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bailfundscovid BLM resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ Music Theory's...
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Understanding Chop Suey!
I cry when angels deserve to die. Support the National Bail Fund Network: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/bailfundscovid BLM resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/ Music Theory's White Racial Frame:...
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Will Artificial Intelligence Destroy Music?
AI is making music now. Should we be scared? So... have you heard of JukeBox? It's a new AI that not only writes songs in the style of various artists, but performs them too. It's the closest computers have ever come to replacing the...
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The Mystery Of The Phantom Chord Progression
Sometimes chords aren't quite what they seem. Try CuriosityStream free and get Nebula included: http://www.curiositystream.com/12tone and use promo code "12tone" Modern harmony is based in part on traditional techniques, but it varies in...
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You Don't Need Music Theory
Or, I mean, you do, but it's complicated. Get 20% off Hooktheory's interactive books and a lifetime subscription to Hookpad: https://www.hooktheory.com/12tone It's a simple question: How much music theory do you actually need to know?...
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No, Today's Music Isn't Boring (A Response To Rick Beato)
Look I don't want to start a fight but we need to talk about this. The first 1,000 people to use this link will get a 1 month free trial of Skillshare: https://skl.sh/12tone07210 So... About a month ago, Rick Beato did a livestream...
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Understanding Under The Bridge
It's easy, in retrospect, to underestimate the importance of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but despite all the jokes about their fixation with California, the truth is their music is actually really good and nuanced, and they were one of...
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The Worst Genre Of Music
"Art music" is garbage and here's why. Get 26% off CuriosityStream and a free Nebula account: http://www.curiositystream.com/12tone and use promo code "12tone" There's a lot of great kinds of music out there. It's one of the most diverse...
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Understanding The Safety Dance
Why do I do this to myself? Support 12tone on Patreon to help us keep making cool videos! https://www.patreon.com/12tonevideos What is it that moves a person to dance? For Ivan Doroschuk, lead singer of Men Without Hats, the need to...
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How To Write A Hardcore Punk Riff
It's more than just power chords. Support 12tone on Patreon to help us keep making cool videos! https://www.patreon.com/12tonevideos Punk is an interesting genre for music theorists, because it very much doesn't care what music theorists...
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Understanding Zombie
Not an easy story, but an important one. Support 12tone on Patreon to help us keep making cool videos! https://www.patreon.com/12tonevideos Written as a response to the violence of The Troubles, Zombie is a raw, intensely emotional look...
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This Rhythm Is Impossible
Not hard, just impossible. Support 12tone on Patreon to help us keep making cool videos! https://www.patreon.com/12tonevideos The word "impossible" gets thrown around a lot in music, but usually what we really mean is just extremely...
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Understanding Get Lucky
I'm up all night to analyze music. Support 12tone on Patreon to help us keep making cool videos! https://www.patreon.com/12tonevideos Get Lucky was a cultural phenomenon, and it revitalized the careers of Daft Punk. The band had been...
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The Book That Changed Jazz Forever
Taking on music theory's biggest idea. Support 12tone on Patreon to help us keep making cool videos! https://www.patreon.com/12tonevideos In music circles, the Lydian Chromatic Concept by George Russell has built a reputation as a...
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Understanding Free Fallin'
I thought this one would be easy, but... yeah. Support 12tone on Patreon to help us keep making cool videos! https://www.patreon.com/12tonevideos I've lived in Los Angeles for over a decade now, so I think it's finally time that I tackle...
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What *Is* Butt Rock?
For reasons I'm not sure I could explain if I tried, I've recently found myself thinking a lot about the concept of butt rock, so in order to get it out of my head, I decided to do a deep dive on the history and practice of this...
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Understanding "The Middle"
There's some songs that you never really outgrow, and for me, The Middle is one of those. The relentless optimism of the track feels like a weird match for the dark cynicism of teenagehood in the early 2000s, but the earnest insistence...
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Why Is It So Hard To Talk About Sound?
The tools we have to precisely discuss sound kinda... suck. Ok, maybe that's a bit much, but as a music theorist, it's hard not to notice how underdeveloped our vocabulary is when it comes to what is arguably the single most important...