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Let's hear about it! Seems this could be a very thought provoking music subject.

This guy explains it in an amusing way
https://youtu.be/qHH8siNm3ts

And then this. Wouldn’t want to get it mixed up with modal exchange!
https://youtu.be/heISdRNnEnw

Oops! Didn’t look at the previous link before posting the same thing.

This guy explains it in an amusing way
https://youtu.be/qHH8siNm3ts

And then this. Wouldn’t want to get it mixed up with modal exchange!
https://youtu.be/heISdRNnEnw

Okay, I'll bite. I've listened to examples of common and well-known songs played using negative harmony. And...I know there's probably more to it, but for me, the main premise seems to be...it doesn't go where you think it should. "Just play something that doesn't fit, something that sounds weird or counter-intuitive, and you've got it".

It that about it; is that what this is all about?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vVJHMnK70g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sptr5yS5gAM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8LsPjmVAJY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51q_tK3j8tY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCP8y5SxwHk

Maybe I'm off-base here, but none of these songs sound appealing, or nearly as good as the originals???


Luuuucy, 'splain this to me!!!

Nail on head

My take is it's a system for finding a weird substitution that has a similar amount of tension to the original, so it keeps a similar feeling to the flow of the chords.

That being said, there are plenty of other ways to pick out weird alternate chords for a progression without the system. I think it's a neat curiosity, and one more way to get ideas for messing with stuff, but nothing super unique about that particular way of changing chords.

The tritone substitution method is similar, and easier to understand for me. Fm for G7 is not exactly the same as Db7 for G7, but you could almost think of the Fm as Dbmaj7, which is close enough for the hand grenades I throw out there.

The secret is know when to use it! Works great if you turn the volume way up and play it over the top of a Jason Aldean song!

Jacob Collier has shined a light on the negative harmony concept

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRkgK4jfi6M

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_ ... lintstones

Listen to the concepts of reharmonization by a genius. The musical examples of Garfunkel are not its intended use....Its a compositional tool for guiding arrangers away from the obvious.....That is why the concept is gaining in popularity.....The Herbie Hancock's and the Arthur Fiedler's of the world have used the arranging concept for years.


Paul

I was doing pretty well there with Jacob, but got lost somewhere between the college kid and the pro pianist. Then when Herbie Hancock played that VIIdom7 to Iadd69 change, I thought hey that’s “Dream A Little Dream Of Me”! The band I’m in plays that! Woohoo, negative harmony rules!

This might be the time and place and topic to get a short discussion of Paul Franklin’s “All Aboard” going - maybe with some insight on its composition by the master himself?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xBHDw5d9Vj0
I love the effortlessness of all the players breezing through this tune.

I have to admit I've been too busy with the positive kind of harmony, which I'm still trying to master. But best wishes to those who have nailed it and moved on.

Decades back, when I was trying to understand and appreciate jazz, I bought an album called "Crystal Silence" by Gary Burton and Chick Corea. Below is the title song from the album, and it always fascinated and bewildered me because it contained so much and went so many different directions. Jazz aficionados may appreciate it, but it ain't for the faint of heart...or for anyone that likes "three-chord-easy-melody" stuff. Some of the songs on the album go even further into the nether regions of harmony and melody!

(Lots of negative harmony stuff in this one, I believe.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnlAPR_ixo4

Donny Hinson wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnlAPR_ixo4

Good one, Donny. My older brother had a record of this one, I think. I didn’t understand it and I don’t think he did either, but it sure sounded cool.

I find it challenging (and weirdly fun) just to figure out where “home” is on stuff like this. I can kinda tell with Crystal Silence now, because the improvised melodies always seem to lead into a clusterf*** of notes that faintly resemble an altered/re-harmonized V7 of some sort, and then resolve to a familiar sounding minor chord.