First of all, in this series we're going to explore and analyze harmonic principles beyond tonality
and learn to play songs like this...
We will also write some pieces using the harmonic techniques
that we pick up along the way. Things like this...
Also, we're going to look at these concepts
assuming that you have a pretty good understanding of tonality. Although this music is at many times
post-tonal, we're still going to be using a tonal map a lot because Pat Metheny's harmonic language
uses many tonal principles. So please make sure that you watch some of our other videos covering
the topic of tonal harmony. We discuss tonality and how we use the tonal map for songwriting, analysis,
and how to understand harmony in general. I'll put a link to the videos in the description down below
if you need to refresh or understand some of these things that we're about to talk about in
this video. For those of you that know Pat Metheny, welcome :) You know how vast a topic this is going
to be. And for those of you who don't know who he is, well here's a taste of what his music sounds like...
And no, contrary to popular belief, Pat Metheny is not the composer to so many Wii soundtracks.
And yes, while these guys are clearly using a lot of the techniques that
Pat Metheny uses, they are not actually Pat Metheny. Having said all that, let's get started!
Okay so first question, "Isn't Pat Metheny on piano pretty much just Lyle Mays?"
Anyways as I was saying, Pat Metheny's harmonic language is not tonal or modal "per se", but
most of the harmonic progressions imply a key and or a mode, at least of the moment. Tonal harmony
is a contract between the composer and music itself. This contract guarantees
that if you follow the rules your piece will be able to offer an anchor point,
a magnetic pole or a gravitational center. A tonic! A house where the listener can feel at home and
comfortably listen to your entire piece. If I play a 2-5-1, you can hear the entire progression
knowing exactly where your home is, or the one, the tonic. On the opposite side of the spectrum,
atonality is also a contract, but the rules in it guarantee the exact opposite results. No matter how
hard the listener tries to find a home, or a tonal center, it will be impossible to do so! The listener
will always be lost without any clear sense of direction,. Nowhere to stand firm. You are nowhere!..?...?.
Now in Pat's music, the tonal center keeps shifting, moving and sometimes becoming invisible. Sometimes
it's clear and fixed, but most of the time it's a moving target. This puts the listener in constant
motion. There's no specific place where we can listen from and you can feel it in the music.
It's just like you're driving on the highway while the scenery around you it's constantly shifting...
The interesting thing is that although your ears keep moving, YOU are actually somewhere specific.
YOU are in a car. Whereas if this were true atonality,
you would be nowhere, a vacuum of space if you will...
All right so let's be honest for a second here, I don't know what Pat was thinking when he was
writing his music, you don't know, I don't know, nobody knows. S**t, not even he knows! You see Pat Metheny
is using his ears and his harmonic instincts that he developed from a lifetime of experience
and playing. Always remember this, analyzing music is a way of talking about something very abstract
using concepts and terms that are somewhat easy to communicate and understand. But music
is much more than that. Also everything we present in this series is our perspective! Hopefully
it will give you some insight into this music from a new point of view so that you can develop
your own way of looking at it. And in the spirit of this argument we're going to approach this series
from two angles: analysis and composition. We will analyze Matheny's music trying to extract some
concepts and techniques, and then we will apply them by composing our own music. This is crucial
since there's no point in sounding exactly like Pat Metheny. Pat Metheny already exists, we just want
to enrich our color palette by assimilating new concepts which will hopefully help us to develop
our own voice. You're going to learn much more from watching us struggle and take this journey
together than you would from us just listing and telling you what techniques are being used.
So please join us on this journey to understand one of the most iconic composers and guitarists
of our time, as we view his music through the lens of the piano. Guys this is beautiful music
with so much emotion, substance and soul! So please don't miss out on this series!
I hope you're ready to have some fun with music see you soon :)