Analyzing the Perfect Chords from "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars
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- čas přidán 22. 05. 2024
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Analyzing great progressions is not just an academic exercise- it's a way to introduce new movements and musical effects to your composition lexicon. In this video, we're taking a look at Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man", which is in the key of C Major and uses all of the garden variety diatonic chords in the key (save B diminished). In addition, it uses several borrowed chords and/or secondary dominants, and is structured in a way to really get as much juice out of the C Major/A Minor tonality as possible.
A few things to note- Pop music is not classical music. And pop can not always be described in traditional terms like Roman Numeral analysis easily. However I think it's worth a try, and I've made some less-than-popular notations that are worth explaining. I name a Csus2/B and notate it as Isus2/7, which is to imply it's the Tonic Chord (I) and it's sus2, but it's over the 7th tone of the key (B).
During that part of the video I keep calling it a C but it's really a Csus2. You can also think of it as a Gadd11/B, then it would be a V chord. One other option there for that one chord would be an Emb6, it should provide a similar "slide" from the Am to the C.
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Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:57 The Chorus
05:04 The Verse
07:22 Prechourus
09:16 The Bridge
11:13 The Last Chorus
11:49 The Intro
12:45 Wrapping Up
![Writing Music Off Of A Bass Line in 5 Styles [SONGWRITING - ARRANGEMENT - MUSIC THEORY]]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DaJRzT_NMXs/mqdefault.jpg)
11:28 the vi chord should be Am not A
You're 100% correct, it looks like I forgot to add the "m" sign :(
Major 2 you find in Sweet child of mine, and the last 3 songs i've written.
I also missed mentioning that the D chord has a F# and having a F follow-up creates a lot of tension due to the soprano F# followed by the bass F
Ygor Rebouças and also, it's actually a D7, but whatever
But D minor is the saddest chord.😭He missed a chance to make the song even better.
When they added the Dm7 I was like D F A C
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I lol’d.
lmao
That's hilarious
underrated
I understood 3% of this but I watched 100% of this.
same
Bri, it's easier than it seems. Every key has a scale of seven notes. All chords in that key use only a combination of those seven notes.
Only way to learn brother
mccloysong, dont over simplify it. It *is* extremely hard and not as easy as you portrayed it. In fact you didnt even mention modes, types of scales, progression rules, types of chords, atonal/semi-atonal chords (like full diminished), etc. Not all scales have seven notes either. I would just encourage learning if i were you
buy some beatles chords/tabs book, play an sing it few weeks and ull understand 200% what the dude here is saying :)
he's done an awesome job in this 15min video, respect :)
i would watch a video like this about literally every song ever written.
hehe... in this case let me tell you, this video matches about 80% of all balades ever written... so u alrdy have seen a big part from all songs ever written... :)
Rick beato does that
Everyone: wow bruno mars be a music theory genius
Bruno Mars: I just thought it sounded good.
care chill dude nobody's forcing you to like it
Obama does care 😆😆😆
It's just him and a piano, no other instruments, he had the choice of any chords that exist in any key, I don't think there's as much science behind it as this guy might think, though it's nice to hear why he thinks it works.
Hey you smell my fart everything works because of something he is just trying to figure out how it works, things that sound good are usually made with theory and not just random playing in a piano
Nacho Herrera George Martin knew plenty about music theory
It does feel very conflicted, like a battle between positivity and negativity. Much like one might feel after a breakup. Musically, it is really good.
This is the equivalent to English teachers diving deeper into the book than the actual author did
TRUE!
Well it seems that way because you assume the teacher, or in this case this guy, is trying to explain what the author or artist was _trying_ to do, when really what they're explaining is why it works so well
Exactly.
This is far more interesting than my basic English teacher over-analyzing mediocre literature though
I often think about theory when I'm writing, so don't assume that.
"But as soon as we got there, we slipped you right into the dm"
John mulaney plays guitar???
xxyuga I’m so thrown off my rhythm
“I thought he looked like him” “a little”
Bruhhhh😂
This also follows the verse structure of “srdc” which is “statement, restatement, departure, and conclusion. Its a really common verse structure thats been used since the days of the blues. State something twice, then leave home with something different, then return for an ultimate resolution.
Good comment @Calamari 👍
I've been calling this the happy birthday formula for too many years! Glad it has a name!
Sounds like “Sentence Form”, which is a pretty well documented topic!
@@alexaidt I'd say it falls within the same umbrella. It could be considered a kind of sentence though developed outside of the tradition of western classical music.
Yes, more songwriting techniques and breakdowns. The theory stuff is awesome too. Keep doing what you're doing, your awesome man, Thank you.
This makes so much sense. My understanding of music grows every time I watch one of your videos. In particular, the idea of a tonal center has really made things click for me. Thanks.
I must say that I can't understand not even 1% of the knowledge in music theory presented on the video. That being said, I love listening to music and feeling it and I could totally feel what you meant (or what I think you meant). Great job man. I was almost in tears watching this and felt like someone was holding my hand into a whole new world of possibilities. You are connecting to people in amazing ways. Thank you so so much for this video. Best video I've seen in a while
Great job - I could only understand what you were saying because of all your other videos, which I love. Thanks.
Flippin' awesome lesson/ analysis of this song. I'd love to see WAY more of these- this is how I go through a song an learn it- for me it's the only way to make a song into your own song- to understand what the artist was doing so you can make your interpretation of the piece- which is how I like to use covers. This is indeed a fantastic chord progression to go through- thank you!
Such a great video! Perfect balance between totally needing out, and also talking about feel and complete subjectivity. Honestly one of the best music theory videos on CZcams. Thank You so much for this
Your grasp of the music/chord theory is incredible! Your grasp of the lyrics is... well... approximate. But seriously, thanks for all you do, man.
Pure genius! Explained perfectly! Great description and use of adjectives. The more adjectives, the better!
I'd love more analysis videos of individual peices.
And the theory videos.
And the original song videos.
And.... yeah you get the idea :-)
Absolutely make more of these videos. I think when you've done all your music theory, analyzing songs and breaking them down is the best way to fully understand the knowledge you've aquired over the years, put it to use and appreciate the work you've done.
You are really good at elaborate things!!! So easy to understand through your words and visual aids! Really great job
There's no other channel I look forward to watching more than Signals Music Studio. You take complicated ideas and make them simple.. not by dumbing them down but by clearly explaining what's going on. Thanks so much for everything you do.
This was probably the perfect music video all jokes aside a brilliant analysis full of great stuff to learn. Thanks for sharing.
This is a great lesson in connecting music knowledge with your emotional response. There’s so much value in asking yourself “how does this musical device/chord/technique make me feel?”. Writing becomes a lot more intuitive once you combine knowledge with emotion.
This was an eye opening video. I never really thought much of the progression other than that it was strange but cool but hearing you analyze it made me realize there is a whole other layer of composition that went into this song. When you talked about the emotion of the chords I was realizing that they were matching exactly what the lyrics were expressing! It makes me think a lot more about music composition now. I would definitely love to see more videos like these!
I never really noticed this song before, but it is so beautiful now that you've explained it.
Would absolutely love more of this
You should do a video on Bruno's song "Versace on the Floor". Particularly, everything after the second chorus. A lot of different progressions and phrases put together brilliantly. 🙂
You are hands down the best Music teacher I've ever had. You make things like modal interchange, modes, secondary dominants and every other aspect of music theory so simple to understand. THANK YOU and please keep them coming!
I enjoyed this immensely! Please keep making more!!
Great application of music theory! Please more!
Top tier analysis and even higher tier explanation. Thank you might good sir!
This is the first video I've seen of yours, and you sold me in about a minute and thirty seconds. Great stuff man, your knowledge of music theory is fantastic, and thank you for sharing!
bro! this is a really brilliant breakdown. regularly watch ur stuff and came back to this vid after a while. powerful commentary. thank you
A Day In The Life is an example of a perfect progression
Agreed! If I do more of these, you'll hear more Beatles
please! i would love to see more videos like these with the beatles. it would also be cool to see you make some sense of some more jazzy chord progressions
Life on Mars David Bowie is pretty sweet too
yesss
Joe McA Life On Mars is probably my favourite use of line clichés, also Rick Wakeman’s voicings snd interaction with the melody in the right hand completely makes it. if you haven’t seen it I hugely suggest 12tone’s analysis video of Life On Mars, it mainly focuses on the use of chromaticism and line clichés in the piano chords.
Yes! More videos like this, please! :3
Yes, reverse engineering interesting songs from all kind of different genres would be great ongoing serie!
Jake. I love these types of videos. Mashing up theoretical concepts with their application/identification when setting moods within a song is the best way to learn. I appreciate all of your work on this channel. Cheers.
I absolutely love this video! It's great to see and hear all of the music theory lessons I've watched on this channel actually applied in a song. I like this format and I hope you will do some more song/chord progression analysis videos like that.
This video definitely earned my sub. Keep up the awesome content!
you are so incredibly good at teaching and articulating. appreciate you!
Great analysis and explanations. I like that you encourage others to look deeper at the music they listen to and enjoy and learn why and how it communicates to them.
for me the D to F is the coolest transition.
if you think of it it's basically a transition of 2 chords 3 half-notes apart. So you can try C to E, and notice how it sounds very triumphant and uplifting, it's also the same as A to C. So the same feeling, but D to F.
*sees first 8 chords*
Is it April 1st?
It's sad that people feel the need to analyze such basics. It's almost like a 1st grader analyzing first 4 letters of alphabet and the reason of their order for 15 minutes and calling them "perfect"...
@@6squall9 I too am an awful snob who's mad about people learning to understand pop music. Songs are only good if there's no definite key center and the chords all have 5 notes!
@@mattb9708 nobody is mad, just disappointed about the clickbait title... i see how my comment would sound snobby though, so i'm not offended either.
Matt B I do agree that when I saw the title, I was expecting something extravagant, after we've all we've been through so many topics. That being said, an old man who plays blue grass once told me "we always used to say the songs with only one chord are the best ones" and maybe he didn't mean much by it, buts always had a poetic impact on me. Something along the lines of "the simplest chords are the best ones"
@@6squall9 it's like Ratatouille.
Being a beginner guitar “learner”, the videos you do like this help me to understand what chords fit with each other in a hands on type situation. Well done video and keep up the good work.
Would love to see more analysis like this. So insightful!
When you analyze the Bb major, It may be simpler to think of it as the borrowed VII from C Minor. It moves well to I(backdoor resolution) or to V as a pre dominant as in this Bruno Mars song.
I approach this tune as being in C major with an avoided tonic. The vi and iii chords bring great sadness to a piece that is major (you discussed I iii movement in the past) F-Fm continues the sad feel by softening the IV chord into the borrowed iv from C minor - which resolves to I as strongly as a Gmaj(the V) does.
I would love to see something like this from "great gig in the sky"....i absolutely love the chord progression...
Would be cool to watch!
Thank you man - I hope you do more videos like this!!
Yes, Please do more of these, simply fantastic!
You need to publish a theory book, my friend
Here’s it all written out as the chords in order
12:45- intro
5:30- verse
9:10- ohs
1:59- chorus
5:30- verse
9:10- ohs
1:59- chorus
10:22- bridge
11:41- last chorus
please do more videos like these! Very helpful in breaking down the technicalities in the song
Thank you for this video. I would most definitely like to see more content like this. Tying an emotion to a chord and its function in the context of the progression is such a great way to learn how to implement theory in your own writing.
Long time Patreon, first time commenter here. This is perfect and extremely helpful for me; please do more!
@@justinlangley9529 Moi*
Looking for more perfect songs analysis videos in the future!!
I liked how you analyzed literally every single note in order to figure out both the exact function of each note, as well as the feelings or emotions that they induce. Keep up the good work. It is probably helping a lot of people.
I watched this lesson many times ...it was sooo good !!!!! Keep those videos coming ...
To answer your question at the end. I enjoy analysing chord progressions. So this type of content is dope.
more videos like this!! 👏👏
Great video! Loved the application of the learning
Such a beautiful song that's very well written! Thank you for your detailed analysis!
That Dm7 is only a step away from being a big suspended G chord, and incidentally moves into a big suspended G chord.
By suspending the D bass note through the chord change, it flavors the F major chord to be a note or two away from F/G, Gsus4, or G7.
It keeps that secondary dominant trait of the prior D major chord. Simultaneously, it acts very much like F/G, leading in two different ways to the following suspended chord (which resolves with one more step to a standard G chord)
When it comes down to it, those 4 chords are a bunch of stepwise suspension to prolong the transition from the D major to the G major.
Jacob Cowan Also when you’re talking about stepwise suspension you should def emphasize the inversions especially on guitar! Any a hole can move one finger over a bunch of open strings it’s a different story to know exactly how to labels those shifts.
@@kydalchemy for your information, a slash chord is, by definition, a notation of an inversion. It happens to be a far easier notation to type in a CZcams comment than the superscript/subscript that is typical of academic music theory. This notation is also quite typical in the jazz world, where much of my music theory experience comes from, and it gives the ability to better illustrate the reasons some chords act the way they do.
The first letter is the chord, and the one after the slash is the bass. I read them like a fraction, so F/G is "F over G" or an F major chord with a bass of G. This could also be represented as a G11, but not a G7. G11 can resolve to G much better than G7 because it's essentially an F chord with the bass note anticipating the chord change. It's an important difference made much clearer to those without so much music theory experience if you use slash notation.
No, I haven't taken a true theory class. That being said, I have years of choral experience and years of jazz experience, and in that time I made sure I did everything I could to make music approachable to my fellow musicians. I tried to make a welcoming atmosphere for those who were getting their start. I used what music theory I could learn to ease the process of learning our music.
Music is for everyone, and I am not particularly fond of elitists who dispense unwelcome judgment instead of the sharing of ideas... Especially if they're supposed to be educators. Signals Music Studio does a great job bringing music theory to the masses. We've no need for gatekeepers.
Jacob Cowan sorry I was a little harsh like I said you aren’t clueless. And ultimately you’re not wrong...I just thought it was a little long winded but ultimately it’s how you get there that counts. As you said slash chords are important as they are not exclusive to any key. They stand alone and within a respective key.
The V4
2
Or 4/2 is just the other of notes.
I will stand by one thing what I tell my students is commit to one or the other. 2 streams of theory.
Sorry dude, your further explanation holds up 👍🏻🤘🏻
Jacob Cowan you’re right, you’re right that was a dick move 💯
Music is for everyone! I should just be happy people are applying theory.
I literally dropped everything I was doing to watch and like this awesome new video from your awesome channel. Hilarious opening about body parts by the way.
Same!
...aand new stuff in your sleeve. Although I don't think this was intentionally ^-^'
Yes please more of this kind of chord deconstruction and understanding. Thanks! You are awesome!
what a great lesson! please more of this type of song analysis
D FAC is up with Dmin7?
nice meme
Whatever happens... Gsus loves you!
@@Superphilipp
another good meme
@@VenetinOfficial When I was young we used to call them "jokes". But then I'm over 30.
@@Superphilipp
At this point the definitions both ended up being interchangeable. Language is beautiful.
The D "Major Second" could also be construed as the IV chord of the Am scale which you've just heard.
awesome, polished, helpful, clean videos! Thank you! LOVE ALL YOUR VIDEOS!
I stumbled across this video and really enjoyed it. I was sorry to hear that it's the first of it's kind on your channel! I'll be checking out your other stuff, but mainly keeping an eye out for any more similar videos in the future. Please make more!
It's a good day when Signals Music Studio uploads.
2:30 "So now you've been conditioned to hear it a third time"
I am actually the kind of person that, in music, the more I hear something repeated, the more I expect it to change and evolve. Like, I was actually expecting those two chords (Am and D), and I would've been disappointed if the progression stayed the same the whole time, but maybe it's just me
You're listening to it like a musician, though. He's speaking as if he's someone who listens to it who doesn't understand anything about how music is composed and just listens and reacts emotionally.
I agree somewhat. It’s like most of the early 2000s rock... repeated progressions with repeated melodies. Gets boring the second time you listen to the tune... just sometimes repetition is used with mastery, but mostly I agree
pikasfed323 I’m actually like that too but instead of getting used to chord progressions I get used to her texting me back and wonder where I fucked up
@@juanzavala9023 LOL so true, don't worry it happens to me too
I'm gonna watch this again. Thanks for teaching this. Well done.
This is simply brilliant analysis! Very simple yet to the point…great going! You have a bright future ahead 😊
The D chord also seems like it was plucked from A dorian, since Am was the previous chord.
I love how passionate this guy is, makes for a great video even though I'm no where near his level of understanding.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen any of your other content but I really loved this. Seeing someone excited about something they’re passionate and educated about is just so enthralling. It reminds me a lot of Rick Beato’s series “what makes this song good”. As with him you are clearly very knowledgeable about music theory and I hope one day I’m able to but in just some of the effort you have in learning it. I’ll sub and hope to see more content like this
Keep doing more of these please! SO informative!
Most musicians focus “too much” in theories. They forgot that it was the emotion that made these masterpiece.
Great content
I have lots of emotions but I can't write a good chord progression
jesus you are a freaking monster teacher, in the good sense. i can't stop spamming how good you are across your other videos.
This was perhaps the best instructional video I've ever witnessed. Thank you so much! After watching and practicing, I was able to feel my way through the song, which helped me to memorize the whole song. Way to go Teach!
Yes. Definitely do more of these. Thanks.
I used to haaate music theory but this is the kind of thing that have made me actually love it. It’s really fun when you know what’s happening in the song.
Ps. You explain really well, keep making this kind of vids:)
Listen to Stevie wonder “overjoyed”. Have fun analyzing that
Fantastic music breakdow! I liked it a lot. Please do more stuff like this Jake. God bless you! Thanks.
i understood most of it as you were playing, but only because i watched all your other videos. you brought my understanding of musical theory to another level and i want to thank you for that!
Could that "not quite major but not quite minor" feel for the verse be in D Dorian? That would contain the same notes as CMaj and Am
This sounds like something the Beatles would come up with...
McCartney.
Great job right there sir. I can see a lot of work and dedication put together in this video
This is exactly the kind of stuff I've been looking for. I love these types of analysis. Thank you!
Never stop uploading please I love this channel. If i wasn't so broke i'd Pledge.
worry not, the nice comment is enough
@@SignalsMusicStudio Once I get in a more secure financial position, I will absolutely Pledge. Your videos help me so much to be a better songwriter, and you deserve all the help you can get. I wish I was in Illinois, I could take real lessons. I Love your content Jake. Please keep up the good work!
Jake you truly are a fantastic educator and humble, cool guy! I’ve learned so much about music, bass, and guitar from you. Videos like this give me more tools in my tool belt to never sound stale. Your series on the modes is a personal favorite of mine and changed the way I look at them. I also like how you give context and ideas on how to use them. Every other time I studied them I failed to see the connections and practical applications clearly like diatonic chords and modulation. Can’t thank you enough I’ll stay tuned to future lessons. Greetings from Florida!
5:53 slip into my Dm's
Sir, through time music also made changes in our ears and minds, from what we have learned from music basics maybe there are new things to learn, that is why there are new combination of notes/chords made from this generation of composers, and felt good to hear those. I love your videos. GODBLESS
I loved this and would be very excited to see more analysis of chord progressions!
Very Beatlesque going from the F Maj to the F minor before resolving back to the tonic.
Thanks Sir George Martin.
thank you Paul McCartney and John Lennon
As much as I love them, this sort of harmony long predates the Beatles.
Reminds me of Don't look back in anger, where the pre chorus is: F Fm C just like the video
At 8:07 the next-to-last chord is a C/G, not a Gsus4. You clearly hear the line E D C
I caught this after I filmed it and started transcribing the chords, I believe you're CHORRect
I was also wondering how this could be looked over. Its THE Elton John signature chord.
Man, you have a way with personifying and similizing chords. You describe the feelings and directionality of the music perfectly.
omg....linking emotion to theory......that is soo the key to everything ... this is how i " sample"... listen to music and capture the feeling alongside with he theory so i can apply it in other contexts
“Hey guys, so today I’m gonna be analyzing why I’m a Bruno Mars stan”
Jake_The_Dog... Bruno Mars Stan?... U mean like Eminem Stan?
Ahh yes, the bVII, the Hey Jude Chord lol
yeah! totally a mixolydian vibe there!
YEP, I love it when it suddenly comes in a major-key song and suddenly becomes mixolydian =)
They used it all the time before hey jude
@@dared29 no shit sherlock
“Ackshually the Hey Jude chord is where you use the I chord more than 3 times in 1 loop of the progression without it feeling complete since the tonality feels based entirely on melody.
Brilliant, beautifully worded too, listening to you explain theory this way is mesmerizing. Thank you.
I love your channel and love this series of analysing