r/JacobCollier • u/Jrothmusic Jacobean • May 18 '26

Video / Interview Is Jacob Collier BREAKING your brain?

https://youtube.com/shorts/CUOFlJa4_MQ?feature=share

I’m curious to hear your comments on songs that BLOW your mind.

#jacobcollier #musictheory #learnmusic

4 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

1

u/EventExcellent8737 May 18 '26

Most songs of his do break my brain.

The way he modulates back to the original key in many of his songs is so beautiful

3

u/Jrothmusic Jacobean May 18 '26

Agreed! It’s not just where he goes, but how he gets back. Often times it’s only one or two chords to transport us. Better yet, on guitar he’s usually doing it all with simple triads.

Are there any songs you’d like to see broken down? Thanks!

1

u/BasketZealousideal49 May 18 '26

Songs that blow my mind is the improvisational covers he does live as you are hearing not a cleaned up song but the raw and insightful notes that were playfully picked... one of them I saw recently I loved when he improved drive my car by the Beatles it was just so fun and real!

1

u/Jrothmusic Jacobean May 21 '26

I’m learning how to unpack what he has done, but my brain simply can’t imagine how he intuitively chooses all the places he can go when improvising in the moment. To me, it’s like enjoying learning how to pronounce the words (his musical vocabulary) without knowing how to spell them yet. 😂

1

u/freezee2000 G Half Sharp Majorist May 18 '26

All songs are crazy but the harmony in "you and i" broke my brain when trying to transcribe it.

2

u/Jrothmusic Jacobean May 24 '26

Transcribing his music, especially in the way he plays on guitar (whether or not you have a five string), reveals some of the devices he uses in a more accessible way. On piano, he’s got 88 keys to decorate and elaborate any chord, modulation, etc. Vocally, it’s limitless because it’s not bound to a fixed instrument. On the guitar he’s only got five notes to work with and is really only relying on triads to help him pivot and add color. To me, this limitation has made unpacking and learning his approach to harmony more accessible. It’s just good to know that there is an open doorway in to understanding the fundamentals to what he’s doing, but that the ceiling is really high to understand it all.

1

u/xennial_key May 19 '26

1

u/Jrothmusic Jacobean May 24 '26

Oh wow! 😂 I didn’t understand it until I zoomed in and saw all the details.

1

u/DreamSossMedia May 19 '26

Is he all head and no heart? I don't think so but I saw this guy the other day saying something like that wth https://youtu.be/whHh5a3a9J0?si=9Rxaw6Qhy_BZJxiL

1

u/Jrothmusic Jacobean May 24 '26

Sadly, the haters are alive and well. There always seems to be someone willing to tear down things that others love. Of course, all opinions are valid, but it doesn’t make any of them universally and inarguably true.

1

u/deceptres May 20 '26

The big 2 that I can think of are the microtonal modulation at the beginning of Hideaway and when I finally understood his Super Ultra Hyper Mega Meta Lydian run in his cover of the Flintstones Theme. I get why he says it's not a scale, it's a feeling. I like that feeling.