Listening In | Radiohead: Pyramid Song - Analysis @ListeningIn | Uploaded November 2019 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
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* ‘Pyramid Song’, written by Thom Yorke with contributions from Jonny Greenwood and Philip Selway, is one of Radiohead's most enduringly popular songs. In this essay, I analyse the harmony, rhythm and form of the song and suggest that the hypnotic feeling you get whilst listening to it comes about as a result of the music’s complex substructure. A lot of the content and inspiration for this essay comes from Brad Osborn's fantastic book 'Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead'. If you're interesting in diving into the complex theory behind Radiohead's songs, then I thoroughly recommend you purchase this book (link below).
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____________________
▶ Website: barnabymartin.com
▶ Twitter: twitter.com/BarnabyMartin
EXPLANATION OF MOTIF NAMES
- Intro: First motif to be heard in the song
- Pyramid: Most used motif in the song
- Radix: When the notes of the major/minor thirds in each the chords of this motif are plotted against time (number of beats), the sequence looks like a square root sign (√), called a 'Radix' (Radix comes from the Latin for 'root')
- BACH: The major/minor thirds in the chords in this motif are, in order, A♮, G#, B, A#. If you transpose this sequence up a semitone (half-step), you get B♭, A, C, B♮. This is known as the 'BACH' motif - in German musical nomenclature, 'B' signifies a B♭ and 'H' signifies a B♮.
FURTHER WATCHING
Radiohead - Pyramid Song [Music Video]: youtube.com/watch?v=3M_Gg1xAHE4
Everything In Its Right Place: A Conversation with Brad Osborn: youtube.com/watch?v=fbg4-IEdw04&t=2010s
FURTHER READING/RESEARCH
Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead (Brad Osborn) - global.oup.com/academic/product/everything-in-its-right-place-9780190629236?cc=us&lang=en&
#radiohead #pyramidsong
Pre-order my new book! UK: https://shorturl.at/enn27 US: https://shorturl.at/4LIAP More info: barnabymartin.com/the-quiet
* ‘Pyramid Song’, written by Thom Yorke with contributions from Jonny Greenwood and Philip Selway, is one of Radiohead's most enduringly popular songs. In this essay, I analyse the harmony, rhythm and form of the song and suggest that the hypnotic feeling you get whilst listening to it comes about as a result of the music’s complex substructure. A lot of the content and inspiration for this essay comes from Brad Osborn's fantastic book 'Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead'. If you're interesting in diving into the complex theory behind Radiohead's songs, then I thoroughly recommend you purchase this book (link below).
▶ Support my channel: patreon.com/listeningin
▶ Subscribe: bit.ly/2PlVaMS
____________________
▶ Website: barnabymartin.com
▶ Twitter: twitter.com/BarnabyMartin
EXPLANATION OF MOTIF NAMES
- Intro: First motif to be heard in the song
- Pyramid: Most used motif in the song
- Radix: When the notes of the major/minor thirds in each the chords of this motif are plotted against time (number of beats), the sequence looks like a square root sign (√), called a 'Radix' (Radix comes from the Latin for 'root')
- BACH: The major/minor thirds in the chords in this motif are, in order, A♮, G#, B, A#. If you transpose this sequence up a semitone (half-step), you get B♭, A, C, B♮. This is known as the 'BACH' motif - in German musical nomenclature, 'B' signifies a B♭ and 'H' signifies a B♮.
FURTHER WATCHING
Radiohead - Pyramid Song [Music Video]: youtube.com/watch?v=3M_Gg1xAHE4
Everything In Its Right Place: A Conversation with Brad Osborn: youtube.com/watch?v=fbg4-IEdw04&t=2010s
FURTHER READING/RESEARCH
Everything in its Right Place: Analyzing Radiohead (Brad Osborn) - global.oup.com/academic/product/everything-in-its-right-place-9780190629236?cc=us&lang=en&
#radiohead #pyramidsong
