Songs that use Counterpoint
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 1. 05. 2024
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Counterpoint is a musical texture where two or more melodies interact to create a sense of harmony whilst also maintaining their independence from each other. It is most commonly found in Baroque music, however we can find examples of contrapuntal writing in pop and rock music too.
For this video I decided to forego my usual Patreon outro and instead feature a rendition of the Ukrainian national anthem which I've arranged. I've also decided to donate the Patreon proceeds from this video to Save The Children's work in Ukraine.
And, an extra special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channelâs Patreon saints! đ
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0:00 Introduction & Bach
1:04 "God Only Knows" by The Beach Boys
2:23 Homophony Vs. Counterpoint
3:28 "For No One" by The Beatles
4:39 "Supermassive Black Hole" by Muse
5:45 "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead
8:10 "Country House" by Blur
9:05 "Scarborough Fair/Canticle" by Simon & Garfunkel
10:29 "One Day More" from Les Misérables
11:57 Fugues
14:20 Consecutive 5ths
16:19 Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy i slava, i volia
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yes
Not sure if you know Gentle Giant: here's a song by them that utilises counterpoint and canon techniques, and they do it live, using instruments and vocals. One of the most underrated bands ever IMO: czcams.com/video/z6WSLG5r-wE/video.html
David, could you tell, whether "Big Jet Plane" by Angus and Julia Stone uses also counterpoint in terms of the vocals, guitar and the strings or not? I just can't figure out the last. Thank you in advance.
Thereâs a lot of instability in my life but one thing I can always count on is seeing Paul McCartney in the thumbnail of a David Bennett Piano video
And Radiohead and i read that Paul is a big Radiohead fan which is just perfect because even though they often sound nothing alike the band that reminds me of the Beatles the most by far is Radiohead.
There are 3 guarantees in life: Death, taxes, and a Beatle being featured in a thumbnail of a David Bennett music theory video đ
Bahahahahaha
SenpaiKai
I hate the thumbnails. Can't quite put my finger on why they bug me so much. I think it's because they're always very staged photoshoot shots. Also he frequently puts randoms like green Day alongside the Beatles, you get the impression he doesn't know that much popular /rock music other than Beatles and Radiohead, apart from a couple of random bands like green day
- Songs that use: "insert music theory concept"
- Thom York's face: Helloooooooo
Thom Yorke, Paul McCartney, and JS Bach. David's big three...
Oh god. That âvocals onlyâ of God Only knows is beautiful. Brian Wilson is such a brilliant mind.
Thatâs one song Iâll never grow tired of.
You should check out his latest solo piano album. You will hear harmonies of some of those Pet Sounds and Smile tunes like youâve never heard before. Some of it resembles a blend of Debussy, Mozart and Gershwin. Unbelievable mind.
Sir Paulâs all-time favorite song.
I went to a religious college, where we occasionally sang from "101 Bach Chorales". It was some of the most amazing, hauntingly beautiful music I've ever been a part of. The classical composers have earned their fame!
I loved all the harmonies and polyphony of The Beach Boys. Even in a less serious song like Be True to Your School, check out the cool chord change on the word fly in the sentence Let your colors fly and also later in the song on the Oos going into Rah Rah after the chant Push En Back, Push Em Back, Way Back! Genius!
Paul McCartney also uses counterpoint in Wings' "Silly love songs" layering the 3 melodies introduced before then adding a fourth melody with the bass
I love that! It's mind-meltingly cool
The way Paul plays bass, most Beatles/Wings/Paul solo songs could be considered counterpoint
Is there counterpoint in McCartney's song Wanderlust?
@@NNnn-zc2bm yes at the end of the song
@@NNnn-zc2bm yep, definitely! Thatâs a great example. That second melody comes in with the horns under the verse about midway through the song, and then as has been pointed out, it becomes really prominent with the two overlapping vocal lines at the end. Although itâs not from the bass on that one-I mean something like All My Loving
The ending piece was lovely
National anthem of Ukraine.
In the flag's colours!
@@andreasheine9607 yes, noticed that too
@@farteinjonassen7523 Thank you! I didn't realize that. I've already listened to it three times, looked for more versions of it, and fully intend to learn to play it. I am a huge fan of Bach, and this piece spoke to me in all the same ways. Amazing.
There I was playing along innocently until the end. Then I went back and played it again.
When you mentioned musicals, my mind when straight to the last bit of "We Don't Talk About Bruno" when all the verses come together.
Yes, of course, but, you know, We Don't....
Lin Manuel Miranda uses counterpoint a lot. "The Schuyler Sister" from Hamilton has a great counterpoint section with Angelica repeating a section, Eliza and Peggy a different section, and the ensemble doing a third section.
Yes. Lin Manuel Miranda is a master polyphonist and has incredible understanding of counterpoint. See âBlackoutâ âNon-Stopâ and âThe Battle of YorkTownâ
"Paradise by the Dashboard Light"! Where they're singing "...will you love me forever..." and "let me sleep on it..." at the same time. Also in the outtro, "it was long ago and it was far away..." with "it never felt so good, it never felt so right...".
My favorite Bealtes counterpoint is the 4 parter at the end of Iâve Got a Feeling with John and Paulâs vocals mixing with Georges and Billyâs riffs. Great stuff.
Yes!! Looove that as well!
Right, that's heavenly piece of music
Considering "mixing", "riff" I'd like to draw you attention to my comment. In fact, isn't riff not a counterpoint as the vocals always come first (it might be just the opposite, or just seen from the "mixing": it's up to the studios to turn a riff into a counterpoint).
Never mind. Your comment pleases me.
The Senots are also interetsing...
oh my. David this is insanely good?! I mean everything you do is perfection. Whenever you do the 'if it was......, then it would sound like this', I LOVE it. So much care goes into stuff like that and it is so satisfying to watch while learning!
And an example by Blur? YES.
Also, as a piano player, fugues are bastards :)
Lovely arrangement at the end too.
Thank you! That means a lot đđ
I always love Bach's use of counterpoint, although it caused me great grief when I was learning the piano as a child. It was my piano teacher, who pointed out that my two hands were playing independent melodies although together they make nice harmony. Perhaps that was the point when my liking of counterpoints (in any genre of music) begun.
makes me tentatively think of counterpoint as creating suspense until two or more notes of a riff and a vocal line meet. A riff might be a simple melody ... but isn't that what the video shows? So equality might lead to dominance, and just like the key of a piece or row of notes is a matter of ambi-valence turned to "dominance", hierarchy. I was told it's a matter of counting. Crows know to count to 4, no more. Do they eat chocolate bars - of course they do, just like real bears know to talk too. There is always an a-specht (I'm German, too) of equality. Sorry about my brmng.
I'm a big fan of counterpoint, so this may be my favorite video of yours yet. Also bravo for your arrangement at the end!
Thank you!
Great video. Blackbird by The Beatles is the example of counterpoint in pop that I most often hear cited. In terms of vocal counterpoint, Queenâs The Prophets Song and Duran Duranâs New Religion are great examples.
I think âNew Religionâ is such an undervalued song-and yeah, those contrapuntal vocals get me every time!
@@sharpphilip As well as The Prophets Song đ
Blackbird is moving in 10ths or 3rds itâs not really counterpoint
The little things give you away - Linkin Park
@@andik110 Now I know :P
Great example with For No One. Itâs one of my favorite Beatles songs and hearing those two melodies come together toward the end of the song always hit me extra hard.
yes it's soooo good
my daughters fave Beatles song, however she says it doesn't go long enough, maybe an extra verse-chorus? Come-on Paul you can do it!
@@TheDirge69 Early Beatles and their short song lengths.
I was rooting for Scarborough Fair / Canticle to make into this piece, and there it was!
Queen's "Prophet's song" is an awesome example of the canon technique - the polyphonic part starts by looping individual melodies and repeating them in rounds, but then Freddie starts layering whole harmonies in a counterpoint, which is crazy. Such a cool and underrated piece!
P.S., as a Ukrainian, I didn't expect to hear the hymn in here. Thanks for this little gesture of support, it made me smile
This is made by the delay technique often used by queen. Try to listen all of the live solos of Brian May where he layer himself by using the delay. Great example
Thanks for mentioning "The prophet's song" such an underated song by Brian May.
The Prophet's Song is so great. I'm a huge Queen fan and it is one of my favorite Queen songs. Brian May really has written some of the most brilliant music.
Thank you for explaining it, that song is a religious experience!
Ooo
Kudos to the last piece.
I love the fact that in almost all your music theory videos there is radiohead !!! RADIOHEAD GENIUS
My favorite pop songs of the late 90s/early 00s were always the ones that featured counterpoint at the end. Britney Spears's "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!... I Did it Again," as well as "Get Another Boyfriend" by The Backstreet Boys were great examples of such songs. Incidentally, Max Martin wrote all of them. Dude knew how to craft a song.
Counterpoint at the end, perhaps, was a symbolic representation of "divorce" (another boyfriend? or "oops" - something not according to the initial plan). These are aural pictures of the meaning behind the song. In his other video David talks about Bach's masterpiece where composer joined two identical lines for the player to play them simultaneously but one from the beginning to the end and another, identical, from the end to the beginning. For me it is clear representation of the antinomies and antitetics developed by German philosophers at that time.
I was rambling to my sister the other day about how much I love all the "layered overlapping parts" at the end of Oops! I Did It Again! without even realizing it was the Counterpoint I was referring to. đ
Considering the replies I wonder I you can layer a chorus with what leads to the chorus (what is the word for what's opposed to the chorus, I wonder). I think it's interesting to assume that a "chorus" can never be layered with what's before as it never really fits well, by definition. Never mind!
I've never had chills running down my spine from a brief example in a music theory video, till now. Les Miserables is a complete work of art
I love this! I hadn't even considered what made these songs special. It feels so freeing to have interwoven melodies that don't need block chords to support them
I COMPLETELY AGREE!!! đ”âșïžđđ
It took me a moment to realize why the second voice in the final piece was marked yellow. Brilliant. đșđŠ
Counterpoint is definitely my favorite subject. I'm still a beginner so i can do only second species, but it's still fascinating. It relaxes me, makes me dream, makes me feel immense satisfaction when I crack the puzzle.
One of my favorite examples of counterpoint (round) in popular music has got to be "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" by Spiritualized
Mine would be Fiona Apple's Hot Knife, which is pretty much a baroque pop fugue.
i LOVE that song
Great shout. Great album and I have the original album with orescription drug packaging. Superb.
I LOVE THAT
I'm glad someone finally pointed out the wonderful counterpoint of "Scarborough Fair/Canticle".
Damn David! Our anthem in the end was so good. Sorry for responding that late, but only now had a possibility to finally catch up with this video in particular. Thank you for your videos and for your support! Been a fan since too long. Greetings from Ukraine! Together we'll be strong as no one ever before. Peace outâ
Yes - Close to the Edge, âI get up, I get downâ section
The middle, slower section of "Close to the Edge" by Yes has a great example of two inter-woven melody lines.
Great counterpoint in And You and I on the same album.
The rock band that used counterpoint in the most effective and interesting way has to be Gentle Giant, with songs like The Advent of Panurge, Knots, So Sincere, His Last Voyage and of course, the amazing On Reflection. A whole David video on those few songs would be worth it!
YES!!!!! It's really a pity that David ignores the rich world of 70s art rock. I mentioned here many times Genesis songs from the Gabriel area which - as I would argue - were the Radiohead of the 70s.
I really enjoy watching your videos and it caught me by surprise to hear our Ukrainian anthem at the end!!! Thank you so much for this gesture, it's sounds just wonderful and I absolutely love itđ„șđđ
Thank you very much, David, for the example of our country's national anthem from the 16:23 minute. You are real friends!
I learned a lot about this in theatre, MANY musicals use this technique with the last song of the first act, ie Hamiltons "Non-Stop" or in A Gentlemens Guide to Love and Murder combative character/pushing moment, "I've Decided to Marry You". It's a fantastic opportunity to really sink multiple people and ideas together in such a creative way. I adore it, it's one of my favorite things about transitive music writing.
Lin Manuel Miranda really loves it. He used it in In the Heights (96000, Blackout, Finale), Hamilton (Non-stop, Schuyler Sisters... ), and Encanto (We don't talk about Bruno).
I think he really makes it work!
This could mean interesting idea.
Explore how composers maintain attention in longer songs.
Some suggestions
Cygnet Committee - David Bowie
Supper's Ready - Genesis
Echoes - Pink Floyd
Karn Evil 9 or Tarkus - ELP
2112 - Rush
Thick as a Brick or A Passion Play - Jethro Tull
I'm something of a long song connoisseur and I'd say a lot of it is overall dynamics. They often tend to rise and fall in a seamless, dramatic, and interesting way (Echoes, Shine On You Crazy Diamond) or continually rise in intensity until they come to a triumphant climax (Cygnet Committee, Stairway To Heaven). Very few examples are relatively steady in dynamics, and usually have some other variation or musical trick to keep them interesting - two examples that come to mind are Kashmir and Achilles' Last Stand, which both have rhythmic and harmonic tension throughout (Kashmir is polyrhythmic and Achilles has the tightly layered bass/guitar/drum parts); even they do build up and fall down, albeit to a less dramatic extent than the other examples.
The Underfall Yard - Big Big Train
We Spin the World - Moon Safari
Other Half of the Sky - Moon Safari
Mind Drive - Yes
The Truth Will Set You Free - The Flower Kings
I would throw in Jim Steinman to that mix who seemed incapable of writing short songs
@@ThinWhiteAxe I think an exception which proves the rule is Laurie Andersons O Superman and most trance music
What I found interesting in the Paranoid Android example was that the various voice do sort of HINT at homophony. Like, in some places they come close to some similar motion, but passing notes, pick-up notes, and other ornamentation gets in the way.
I was hanging out for you to talk about the miraculous 5 part counterpoint near the end of Mozart's 41st Symphony. The real miracle is not the 5 part counterpoint but the way he joined all 5 parts back together in a couple of seconds and making them disappear like a magic trick.
The breakdown in Prophetâs Song by Queen feels like a great example of counterpoint
the ukrainian anthem was a pleasant surprise. nice to hear nothing but music in that part, as that piece fits the theme of the video and no explanation was needed.
Man, coming with a great video topic. I think a lot of music lacks counterpoint today. Doesnât matter what genre but legit counterpoint would be nice to hear again in some music from someone.
Again a very informative and well-built video, thank you for that. But especially for the end: Your moving arrangement as well as the gesture itself brought a tear to my eye.
I am currently studying gcse music. I keep coming across new music theory ideas and absolutely love it. Your videos are great, and somehow all of your recent videos are about something I have recently come across. Counterpoint I learned about a few weeks ago, and fugues just recently. I love your take on explaining it all, it's very clear.
Counterpoint is what I'm going over in university, this is perfect timing! Thanks for all the videos
david bennett piano
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@@felicefausto9469 I would love it if David's real surname actually was "piano" and we've been misunderstanding the channel name all along.
I thought for sure your Beatles example would be the "I've Got A Feeling" ending when John and Paul are singing their separate melodies atop one another
I love this one. Also, a nice reminder of the never matched awesomness of JS Bach.
Great video and lovely ending :). Thank you from Ukraine.
Now i want to hear bachs inventions but with the beach boys' voices.
Dear David, you're my new favorite channel on CZcams, thanks for all your wonderful videos who give me much insight. You transformed me into a Radiohead-listener, LOL, a band I haven't known before.
Dude! You and 12 Tone are awesome. I went to school for percussion and made a living full time as a drummer for almost 25 years. I have started studying the melodic and harmonic aspects of music as well as composition and theory. Well done! Your videos are so helpful. After all these years to approach music from a different angle, makes me so happy. I actually laugh out loud at the keyboard discovering this stuff. Thank you. Blessings to you and yours.
It's vids like this that inspire me to keep plugging away at music, even though I'm rubbish at it.
Same here. Keep it up buddy! đ
That understated finale was marvelous! David Bennett you dastardly little showman!
Great topic! Been waiting for a great counterpoint video.
A very interesting and informative segment that provides context to a variety of musical styles and concepts. Thank you, David!
Another musical example: Tradition from Fiddler on the Roof. Four melodies comes together quite dramatically.
And, roughly from the same era, _The Music Manâs_ âLida Rose/Will I Ever Tell You?â Barbara Cook, in a 2000 interview, said that every time she and the Buffalo Bills did that number it stopped the show, something that utterly baffled her until she saw it as an observer in the audience.
You may not know Gentle Giant, but they have some intense vocal counterpoint going on in their song, 'On Reflection'
And instrumental as well. I was looking for this comment, yes, Gentle Giant are the kings of counterpoint (fugues or imitatives): The Advent of Panurge and Experience also have counterpoint
Youâre such a great teacher! Iâd add that, to me, avoiding parallel fifths and octaves makes for more satisfying voice-leading in general, especially in string or other instrumental backgrounds where lines should flow smoothly without detracting from other parts of the song.
Thank you so much David Bennett. I just learned in a few minutes what counterpoint and fuque actually mean, something Iâve been trying to understand for a long time.
Thank you. As a choirboy, I heard all these on a weekly basis, but it is lovely to see it all laid out and explained so clearly and with examples from different genres.
I was wondering what the piece at the end was⊠then I read the name⊠then I became aware of the colours. More meaningful because of its understated nature.
David, you've opened up a whole new world to me!
I love your videos. I watch them all and I've learnt so much! â€
Great! Thank you!
I'm a new subscriber and I just want to tell you how much comfort your videos bring me, thank you for all of your time and effort, its not going to waste and I wish you a life of inspiration and creation
Thank you!
I've been looking forward to this subject for awhile, and the video was worth the wait. (I wish my counterpoint professor had been as clear!) When you mentioned counterpoint in musical theatre my first thought was Sondheim (check out "Now/Later/Soon" from A Little Night Music where three complete songs become counterpoint) but the example from Les Miz was spot-on and the explanation of its function made the dramaturg in me proud. So happy to see that a portion of my support is going to such a worthwhile cause, too! One of your absolute best videos, David!
Beautiful arrangement of the Ukrainian national anthem at the end! Weâre playing that piece in my orchestra to honor the citizens of Ukraine đșđŠ
Now that I understand it. I can understand WHY you did it. Bravo DAVID, BRAVO!
I saw WHAT he did with the place markers also!
@@DMSProduktions Yep ukrainian flag ftw.
@@suleymantekingurmen7643 Dobry!
Bravo David, Bravo peoples of Ukraine đșđŠ
Beautiful arrangement at the end there. đ Blessings to Ukraine.
You send blessings to a country that bombed its own civilians in 2014, right?
Brilliantly done! You can tell how much effort was put into this. Thank you!
Knots by Gentle Giant has some of my favourite vocals in music. Theyâre known for complicated music, even for prog rock, & the vocal counterpoint is dense and rich.
Yo that song is sick
I was looking for a Gentle Giant comment, who Iâd say were the masters of counterpoint in rock. For the uninitiated, try âOn Reflectionâ (the studio and live versions are VERY different) and No Godâs a Man in addition to Knots.
Amazing ending, David. One song which recently came out that uses counterpoint is one of my favourite songs, The Adults Are Talking. In several parts, the guitars that Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi play are contrapuntal against each other.
Great fucking album and I hope David will talk more about it, I want to learn everything about it!
great video once again man!
the middle section of paranoid android is also really interesting harmonically. a lot of borrowed chords and key changes here and there. its honestly beautiful.
Thank you for this video!
The end is just a pure gold â€ïž
that Bach Fugue in G minor BWV 578 wtf incredible, heart-stopping - holy moly - never heard it before, thanks for sharing
You've never heard of Bach's Fugue in G minor BWV until now! That was one of the first classical works my parents introduced me to when I was a kid! (1960's). It is still one of those 'ear worms' that I have from time to time. Ear Worm = a song you can't get out of your head.
Thank you so much for your arrangement of our Ukrainian anthem! It was beautiful! Such a subtle but important voice of support! I was wondering what the piece at the end will be, and you surely exceeded all expectations! Thanks a lot!
ХлаĐČĐ° ĐŁĐșŃĐ°ŃĐœŃ!
And the moving bar is in the colors of the Ukrainian flag! Brilliantly, beautifully subtle and deeply moving.
ĐŁĐșŃĐ°ŃĐœŃ is a goddess and thus in not equal to Russia? Sorry about my trying to be war-funny on what I know: Slawa bogo is correct.
Good for you, David. Thank you for that brilliant ending statement to a fabulous video.
Excellent video! I've never heard of the term homophony before and your explanation and example of why people say "avoid parallel fifths" was great!
Iâve always been aware of counterpoint due to my love of Les Mis and my favourite song, The Confrontation. Iâve never however understood it to the extent I do now, thanks to your video.
Thank you.
Itâs made me realise why I adore certain songs, for example Mad Hatter by Avenged Sevenfold. I knew I loved it and kind of why, but didnât realise that itâs the counterpoint that comes in is what really draws me into the song.
Again, thank you
"Carnival Fugue" - on the album Focus 3 - written by the astonishing Thijs Van Leer, is a rare example of a fugue for a rock band.
honestly so grateful for this video. way easier to digest than gradus ad parnassum !
I have to say, that David is the best musical teacher here on CZcams.
So I guess this is why I prefer baroque music over classical. Bach is the bomb--that's all I got to say. I guess that's also why I am drawn to Radiohead. It's not simple pulpy music. It takes concentration to digest it and hear all the parts simultaneously.
I'll tell you a secret... There is counterpoint in the classical period as well
Another secret: classical symphonies are not simple nor "pulpy" and are full of counterpoint, specially Mozarts and Haydns, and Beethovens
@@ignacioclerici5341 I like classical as well, but baroque sticks out more. And Pop music is pulpy, not classical.
@@TheFrozenblaze_ watch Richard Atkinson videos on Mozarts symphonies to get an idea of how good he was at counterpoint, and how amazing and sophisticated his music is
@@ignacioclerici5341 Mozart's Requiem
Gentle Giant - On Reflection
Nice original work, David. Keep on keeping on.
This is real interesting. I wrote a very short counterpoint piece years ago without knowing what counterpoint was. It just sounded cool to me. It's awesome to have a name for it. Thanks for the video.
This dude Bach was insane, clearly insane
Bach surely was the master of this.
When visiting King Frederick he was challenged to improvise a 3 and later 6 voice fugue ilve before the king...and did so.
Later was written about that:
âOne could probably liken the task of improvising a six-part fugue to the playing of sixty simultaneous blindfold games of chess and winning them all.â
Another example of counterpoint in the modern music is in We Are Young by Fun. In the part with the lyrics "Carry me home tonight, just carry me home tongiht", after the 2nd chorus, we can clearly hear another vocal melody playing at the same time.
We don't get a "sense" of harmony. We get actual harmony.
Yeah in all the examples of good counterpoint the voices are harmonic đ
The first song that made me say "hey, there really is counterpoint in pop music" 50+ years ago (I was a "classical" kid) was _California Dreamin'_ by the Mamas and the Papas, that has some very neat madrigalesque texture, augmented chords, suspensions in 3 voices, etc, and _We can work it out_ by the Beatles. When I think of counterpoint in the (little) show music I know, Frank Loesser's _Fugue for Tin Horns_ , the opening number of _Guys and Dolls_ , and _Stranger in Paradise_ , the famed duet from _Kismet_ . Your examples are considerably later. Of course there were vocal groups in the Big Band era with complexly-voice-led arrangements that beg the question of the boundary-land between counterpoint and harmony.
Yess, I was also thinking of California dreaming! Absolutely love that song. But the first thing that came to mind was âA Whiter Shade of Paleâ, by Procol Harum. Of course it helps that it is partially based on âAir on the G Stringâ, and âWachet auf, ruft uns die Stimmeâ by Bach :)
Simply, fantastic! Thanks for posting this!
Hello David, so enjoy your style of presentation, outstanding! Much thanks to you, I am pairing music technique/chart reading with music theory. Never having had formal music training. Looking forward to your future youtubes.
"Fall on Me" from R.E.M. has three vocal lines in the chorus. "Pilgrimage" from Murmur is a good example as well.
was going to post fall on me. early r.e.m. has a lot of counterpoint with backing vocals singing different melodies and lyrics that lead vocals often more clearly, blurring the line between lead and backing. other examples, harborcoat, driver 8 and it's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine). additionally, their melodic bass lines and ringing guitar arpeggios bring even more counterpoint to the party.
@@tommyamoeba9220 Yes, I think those were the key ingredients to their sound those first few albums.
There are so many examples by R.E.M also in late R.E.M. as well like the Great Beyond, Leaving New York and Binky the Doormat.
One of my favorite examples of counterpoint in Rock is the last part of The Guess Who and "New Mother Nature/No Sugar Tonight" when the two movements are layered over each other. Always loved that effect.
Yeah! Such a great story too, where Bachman and Cummings each had a song they knew wasnât quite finished, so they put them together and voila
My favorite by them.
Thanks for a great informative video! This was right up my alley as I am a retired K-8 music teacher. Love Bach and the Beatles! The Bach Invention # 13 you played at the beginning is one I play on the piano all the time! (2nd favorite after # 8) I have always loved music with a lot of countermelodies going on, like with The Beach Boys, Motown groups and so on back in the day. I started my students on countermelodies at an early age- Kindergarten- get them singing in tune- 1st grade we did Borduns- one half the class singing a simple repetitive phrase while the other half sings the melody; 2nd- 4th rounds (going up to 8 part rounds, not being next to someone singing your own part) and partner songs where you divide in groups and each group sings a different song, like Row Row Row Your Boat, The Farmer in the Dell (head start for upbeat), Three Blind Mice, Frere Jacques, starting and ending at the same time (Row Your Boat and Farmer sing twice), with the piano keeping the steady beat with a common chord. We also went up to 8 partner songs at a time. So my students learned about countermelodies and could easily go into harmony choir music after that. Some other random thoughts- I also liked the countermelodies in the vocals in Scarborough Fair and there was another nice melody going on with the harpsichord, which really added to the beauty of the song, despite the depressing lyrics! My favorite countermelody from a musical is Tonight from West Side Story (This is from the original movie with Natalie Wood) where Tony, Anita, Maria, the Jets, and the Sharks are all singing the song together from different locations, and adding to the excitement is the orchestra, which is playing music that is crazily reminiscent of the theme to Jaws, only at a faster speed! Anyway, thanks for a great video, new subscriber here, and thanks to all who commented. I am going to look up the music you suggested since I am an old codger and have not kept up with a lot of the more modern music!
Amazing video, thank you! Btw, love the bright colors of the sweater!
Great video! I especially love the arrangement of the Ukrainian national anthem
Thank you đ
It's rearranged to the point that I wouldn't recognize it if I weren't told that's it
big thank you from a Ukrainian for a beautiful arrangement of the Ukrainian anthem.
I hope Russia wins.
@@groogruxking2757 Sorry to dissapoint you, but it will not happen) You may take a screenshot of this comment and check it out in the future)
Praying for Ukraine. Iâm sorry you gotta go through all the war stuff youâre going through. Hope it gets better soon.
@@toysnjc5 Pray for Russia, too.
@@groogruxking2757 Yes but we donât want them to take over Ukraine.
Brilliant set of illustrative examples yet again.
Nice touch at the end David đ
Counterpuntal vocals are the real harmony in my book. "4-part" choruses that are just stacking chords grind my gears (especially intrusive sevenths) but a proper ensemble of counterpuntal melodies (like One Day More) is transcendent.
Iâm a simple man. I see counterpoint, I click âlike.â
Wonderful example to end on, and a beautiful arrangement. I am in tears.
Loved hearing the isolated vocals in this!
Great video,, as usual. Special thank you for your arrangement at the end. As a Ukrainian, I really appreciate the support đđ