Pat Metheny Group - Travels: Analysis
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- čas přidán 22. 01. 2021
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The music of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays
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First Circle by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays
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#patmetheny #lylemays - Hudba
Dr. Guy. Never underestimate how deeply moving your teaching is. Thank you.
Thanks Gregory - it comes from the heart.
Thank you! What a beautiful tune. Missing Lyle Mays
Thank Peter, It's a magical tune. It's like the core level of who they are...
After being Pat's fan for nearly forty years this is such a gift filling me with a great joy and happiness. Thank you!!! I look forward to visitIng all your lectures. ♥♥♥
Thank you :) I'm so glad you found my channel, and that you enjoy the videos ! I'm working on Cross the Heartland and Highland Aire.
Always a good day when I see a new post Guy!
Hey Jay, thanks :) It was time to make a new one. Al in all the 45th Pat and Lyle video! I got a few more :)
Every time I hear this song I think back to some of my most cherished memories.. being on the farm with my Dad, the birth of my son, seeing El Capitan & Half Dome for the first time, cycling along the fjords of Norway, watching shooting stars in the night sky while far out at sea... this song is so gentle, so delicate, so enchanting that it takes away all the difficult moments of the day & fills my thoughts with tender moments of yesterday's gone by, but not forgotten..
Jeff and that live recording in particular from Travels is so...
I have no words except one, Outstanding! 👍
Thanks, Mike! :) I was improvising stuff on my keyboards while the camera was running, I wanted to include some of it at the end...
Hope you're doing well - Stay safe!
Was wondering where you’d gone, Guy! For me the special harmonic movement in this song is when the A-section descends from Em to C major by adding the passing chord Dm7 between the two. That Dm7 instead of the diatonic D major is such an incredibly subtle and beautiful moment of modal mixture to me. Very bittersweet. Great video!
follow him on IG. he posts a lot there.
Yeah that Dm7... It's not there when Pat plays it with the trio. He tends to take it back to the more basic sound. To me that Gmajor7 at the beginning is magic. The PMG version on the album Travels is so rich and Pat's solo is one of my top favorites ever. And Thanks Fred - I've been working on a course I'm releasing soon, and doing a lot on Instagram (short tips and harmonic progressions videos - join me there - I'm by the same name). I got a new camera now that will make the process of making videos easier :)
Dr. Guy Shkolnik Composer yes the solo for me is one of those moments where Pat reaches the heights of someone like Coleman Hawkins as a ballad player. In perfect control of his sound and not a single wasted idea.
@@fred8097 Pat is a kind of a guitar Pavarotti. And his articulation - so impressive
What a powerful performance! We really love your musicality!
Beautiful song. Love hearing you play it too.
Thank you Mac. I actually recorded it as an addition to the previous video, but then listened to the result - and it needed more... So I added some commentary and played it again for this video. I'm so glad you liked it!
Amazing breakdown! Love your videos
Thank you so much! :)
Nice atmosphere, great playing, intruiging points of view! Cheers!
Thank you thank you! I spent like two weeks asking myself why do I like this piece so much - and these are the main conclusions. I should have added that Pat's solo on the Travels album is another main reason :)
@@dr.guyshkolnik_composerYour channel so far as I can tell, sort of evolves around the works of Metheny with emphasis on Lyles, who obviously has a very special place in your heart. Your love for this material transpires through your videos and is surely instrumental to why we keep returning! Thirsty for something real and passionate. Keep it up!
Yes!!! Thank you!! What a beautiful surprise to wake up and find a new video and to see and hear that you’re back to focusing on Lyle and Pat. Pure joy!!! Thank you for the lessons and compositional inspiration!!! Peace.
Thanks Chris! I had to make this one, and I got a couple more. Took me some to make some observations on this song because there's no clever interlude or intro in this one. And yet - it's a classic. Thinking of it, it would be interesting to look into 'In My Life' - you played so beautifully on your channel!
@@dr.guyshkolnik_composer wow! I’m honored you checked out my music. I have some originals inspired by your analysis. I’ll be posting soon. Thanks so much!
@@ChrisKalafus I noticed the harmonic sensitivity with every note right from the start.
Thank you, even though I play drums I'm ecstatic at the way you explain Pat and Lyle's songs.
Thank you, Francesco! I'm very happy to hear that.
Wonderful as always :) Love your final part!
Thanks, Sam! I love playing both keyboards like that, chords mixed on the same register - I'm discovering new sonorities. That's why I love the guitar and piano mix so much. You got a new subscriber btw :)
I wish I could do the same on guitar ^^ Thank you very much! I appreciate :)
@@samthanael how about some rubato pads with a foot midi controller? Just sayin' :)
That's a great idea ^^ In between I have to say I just love your tune "Osaka" - The main theme gives off very beautiful emotions - Thank you for this gift :)
@@samthanael Thanks Sam. Osaka is a favorite of mine. I'm glad you found and liked it!
Loved this video. I missed your videos. Thanks Dr. Guy, I appreciate you.
Thank you so much! I have a new camera now that will make it easier for me to shoot new videos :)
Always a great video!
Wonderful. Always waiting for your next video, Guy!
Hey Michael! Thank you! - working on two new videos right now :)
what is also remarkable (to me) is that in the B part , it is almost always two chords, 1 tone appart (up and once down when C tio Bb)...
Nice video
I'm back for more of your fabulous interpretations and commentary. Feeling in a Lyle Mays kind of way today so I decided to come listen to you and Travels. xo
Kimberly! I got to listen yesterday to a tape recording of a PMG rehearsal just before recording their first album (with phase dance). You can hear Pat and Lyle trying to figure out the last part of Lone Jack… amazing!
@@dr.guyshkolnik_composer wow, what a cool artifact! Is the recording public?
Stunning performance! As for musical roots of the chord progression, it might be worth noting that Pat is from Lee's Summit, Missouri, and many of his compositions, however complex, surprisingly often echo back to traditional American folk songs. I'd rather hazard a guess that Travels is, at least in the Pat's section, a subtle reference to something like "Oh Shenandoah" :)
The best my friend!! Thank you!!! 👏👏👏 amazing video
Thank you, my friend! This tune is a favorite :)
Analysis extraordinaire.
Instead of dissecting and arriving at each ingredient,
Dr. Guy is creating a comprehensive view via a unique way of a combining single ideas towards a whole.
Thank you Amichai, I'm trying to add something to the experience.
Something I've told before while working on my doctorate work on the fugues of Bach, I was studying the fugue in E major from WTCII. So I was playing and analyzing it, and at some point, I felt like listening to a recording of it. As I listened I realized something I hadn't seen before - the general sound of it - it was a mix of old counterpoint and modern Bach stuff. So somehow it affects the kind of stuff I'm trying to do here :)
Very nice video! Great from australia! will you bring an analysis of Pat Metheny's Finding and Believing's orchestral section?
Great analysis! Beautiful song!
Thank you, Bruno! it's a great song (I love the version from the album Travels:)
This was awesome. It gave me lots of ideas about how to use the lack of 4 and 7 to build a more open sound. I've been experimenting with stacking triads that don't have 4 in any of the voicings, but maybe the occasional 7 for complexity. Fun!
Excellent video, Guy. In the context of your observations and analyses here and in other videos that you have made, there's something that Pat and Lyle do quite often in their compositions that many of my favorite composers do, and that is not confined only to the major pentatonic scale. It has to do with inference, implication, or whatever you may want to call it, (I prefer to call it implication, fwiw). In your video here, the major 7th (F#), is very often "implied", intentionally I believe, in Travels even when it is not played. What I find clever and really enjoy is that, when used wisely, this simple and intentional omission, which is often only temporary, allows other notes in the harmony or melody to be played that would otherwise musically "interfere with" or "be interfered by" a major 7th (scale note) if it were, in fact, played. All that being said and speaking only for myself, my mind "enjoys the surprise of the unexpected harmonic re-voicing", even when, or possibly especially when, that surprise is subtle.
Something else that your video here reminded me of is something which occurs to me quite often when listening to Pat's and Lyle's music, but have forgotten to explicitly say to you, is that "Pat *and* Lyle" are one of the best examples of "the whole being greater than the sum of its parts". I'm sure that this is not a novel idea or concept among those who enjoy Pat's and Lyle's collaborative compositions, however it is one of those things that I do not believe can be over emphasized.
Best regards, Guy, and I hope that your new year is off to a good start!
Oh I absolutely agree with you, on the whole being greater, Jim. You got this tension with your writing partner, it pushes you to be better than usual. Same with the Beatles. McCartney has talked about it.
About the Gmaj7.... two things: one, I think that this is an unnecessary "sensual" addition. Like perfume - you can imply perfume :)
The other thing is I think that Pat's original intention was that G chord and G/C. Like the McCartney song. I think that's what the first part of the song is about. "Unfortunately" Maestro Lyle was there saying "I see..." and adding an immediate personal impact on the song - a French Gmaj7 chord :)
I've been good, working hard on a first theory course (all videos), so a bit less of analysis output but that will change soon!
Now that Chick is gone, I'm glad Pat is still around and well, and hope Herbie lives to give us more great music and guidance. Stay safe Jim!
Meraviglioso, Guy!! ❤️
Grazie Davide!!
Thanks for this!
My absolute pleasure - thank you for watching!
Thank you very much for other great analysis of an amazing theme. I like very much your explanations, very useful, clear and affordable 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Hey Mike, of course, man! I'm happy to share the love of this music. Thank you! :)
Amazing! I always marvel at your brilliance in analyzing and deconstructing these beautiful pieces. You have that rare skill to explain why the melodic/ harmonic structures are BEAUTIFUL or evocative, rather than a purely technical explanation. I’m curious, since I hear the melody from “Amazing Grace” in the first part (where you compare it to Vincent, etc.). Is this a fair assumption on my part?
Thank you so much! I believe there’s a bit of Amazing Grace in Travels, yes 😊
I got married with this song "Travels".
Lovely!
That's beautiful Jonathan!
So good ! Thanks. For me, this tune allways was so hard to improvise in the second part …
Thank you!! Just slow down (rubato) and “describe” slowly the harmony in a way that we can understand the chord without accompaniment. That’s how Pat Metheny practices a new piece - for hours and hours (he said that in an interview)
This idea of the quest for the ‘missing’ note in a given pentatonic scale - in this case F#, is that what creates the feeling of longing and also tension? Is that generalizable to other ‘missing’ elements in music structures? In this case missing from the diatonic scale I think is what you mean. The blue note like a lowered fifth or raised fourth. Do you think it’s a kind of existential statement - humans torn away from oneness or kinds of perfect harmonies? And here Travels is looking at how to pursue the ‘missing’ in a subtle way. That subtlety is part of what makes the quest for the missing beautiful?
I believe so. it's Twinkle twinkle, and Happy birthday to you, and Mozart, and Jazz standards - all based on the major and minor scales. And here suddenly there's no leading tone. I'm sure it has its consequences.
F# is usually represented by the V, as in I-V-I. its a progression of tension and release.
But here there's only I. it's home, without the journey of I-V-I. Maybe It's the way you think of home when you're away. Longing for that home feeling. Maybe that's why this lacking of the 7 - F# made so much sense to both the composers (probably subconsciously) as well as to the audience.
@@dr.guyshkolnik_composer Thank you for your response. I didn’t see this right away. I have been so curious about my deep emotional feelings about certain pieces of music - Mays’ ‘Close to Home’ also known as Mars in some recordings. It is the expression of spiritual longing I believe. And you pick up on this also in another video on that composition. I have always wondered about how music evokes such emotional power, and you help to illustrate ways that music accomplishes this, so thank you. I am just learning theory now and playing music - initially guitar, but there is a a keyboard in my future. I am not sure why some music ‘haunts’ me. Some melodies like ‘Round Midnight with those eery intervals. Or ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Evans and Livingston. You also take up the piece Metheny Mays piece that ‘Letter from Home’, again looking at how the piece is doing a lot, really, but in that first video how D flat is denied resolution back to the 1. It isn’t lost on me that the composers mean the tonic as ‘Home’ in these song titles. How interesting that there is a universal sense of longing in these missing tones that we can feel but can’t always explain. I am always drawn to these works specifically, and I can hear that selection in what works you gravitate to. Now I want to go investigating like you have - and compose something like that maybe. Very cool that your work inspires. Are you teaching?
Great break down of this! Is this the only tune that Pat and Lyle wrote together that following nothing more than a simple AABA format? There's the coda as well, but so few tunes these two men wrote together can function as a jazz standard like this one can. There's an authentic simplicity about this tune that sets it apart from their other compositions together.
Thanks Matt! Their ideal was not to write ‘tunes’ but compositions. They started off by playing some of Pat’s earlier tunes, but Lyle had always been about developing ideas like his favorite classical composers.
Also by the early ‘80s Chick Corea was releasing albums like Three Quartets, Lyric Suite for Sextet and the Septet album. Classical European music influenced Joe Zawinul, Keith Jarrett, and the whole ECM label. So it was about writing more complex stuff.
There’s Better Days Ahead, but apart from that Maestro Lyle just wasn’t satisfied with raw material.
Lyle actually had another option available to him - writing LONG tunes Like Fictionary, or What it Takes, Au Lait, or Chorinho. They all have this inner development, maybe influenced by a tune like Falling Grace by Steve Swallow. We know that Lyle loved that tune.
@@dr.guyshkolnik_composer "Travels" feels more like a tune than a composition. Lyle may have had that classical composing mindset when developing Pat's A section in a B section, but it still feels like a tune and is treated like a tune. Fictionary and Chorinho have that Falling Grace kind of feeling where they functions like a jazz tune but feel more like compositions because of how unusual they are. I love What It Takes for its unusual AAB form. To have a B section that isn't a bridge is amazing. I'd put Au Lait in a different group from those.
Those albums you mentioned by Chick are some of my favourites. Children's Songs is another great one from that era that's composition-focused. It's such a journey! But even before those his music featured a lot of composition, like on My Spanish Heart, Leprechaun and Mad Hatter. Those are some of the most dramatic jazz albums. Going back to his composition Spain there's a lot going on. Chick influenced Lyle a lot in his early years. Stylistically their playing is quite different (despite a common Bill Evans influence), and I don't see Chick as composing through improvisation in the way that Lyle did. But in how they approach composition, orchestration and arranging there are a lot of similarities.
Hi Guy! Thanx again great, love Travels 4 years! Great by the way the Rhodes as a bass... Try Hammond! Rony
Hey Rony - todah! Yeah me two I still have it on an ECM album titled Pat Metheny/'Works'. With the Rhodes, I play bass but also chords. I love the option of playing chords on the same register I discovered interesting sonorities. for example when the right-hand plays major7 and the left plays just a major chord (on the same register). I discovered some new sweet chords this way :)
Have you got a voicings sheet music ? In pdf
You make such excellent transcriptions of Pat's work for piano - is there any chance that you provide them as sheet music?
First of all thank you very much! I know Pat has on his website a book with arrangements for piano, I've never tried it. It's his music, and I don't even know how to reach him.
For my videos, I usually learn the melody and harmony and then practice with Bill Evans- Keith - Chick - Lyle voicings, until it sounds good enough to me - but I don't write it down.
But what I could do is a video explaining how to adapt the music for piano. What do you think?
@@dr.guyshkolnik_composer Your voicings are absolutely fabulous! When you play the songs, they often sounds as if they have been written for piano solo! The video you mentioned would be a good idea. Also it is nice to have this "hands view" like in this video, which makes it easier to write it down :)
@@dr.guyshkolnik_composer A delicious idea! Please do. Kol hakavod!
@@dr.guyshkolnik_composer I second this request - I'd love your arrangements. I've got some boon from Pat and the voicing are the easy ones, and I'd love to vary them. Of course, your videos are excellent in describing them, but to incorporate into our own playing, the notes and chords would help so much. Maybe just hook up to Muse Score with midi and play through the way you play this ;-) Thanks for these videos!
I would be pleased for you to play with pat on some of your compositions as well as his , heres hoping
Hey Ian, this is a dream of mine. Thank you for the compliment! :)
I suppose the most interesting part for me, at least harmonically, is the Eb Maj to F sus to Bb Maj cadence right before transitioning back to G Major.
Yes, it's like the darkest hour just before dawn :) He's getting to the G minor 'territory' with the Eb and the Bb and then moves back to the G. It's beautiful!
dear Guy, I hope you are fine in these terrible moments, coming to music (which is with no frontier) at 8:44 you say C major pentatonic, I believe it is not correct , pentatonics of E minor and G major yes, eventually Bm pentatonic, but C major penta ? regards from brussels.
*_Chick Corea_* 🎼😫🎶
Troesma.