Get 10% off HDpiano when you use voucher code DAVID and follow this link:.
The piano music during the outro is my track "Kneel". You can listen to it in full on Spotify:.
And, an additional special thanks goes to Douglas Lind, Vidad Flowers, Ivan Pang, Waylon Fairbanks, Jon Dye, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Yu Kyung Chung, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel's Patreon saints!.
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON:.
0:00 Introduction.
0:47 Clocks.
3:32 Speed of Sound.
5:18 HDpiano.
6:08 Problem.
8:00 A L I E N S.
8:25 Coloratura.
5 surprisingly interesting Coldplay songs
Click Here To Learn Piano or Keyboard
Get 10% off HDpiano when you use coupon code DAVID and follow this link: https://hdpiano.com/?aff=david 🎹
That spice and music theory analogy is one of the best I’ve heard. We ll said.😊
You mention that both modes share the same notes, but that we change what note is considered the tonic.
I appreciate the concept, but I’m just wondering how, in practice, do you make people re-interpret the tonic note? What tricks and devices are being used to convince us that we’re in a different mode – and the tonic has changed – rather than it’s just, you know, the same mode and tonic, but we’re playing a new higher / lower melody within that?
This is also with regard to how you’ve pointed out that there can be ambiguity – sometimes deliberately – with this sort of thing, to make the tonic – and, thus, the key / mode – ambiguous by design, or even accident.
A discussion of how this is done in various songs – which devices are being utilised – would help put these modal videos into context. And, for budding song writers, some concrete examples to put some flesh on the abstract bones would be handy.
Kind of like when folks learn Pythagoras. Sure, I remember the formula – the square of the hypotenuse is the sum of the squares of the other two sides – but we need some concrete examples of how you might apply this in reality to solve a problem, or it’s just an abstract concept. One that people forever say “what the hell do I ever need to know that for?”.
(In my case, this is a contrived example, as I’m a programmer and do graphics, which is all geometry, so I use Pythagoras all the bloody time and have no trouble pinpointing where it’s useful. But I’m thinking of the average person who, you know, dutifully learns the formula in school… but is never told, at any point, why it’s useful in actual practical use. Working out distances between two points, for those still left wondering, by the way.)
I appreciate that there’s probably multiple ways to do this. But, actually, that makes it good for a video, as you’ll have plenty of examples to show off the different methods of establishing the tonic, when you’ve gone and switched it up under people’s noses.
Their entire second album, Rush of Blood to the Head, is actually incredible. A lot of darkness.
@Henry Bird Simplicity should be the objective. Too many good ideas get buried under useless excess.
In the words of Thoreau, “Our lives are frittered away by detail. Simplicity, simplicity…”
Spot on
My favorite!
Their first album Parachutes remains at the top it’s not negociable
@Neddox571 Haha to each their own. Tho don’t you shiver
Coldplay are just another example that shows that for those upper levels of recognition you need to sacrifice innovation. I don’t think they’re any better or worse than so many other bands who have dealt with this. Some struggle with it, some lean into it. Coldplay seem to be in the second group. Fair enough.
“A Rush Of Blood To The Head” is a beautiful album. “Clocks”, as well as “Speed Of Sound” from “X&Y”, are my all-time favorite Coldplay songs.
I consider Coldplay to be one of the most musical band and consider their songs to be rather unique and kinda one of a kind.
Of course, some would label them as not being cool but being “cool” reflects more on popular trends for an age group rather than on musicality.
Their older work has lots of interesting chord progressions, harmonies and melodies. For example, A Rush of Blood to the Head (Chorus), X&Y, Twisted Logic, etc.
Coldplay is one of my favourite bands of all time, right up there with Radiohead and Pink Floyd. I would love to see a deep dive into the music theory of Coloratura because it has a lot to unpack, very much so like the analysis you did years ago on Bohemian Rhapsody. I love these videos and I can’t wait for whatever comes next!
Love this deep dive into Cold Play—the modal shift chord progression ignited a light bulb in my head! =)
One of my favorite moments in a Coldplay song is in the outro of Yellow when the F# chord is substituted for a F#min7 chord. It just hits super hard when you’ve listened to the track all the way through. A similar thing happens in the second chorus of What If where the D chord is sometimes substituted for a G chord.
Yes! That should have been mentioned
I don’t get people’s discount of Coldplay either. Their intsrumentals are often expertly arranged and Chris uses his voice in such a unique way. Coldplay is still around, not only because of broad appeal, but because their music is good and they’re often trying something new, post- X&Y, with Everyday Life being one of Coldplay’s more recent standout albums.
It’s the same I feel with Beyonce. People think her music is just generic pop and has gotten “worse” and I’m thinking if they only believe that because she’s transcended popularity and not because of her music itself, which has gotten better and less “safe” pop, since she’s now big to the point where she can experiment more without losing traction.
As someone who admittedly jumped on the bandwagon of actively refusing to listen to Coldplay songs, I’m really glad they were given a fair shot here. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love more than one of their songs when I was younger.
Edit: oh and I also self taught myself piano through synesthesia tutorials! Cool that it was given a shoutout here!
“Self taught myself” is redundant. You can just say you taught yourself 🙂
“Allow myself to introduce… myself”
Many interestings chord progressions in early Coldplay songs, Daylight, Twisted Logic, and of course Spies which is a gem (and many others)
The song “Yes” already has a cool Spanish-inspired feel. The strings intro is in Db/Bbm then is injected into A verse that goes between F minor and myxolydian Also every so often, the music goes from 4/4 to a bar of 3/4. Finally, theres is a whole secret song attached to the end of Yes, making it one of my favorite Coldplay songs
This is also one of my favourites!!
I love Coldplay. I’m so pleased to see A L I E N S on this list, it’s a brilliant, underrated track!
ALIENS hits different. Such a great song. I feel like it would’ve fit perfectly somewhere in Mylo Xyloto
One of the best bands ever – I don’t care how much crap i get for saying that. Whatever is going on in “sparks” is still a mystery to me and I got that album right after it came out. Also the bass player is a monster , check out “cemeteries of London”.
Finally you talk about Coloratura! It’s one of the most interesting tracks from the last few years I’ve heard. Time signatures, modes, unusual chord progressions, different sections… it gave me some Pink Floyd vibes actually.
Coldplay is a band that really does not get the credit they deserve. Clocks, the Scientist, A Rush of Blood to the Head, Amsterdam, Lost, Viva La Vida, all incredible songs.
Their first two albums really take me back to my early 20s and all the bittersweet nostalgia associated with youth. Parachutes in particular just has this warm, moody intimacy to it that just envelops you from start to finish. There’s a melancholic magic to those first several albums
0:31 “particularly if you look at their older work” 🤣 Yup! First three albums are great! Seriously, great video. I’ve always love that bridge in “Clocks”. Best part of the song. Thanks, David!
“Glass of Water”, a B-side from Viva La Vida, is in 7/8 in the chorus, has a really nice groove too.