The Secret to Sounding Sad in Major - Mediant Chord [MUSIC THEORY - SONGWRITING LESSON]
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When writing in major keys, one quick method to introducing sorrow in to your music is by using the diatonic iii chord, also called the mediant chord. This video will demonstrate several examples of songs and pieces that are written using the mediant chord, as well as advice on how to write progressions that are sad and woeful.
Recommended: 12tone's video on this chord - • The Black Sheep Of The...
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www.signalsmusicstudio.com
Free online guitar lessons for beginners, intermediate, and advanced players. Located in Crystal Lake, Jake Lizzio provides free jam tracks and video lessons for guitar players, as well as music theory videos and other music education content.
Table of Contents:
00:00 Intro
00:54 Tonic To Mediant I - iii
01:42 "Hey There Delilah" Plain White T's
02:51 Scoring Examples
04:41 "It Will Rain" Bruno Mars
06:00 "A Day In The Life" The Beatles
07:01 Wrapping Up
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![Demonstrating 7 Ways that Composers Make Music Using Modes [SONGWRITING / THEORY]](/img/tr.png)
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That opening sequence was genius. It felt like a real commercial.
Rick Feith I almost started pulling out my wallet.
He does that stuff all the time
Rick Feith I was laughing all the way, it's truly like a pharmaceutical commercial.
It's great to know there is help out there for us sad and lonely singer-songwriters
splabbity lmfao
Brilliant opening.
Why so serious?
@@dantheman4874 😂
Dan TheMan “How ‘bout a magic trick?”
Major: I'm sad I miss someone.
Minor: I'm sad I wanna kill someone.
That's what I like
Dorian: I’m sad I wanna kill everyone
Locrian: I'm sad I wanna kill everyone
Mustafa I got you guys. Major- I’m sad, the good times were better Minor-I’m sad, I hate things now Dorian-I’m sad, I want to stay quiet Mixolydian-I’m sad right now. Lydian- I’m sad, but I have hope. Phrygian- I’m sad, and something ominous is going to happen. Locrian-I’m sad, I want to commit ritual suicide, then go to hell, summon Satan, respawn and commit mass genocide
Locrian: I’m sad and I’m also a psychopath
Dude, I’d say you’re the best music teacher on youtube. You’re concerned with using the technical aspects like music theory where they’re practical. Not just learning “math for math’s sake,” but actually seeing things functionally and showing how notes/intervals have a degree of objectivity and specific roles they most often play. That’s what I’m interested in in music.
That's true, it's rare to find music theory accessible!
Yeah I feel the same. Very good teaching method.
Sad music in major heals my soul. Tears in Heaven and No Surprises - can it get more sad than these?)
While my guitar gently weeps' chorus has chords that seem happy but in the overall song sounds so sad
Best bit of No Surprises is the minor iv, it's got a real tinge of melancholy to it.
Tears in heaven..., yes it is so strangely sad!
Steven Wilson's catalog is pretty sad…
Ah, but you see? Neither of those songs have the I - iii progression, so they're objectively *not* sad! Tears in Heaven is in fact a super cheery song about a dead child, and No Surprises is a party song about a dead end life. If those songs had the I - iii change, though, they'd be radically different. As the video states, music is all about absolute, unquestionable formulas and definitions of emotion. All my life, I've heard music as being about the interaction between the artist's expression and the listener's perception, and how vague suggestions can be interpreted in different ways depending on our own memories, our experiences and associations, but I turned out to be *wrong* all this time. Music is not about interpretation, but about the musician objectively dictating what we feel at every time. All the things we found interesting and fascinating about music are wrong. Subjectivity, ambiguity, suggestion, individuality; none of that exists.
Also to me Maj7 chords sounds so emotional cause it feels like I and iii combined.
Maj7s are probably my favourite chords. FMaj7 has the most nostalgic sound I've ever heard.
Maj7 is actually the notes of I and iii combined. In the key of C major, the Imaj7 chord, Cmaj7, has the notes C, E, G, B. The I chord has the notes C, E, and G, and the iii has the chords E, G, and B.
Yep! And you get the opposite effect with Min7 chords. Lightens up the emotion of the minor chord with a little major mixed in.
You should hear the theme song for the Disney Pixar movie “Up”- talk about nostalgic- as a matter fact it’s in F major utilizing the Fmaj7 chord
Vox Potentiae Fmaj7 has literally no difference between any other major 7, harmony is relative... If I played you a Bbmaj7 and an Fmaj7 and didn’t say which was which both would sound equally nostalgic.
I've binged almost all your videos in a three to four day time span... I have never felt more confident and more knowledge filled in my entire 4 years of guitar playing. You have helped me release the true musician in me that was trapped by the fear of learning all this theory and theory of chord progressions and such. Thank you so much, Jake. I don't really do this on CZcams, but dude... who needs the typical guitar heroes on stage when we have you lol.
good point .....I'd say the 2nd most common "sound sad trick" is the old IV-iv (ex. in key of c .....F to Fm)......although this is leaving diatonic land & known as "borrowing" chords from the "parallel"(NOT relative) minor key.
realcygnus - I find that chord (say, F minor in the key of C major) sounds illuminati as fuck. For example "Estelle - American Boy" or "Beyonce - Run The World"
Nice!
Yeah, like Creep by Radiohead. A bunch of songs from all kinds of eras use the I-III-IV-iv progression. It really sounds melancholy. Its like the first three chords sound so hopeful only to be crushed by the minor iv
@@ericpalacios920Thanks, I'll remember that progression in case I write a song about my life :-D
"Low Man's Lyric" by Metallica does that to great effect.
I know you posted this 4 minutes ago so I hope you see this: You are the reason I'm back into songwriting. Absolutely amazing.
ahahaha thank you! The whole point of these videos to get people writing quicker and easier, it's not hard but people teach it in really silly ways IMO. just get in there and have fun, learn some theory along the way =]
Here I am reading this after 1 year
@@jaypatil6286 here i am reading this after 3 year
@@dontgiveafridgehere I'm reading this after 4 years
oh man i remember that minecraft series
i was p00ploser69 lolol
who'd think, man I miss those series lol
Signals Music Studio no wonder your voice sounds so familiar
_GAYLORDSTEAMBATH_
Man the memories
This guy is turning what was the boring part of guitar learning (theory) into one of the most fun/chill part
Jake, you are a pleasure to watch. You are a talent on many levels. Thanks for the lessons. Cheers.
You're rapidly becoming one of my favorite theory channels, thanks for all these amazing videos and keep up the great work!
Changed my view of the major scale forever bro. I just love your approach to the emotional character of chords. Thanks!
You are one of the best and one of the most clear explanations giving CZcams music teachters with no need of very complicated music theoretical background to be able to understand that's what really matters in your story and with very practical information based on the emotional colorisations of specific scales, chords and chordprogressions and you are able to explain this interesting stuff wiith a great portion of entousiasm as well. So, I would say : very well done!!!
Yes, thank you for this. I actually did a CZcams search for "using the mediant chord." I was figuring out the chords for Presley's Can't Help Falling in Love and there was this beautiful, wistful change to the third in D major that wasn't sad, it was beautiful, touching, somehow loving and I realized the iii was rarely mentioned in "popular progressions." There was also a lot of vi-IV-I-Vs in the piece, which I found someone refer to as "Christian music progression" (and I could understand that with Presley's gospel background) but nothing on the iii. Thank you, my learning (still in the early stages) just got a huge boost today!
The most perfect introduction I've seen on a music channel. Cheers 🥂
Even if someone knows all the theory in this video, all of the examples, explanation, and overall presentation; provides an incredibly entertaining and informational video. Great job with this. You've just gotten a new subscriber.
i love how well you visually and audibly explain stuff, if my eyesight is really bad i still learn a lot
Love this. Pls do more of these vids for beginners. I've watched so many youtubers trying to get enough knowledge to start writing my own stuff, but your videos are ones that really inspire and teach me
To answer one of the opening questions, you can always use Dorian or Mixolydian to find that emotional sweet spot! Thanks Jake, I forgot how versatile the major scale can be. So many possibilities!
Very true
Who would dislike this video?? His opening was genius, presentation through out the whole video was entertaining and filled with awesome knowledge, and he's extremely passionate ablout the art. Love the videos man!
You are killing it with what a song is for everyone who is learning, you are a blessing my friend☮️
Mate. I love your channel. Just solid information without too much production. Great explanations.
Been teaching myself guitar through CZcams for about two and a half years and you are the best channel I have discovered. You're a godsend bro.
Have you tried Nick's guitar channel? Pretty helpful too!
I've found that playing a maj7 chord from the tonic, especially with the formula 1-3-7-8 (so that you sneak in that minor 2nd interval), can be very sad. You probably shouldn't overuse it, but it's great if you're passing by it.
Your videos are so helpful and interesting but simple to understand. I'm very glad there are people like you out here making content that the low-budget newbies like me can learn from for free!
This guy has the most simple, yet concise informational videos, and never enough views on them.
I was just thinking what Rick Feith said. Your intro put a big smile on my face, ironic that this is a video of sounding sad, you are alright, bro!
Loving this channel.
OH MY GOD I LOVED THAT ANIMATION I WATCHED IT FOREVER AGOO! That's crazy I never thought I would come acrossed it in a chord progression video!
Thanks to your videos and major modes poster, I am able to craft songs with intentional feeling. You have the most pragmatic instruction I have found. Brilliant... thanks Jake!
I remember watching that Minecraft series in middle school. I'm going to college now, and I completely forgot that existed.
You don't have to apologize for singing. You have to sing with pride!
Used this in something I composed this summer. Thank you Jake!! So clear & helpful
Man, you're a great teacher. You explain things really well
2:57 Michael Giacchino also wrote the music, which I love, for the film Ratatouille. Great video!
Julian Lambert he's done some great stuff, Star Trek theme (reboot) I believe he's working in the MCU right now also.
...and his name is pronounced Gee-ah-kee-noh...cch is always a hard K sound
Hey Julian! Glad seeing you here your videos are really helping me out in my Piano Grades! 😁
he also wrote the music for "UP" he's amazing
Also the Incredibles soundtrack which is one of my personal favorites
Mentioning those example songs is very helpful. I have always thought about the number of chords you use when you are writing a song, is there some method you follow to decide to have 2 or 3 or 4 chords in your chord progression? Great lesson as usual Jake. Keep it up.
chusss Music Use as many chords as you need to get your message across. If you get to a point where your song needs a new chord to convey an idea, use it. If you don't, don't. It's purely up to you to decide if you want to go for a minimalist approach and use only 1 chord, or go super ostentatious and throw in a dozen or 2. Let the melody guide the chording process organically... and the cool thing is, you don't have to use the same chord progression everytime the same melody appears. You could stick to just a simple 2 chord progression on the first verse and then flesh it out with 3 extra chords on the second verse.
Of course there is a method: it's called "using your ears".
Thank you guys, Everyone has his own approach. my question is to Jake about his personal approach.
Yes, there is but it needs a little music theory (which I'm also trying to learn these past few weeks). Try to look up Chord families/class. Basically, you'd always want to have a "home" chord then move away from it then finally resolve back to that home chord.
In this example, your "home" chord (I) is D then you move to F#m (iii) then back D again. I is under the Tonic chord class while iii is under Dominant chord class. You play Tonic - Dominant - Tonic
PS: I used the term "home" chord to avoid confusion between Tonic chord and Tonic chord class - they're different. Also, iii is known as a mediant chord but it functions under the Dominant chord class.
Love these videos of yours. Please keep doing these
Man. You open a whole new view for me on chord progression. Keep it up.
Literally the best guitar teacher on youtube.Greetings from Romania!😂
Have always loved this progression, ever since hearing "Empty Room" by Arcade Fire
Another one by Arcade Fire when that progression is heartwrenching is the second part of Black Wave/Bad Vibrations, coupled with the eerie backing voices of Regine Chassagne, it's chills inducing. It goes from G# major to C minor.
The second movement - Adagio - from Mozart's clarinet concerto K.622 is one of the saddest major scale pieces of music ever written. And it's written in the "joyful and playful" D major scale! Also the second movement of piano concerto K.467 - Andante, in F major, is a feat of sadness in a major Key - it was used as the theme for Bo Widerberg tragic movie "Elvira Madigan".
Brilliant. The intro, the topic, and explanation are all brilliant. Thanks!
Beginning of video: Like an ad
Me: Laughs and like video immediately
Now I finally understand what is so heart breaking about My immortal from evanescence!
The verse is I (G) iii (Bm), chorus then vi (Em) IV (C) V (D) iii (Bm)
(the original is in A, these are easier chords with capo 2 I think)
I was about to comment this here. Watch the whole video with this song in mind xD
Same chords as the beginning of A day in the life by the Beatles
Fantastic video as usual man. Every time I come away from one of these I feel super inspired to sit down and write music. ❤️
This is why major 7th chords are some of my favorite chords, they are bittersweet and sort of nostalgic sounding to me
hahahahah the intro XD thank you for another great and informative video :)
Brilliant. Made me think of 'My immortal' by Evanescence too. The intro was great btw :)
ABHISHEK MUKHERJEE My exact thought - very powerful chord progression in that particular song :)
Spot on
The exact song that popped up in my head as soon as I read the title of the video 😂
You are such an amazing teacher. I have learned so much, by watching your CZcams clips. I'm a solid follower, Thank you.
so eye opening! awesome video man. thanks so much
As soon as you played the two chords I instantly heard LOST in my head. My obsession with that series is almost dangerous. Anyways, when you have only two chords like that in succession (and none of them is a dominant one) it's kind of ambiguous what key you're on. That may be a I - iii but it may as well be a VI - i. As in Pearl Jam's Black Cmaj - Emin section. Or in Pearl Jam's Trap Door in the Sun, with the same vamp. I've always considered those to be in E minor.
Space oddity!
Great video! I always attach emotions to chords and you’ve explained it perfectly!
This, sir, was an eye-opener. It'll elevate my music.
Greetings from Hamburg, Germany.
You're a pure musical genius. I would be happy to have half your talent. Thanks.
You can also do this with natural minor scales and make sad songs sound hopeful.
Really great teaching, appreciate all the examples too! Thank you
You are so talented. I’m learning a ton from your channel! Thank you!
Evanescence My immortal is a good example of this progression too
Yeah that's A major.
Not Pennys Boat :'( amazing video, thanks for this
i cri evrytiem
I immediately dropped down here to say this. Thank you.
I came here just to mention the "sad" theme from "Lost." Ya beat me! :-)
And I think they do it in the key of D also.
And only right now do I get to the part in the video where he mentions Lost. :-\
that intro is so funny. i am learning to play piano but the way you break down theory is so easy to understand it works for every type of instrument. thank you!
Really mind blowing video! Thanks for sharing all this knowledge!
I'm ready, depression
I'm ready, depression
I'm ready, depression
Jokes aside, great video and thankyou for sharing :)
Fernando Morales I heard this with spongebobs voice lol
Eddy Cruz Same
I always thought going from the I chord to the iii chord was something special, and now I know.
(I fell down a rabbit hole that started with 12tone...)
I love your youtube videos . You have excellent examples and always demonstrate great insite. Thanks for making the complex simple. I have learned so much from you. Thanks for taking the time to share your gift with us.
I just love this channel
You could make a video on the chord progression of Hero of the day by Metallica. It's one of their only tunes in major key but one of the sadest too.
G-Am-Bm-C-D
Also Evanescence. Their my immortal though. Also the singer of because of you.
I used the I - iii back when I was 11 and wrote one of my 1st songs.. It just fit the bill perfectly, song was a happy song with undertones of upcoming despair.. No chorus, but a half solo on the 3rd verse and lyrics gave the song a complete 180 in that relationship which led to the last verse and the total crushing of the long term love of his life.. So yes, the I - iii works great.. I - iii - IV - I, I - iii - IV - V - vi - V - IV - I..
Such a clear explaination... Finally!!! Thumbs up...!!! 🎵🎶👍👍👍
This makes me think of American Football's Never Meant
Also has a really funky feeling time signature too haha
One important thing to keep in mind to make music in major keys sad, is to play it at a slow tempo. In fact, if you play these music shown on the video faster, they will sound happier!
I got a big smile while watching this... there's some intrinsic motivation in all this
I've been trying to do this for so long! You rock man awesome examples and great teaching! Subbed!
4:08 Holy shit that brings me back. No idea you did the score for it. Small world, I guess.
Rolling Stones' Wild Horses!!
Wow love your knowledge and videos. Helping me huge reaching the next level. Keep them coming!
BEST teacher out there thanks from england
Right. Like the ‘Up’ song?
The little « duh-duh duh-duh »
In every key is the 3rd chord always a minor chord and is this true for all of the chords of any given key?
yep!
Tim thanks for the help.
the key is based on the notes you use. the mode is the pattern of intervals (skip a note. dont skip a note).
C major goes C D E F G A B C
major minor minor MAjor Major Minor minor.
C minor is C D D#/Eb F G G#/Ab A#/Bb C
minor minor major major minor minor major major
Tim thanks for that. Minor scale its just major counted from the vi
anything that you can apply to a major key, you can apply to every other major key
basically anything you can apply to anything can be applied to every other same thing and it's a thing staying the same thing
This is what my soul was searching for .. thank you
i don't know how many times i've seen this video, always get some inspiration out of it
Can you brake down metallica unforgiven ?
That intro is way too funny man 😂😂😂 way to go!
ldahui love it!
This is really good. Great job
Great lesson! Thank you.
Ice Dance by Danny Elfman Edward Scissorhands.
That Bruno Mars song sounds exactly like The Rolling Stones Wild Horses?
I got to this video trying to figure out why "what was I made for " by Billie Eilish sounds so sad being in C major, and this video got me my answer: I -> iii chord progression. Thanks for the video.
hahah awesome!
Beautiful lesson. Thank you!
1 cat pressed the dislike button by accident while walking across a computer
They had too much mediant exposure
The chord progression of “It Will Rain” by Bruno Mars sounded reeeeallly familiar.....it’s “Wild Horses” by the Rolling Stones.
Dude, I just stumbled onto your channel (first I watched the "how to write metal solos" video and had to explore more from you). Going to subscribe AND will spend the next few days watching ALL your videos. Refreshing to see such informative, clearly explained, entertaining vids. Well done young man and THANKS!
Thanks, you really helped me a lot. I've watched you vids and it helps me so much.
Thanks 👍
Don't forget the Polar Express theme lives and breathes this progression!
Dm is the saddest of all keys. Just listen to Lick My Love Pump
Second video I'm watching of yours.
So simply explained but so robust with its application.
your guitar tone sounds perfect.