# Howard Goodall "How Music Works"



## Darthmorphling (Aug 3, 2012)

I just discovered this documentary on YouTube and am interested in purchasing it. I was unable to find any links where it was for sale. Is it just not available?

Mr. Goodall did a phenomenal job of presenting the material in a way that was easily digestible. It was interesting seeing music's evolution throughout history. 

The episode on harmony was particularly good. I honestly never made the connection between harmonics and chords.

The info, I'm sure, is old hat to many here, but to me it was great.

I also discovered "Fantasia on a Theme" by Ralph Vaughn Williams. Hauntingly beautiful!


----------



## paulcole (Aug 3, 2012)

See if you can get hold of his tv program on The Beatles.


----------



## Justus (Aug 3, 2012)

Check out "Big Bangs", "Great Dates" and "20th Century Greats" too.


----------



## MacQ (Aug 3, 2012)

I was able to find (and purchase on DVD) a bunch of his specials, but "How Music Works" isn't one of them. I even contacted the original production company, but no luck there.

It's a shame, because I'm sure there are lots of people who'd love to own it and legally support it. It's a great watch for the musically curious and the seasoned veteran alike.


----------



## Darthmorphling (Aug 3, 2012)

Amazon has Big Bangs so I will look into it. It just seems weird that How Music Works was never officially released.

It looks like Great Dates was only released on VHS. Haven't had one of those in a while.


----------



## BopEuph (Aug 3, 2012)

I'm watching the first episode on this series right now.

I'm no full-on music historian, but none of the history books I've studied never mentioned much of his information. I'd like to know the sources.

Although none of this would affect improving as a musician, I've always been skeptical of documentaries, because of their habit of dumbing things down, sometimes to the point that borders on misinformation. Not completely wrong, but some things could easily be misinterpreted because of the way they are explained.

I liked the connection of pentatonic melodies across the world, but I've never really seen much history before the Pythagorean time; most texts seem to start there. We don't know how it really sounded, though texts mention the building of early scales on tetrachords stacked on top of each other, although they may or may not sound like modern tetrachords. It's pretty bold to say melodies of ancient Greece are built on pentatonics...unless there is information out there I never read. Anyone have more information on it? This is just the first thing I've noticed, but I am interested in early western music, so this one stuck out to me.

Maybe it's too late for me to be thinking this much. I should get to bed.


----------



## Darthmorphling (Aug 4, 2012)

I found this, and I know it's Wikipedia, but the article lists several references of more legitimate sources. Which is how Wikipedia should be used:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentatonic_scale


----------



## Darthmorphling (Aug 4, 2012)

The episode on bass was interesting as well. I had no idea that bass was a relatively new addition to composing.

As far as documentaries having a particular slant I do agree. The problem is that humans, by nature, are opinionated and no matter how much they try will always write with their particular interpretation of the material. 

Professors are the worst. I always take what I hear with an eye for learning more about the subject. Goodall's info may be wrong, or not, but when he was showing how bass, and melody lines sound best when they move in opposite directions, I learned something.


----------



## MacQ (Aug 4, 2012)

My only gripe is his simplistic explanation of "swing", which I think obfuscates more than it explains. You want to swing? Delay all even 16th notes (2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16) by the same amount. That's a workable short-cut that he didn't really explain.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed all of the episodes, and would recommend them to anyone. His presentation style is great, and it's packed with musical examples, which is a great way to learn.


----------

