Classic music can be thought of in terms of chords and chord progressions just like modern music! In this video we’ll be taking a look at a small bit out of Beethoven’s Sonata #8 (Pathetique) and break it down in terms of chords, progressions and chord voicings. Here is a great rendition of it by Daniel Barenboim, a fantastic pianist:

Although we’ll be focusing on a small part from the 1st movement, all three movements are fantastic and you should have a listen to all three.

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33 Replies to “Beethoven’s Chords: A modern harmony songwriting perspective”

  1. At 2:54 you said B dominant 7.
    Maybe you wanted to say B flat dominant 7?
    But there is no Bb, so it looks to me a D diminished chord.

  2. That minor V chord is interesting. I'm guessing it's just a borrowed chord? Or did it temporarily modulate to Bbm because of the secondary dominant that proceeded it? Anyways I'm totally borrowing it.

  3. This is great. Are there any books out there, or more videos by you or others, that do the same thing for (lots of) other classical pieces? I can learn so much from this, and I don't understand why this isn't standard in the analysis of classical music. More Beethoven. Some Schubert, Mendelsohn, and Brahms

  4. Though I have tried lots and lots of lessons in youtube I always end up with yours… You are simply great. May God bless you for your kindness…

  5. this was wonderful, i really hope you'll do more such analysis of classical music. It's doable to find jazz related analysis, but I still really love classical music and i'd love to learn more about how/why it worked so well.

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