The Music Theory Iceberg Explained

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Now here’s the real mind blowing thing about the whole iceberg. Once you reach the ocean floor, you look around the abyss, and suddenly you see other icebergs, then comes the realization of other cultures have their own version of music theory and their own icebergs attached

Pitch is rhythm STILL blows my mind. It’s crazy to think our bodies can make frequencies that move that fast using our voice

The most memorable thing about A = 432hz tuning for me is that my hometown warned against its intentional usage during amplified musical performances for a couple of years back in the early 2000's. IIRC, they found out that the concrete supports of our amphitheater would resonate at 108hz after someone was performing, apparently using 432hz tuning, and during a very loud sustained note (I guess A2) at the end of a song part of one of the lighting rigs supported between two of them snapped. I remember seeing a follow-up in the newspaper about how during their investigation into the cause, one of the engineers said something like, "I guess the original architects hadn't thought about the 'weird stuff' kids might be doing with music in 70 years."

The pitch=rhythm one was hilarious to me because it’s a deep dark concept for a musician, but I’m an Audio Engineer, so we work with frequencies rather than notes most of the time, so this is a fundamental concept for us😂 (I’m a musician as well)

Pitch = Rhythm is at the deepest level... but it could just as easily be taught at the top of the iceberg - if provided with the incredible demonstration you offered here. Bravo!

That pitch = rhythm thing was MIND BOGGLING

40:09 I hear absolutely no differences and that scares me

I remember I basically sort of discovered the "pitch = rhythm" thing as a child when I tried to see how low I could possibly sing, and each time I tried to go lower it my vocal chords would essentially start fizzling out and sound like a quiet fast popping or tapping instead of an actual tone. However, the polyrhythm -> chords thing was absolutely mindblowing, I had no idea thats how it worked!

I love how the deeper he got, the less songs examples he had to explain the non common or weird music theory concepts, just proving how rare each level is.

The greatest music theory video I’ve ever seen. You deserve awards for the effort you put into this.

The fact that every chord and all of harmony is just polyrhythms is crazy to me

Wow, the chances of me watching a 45 minute video are nearly zero. I actually didn't realize how long the video was until someone pointed it out in the comments. Got totally hooked. Great job!

You explained neopolitans and augmented 6’s better in 30 seconds than my professor did in an entire semester

I have to say that when this video came up I thought, "45 minutes? I'll just watch the first few minutes and then probably bail." But as you got deeper and deeper I was totally hooked on some absolutely fascinating concepts. Clefs are designed to specify the note that passes through them? Cool! Polymeter and swing ratios? Way more interesting than I had ever considered. And pitch = rhythm?!? Get the f*ck outta here! Brilliant video and extremely well presented.

It's funny because a lot of the deeper concepts you refer to are actually stuff I learned with music production rather than music theory (overtones, polymeters, pitch = rhythm). If you follow it all the way down it becomes… basically pure math and you're entering the audio and electrical engineering realm.

I have been through so many teachers who like to ignore the first couple layers of the iceberg and jump right in the deep. This has helped so much!!!!!!!!

This is the single greatest music theory explanation I've ever seen. It's very succinct and well explained and it should be Day 1 viewing in every single Music Theory 101 class going forward.

In my second college level music theory class (1976), I recorded a metronome on a reel to reel and sped it up to audible frequency for a class project. I got an 'A' and a WTF from the professor. From around the same time I heard my first shepard tone at the end of Pink Floyd's "Echoes". I did encounter several concepts in this that I have not previously seen or heard. Congratulations on a very complete explanation. It would make a great poster for music theory classes.

I knew about the Pitch=Rhythm before seeing this, but I never knew about the ratios applying to the rhythms as chords so my mind was blown even more than it was when I learned about this