4 Chord Tricks The Beatles Knew (and you should too!)

I kinda wish I had found your YouTube videos about thirty years ago.

another thing about line cliches that's useful is, they don't always have to happen on the minor 6. that's the most common version, like in C major, you'd do the line cliche on A minor, but another Beatles song shows a totally badass line cliche on minor THREE! "and your bird can sing" incorporates a minor line cliche on the minor 3. This is so cool because it then has the extra result of tonicizing the 5. in other words, it momentarily makes B sound like "5," because when the line cliche resolves to the C#major, it sounds like a "2," but it's actually a major 6. This goes up to E, which is the tonic! But in this context it now sounds like 4. only after it goes up to F#m, the 2 of of the original E major, that you reorient yourself in E. "Tonicization" isn't the same as modulating. It doesn't actually change tonal center, it just makes it sound like it. Very cool trick. the Beatles do it often. Anyway, try line cliches in unusual spots. Another example of an unorthodox on is the "james bond" line cliche where you take a minor, and climb the 5th up chromatically, to #5, then to 6, then back down to #5. In They Might Be Giants "birdhouse in your soul," their prechorus uses the james bond line cliche on the minor 6.

A 19 minute video that took me 45 minutes to watch, because it's so good that make me take notes. Best channel on youtube about songwriting! Keep the good work! :)

I’ve seen several, if not many, YouTube guitar tutorials—mostly about jazz—mention secondary dominants. You’re the first person I’ve ever heard mention the relationship of the secondary dominant to the target chord. Thank you! thank you! thank you! They make so much sense now.

Excellent! Stuff I "knew" in the back of my mind but when you explain the mechanics of it, it's like "I could have had a V8!" Thank you.

I recently found your channel and I want to say thank you for delivering gold in every video! I feel called to songwriting, and although the tips in this particular video is too complex for me to understand right now, I know I’ll circle back to it someday when being more experienced! You’re a life saver and I appreciate how you give such detailed advice 🫶

Keppie Coutts is absolutely AMAZING !!! This is the best & most helpful channel on songwriting I have found. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all you've done for me and soo many others! Please keep em' coming !! 🎸🎶

Great video! You are a great teacher!! I could not stop watching you. Your passion is magnetic and the information is gold. The way you explain is so simple and good. Really thank you!!

I've been a songwriter for my entire life, I wrote several songs through the years, but I discovered your channel now and I learned a lot, so I just loved it. Thank you! I'll be following your channel from now on!!! Cheers!

Wonderful examples and explanations. I much appreciate your enthusiasm and the joy in your own learning and involvement in music. THANKS!

Really daring, really brilliant lesson. Keep this stuff up. It’s so juicy. Well done.

I make music since more than 30 years and that was the most important lesson I ever had. I knew the key changes of the Beatles but never realised that system with that magic chord. Thank you so much.

I'm having a great time watching you here. I really like the way you speak, you seem to be excited about the subject all the time. it is the opposite of being boring!

Thank you so much for putting all this on YouTube. I've been watching hours of your very helpful info over the last week or so! I'm so glad you came into my algorithm! :)

Great how you explain complicated chord progressions in an understandable way. Thank you so much!

This was really insightful. Appreciate when someone pulls away the veil and let’s us all in on the trick.

Just fantastic information, thank you. Enough information right here to keep one busy for months trying new things. You also sing wonderfully I love your tone. Cheers.

I have never written my own Songs… but after discovering this outstanding teacher/ site, I must give a try! I came across this because I was delving into George Harrison‘s music… He is one of my all-time favorites, and this lesson not only explains how to write songs in a beautiful manner, it helps me to understand the songs I love so much, and therefore helps me to understand how to play Guitar with more FEEL! Thank you for this great look at song writing and theory!

What a tremendously useful video. Very articulate and easy to follow. This one is definitely getting bookmarked and it’s concepts applied to my own compositions. Thank you for sharing

This is absolutely brilliant Keppie. Loved it. So well put together!