The FIVE Chords That Made September A MASTERPIECE

Insane harmony or simple harmony, I feel like the thing that defines EWF is pure groove. Which one is your all-time favorite?

This song will never fail to make me remember the 21st night of september

"Do you remember? The five brilliant chords, in September?"

I got my degree in music, and mostly focused in jazz. I ended up changing careers, and i haven't played my horn in nearly 15 years. This channel has inspired me to pick up my piano and horn again. Thank you

I’ve never seen a talented musician or songwriter NOT get giddy while listening to this song. It literally happens 100% of the time

When I was in marching band in high school, our first ever marching show was an Earth, Wind, and Fire tribute. We started with September and did Boogie Wonderland. Both pieces immediately bring me back to standing on the 40 yard line and the crowd of band parents cheering us on. I miss that like crazy. ♥️

I will always love Earth, Wind, and Fire. My late grandpa absolutely loved funk and soul, he passed that onto my mom and I loved hearing this music growing up. Now that I play bass and understand music a lot more, I appreciate and love all that's going on. Such a masterpiece 🙌🏽

The intro to "In the Stone" has been used for decades as a musical curtain for the Viña del Mar International Song Festival, the oldest and largest music festival in Latin America, it's very iconic here. Thanks for breaking it down lml

Don't forget, every 4th time the C#min7 is a C#7 (dominant 7)

i studied and transcribed september's stems when i was studying music, and i think the most interesting part of how its constructed is the voicings for each instrument in each section!! for instance, in the intro the piano is jumping up to play that C#min as this really nice quartal voicing (C# bass + B, E & A), and then in the chorus, all the piano voicings are stripped back and voice lead super tight (just the 3rd and 7ths). ALSO! even though there are essentially just those five chords, before the chorus that A7sus13 (or G/A) jumps up a semitone (A#sus13) before going into the Bmin7. and another small thing, i always love the F#min7 becoming an F#7 before the A7sus13 in the verse chord loop. so many small details in the song that make it so interesting to listen to despite how repetitive it actually is

10:49 stray beard hair shows up & that's all i can see for the rest of the vid. mesmerizing...

I will never forget hearing "September" for the first time a few days before Thanksgiving of 1978. My brother came into the house from his car and told me there's a new EWF song on the radio. There was only one black radio station in town so I knew which one to dial into and was just able to hear the last verse and refrain of this joyous tune.

This bassline is killer (I'd argue it's perfect, frankly) from the keys in the intro right through the bass improv in the outro. It's so mobile and incredibly tasteful without wasting a single note. It switches between syncopated and on-beat in a way that clearly outlines the first beat of every other bar. The emphasis lines up with the drums for the last two bars of the eight-bar phrases and helps provide a solid anchor. The tone fits just right. It nails the balance of fun and functional. Sometimes "in the pocket" is such an underimpactful phrase for what it's describing. Man, I had such an underappreciation of this bassline when my jazz band director chose it for us to play. I just knew I couldn't play the sheet music without my hands getting lost.

More Earth Wind & Fire? Awesome

even in february definitely a MASTERPIECE!

I saw them live in 2017 and they sounded as good as they did in their popularity… amazing musicians and my mind was blown 🤯🤯🤯 at their mastery of musicianship at their ages! The brass line was rediculous!!! Beautiful and amazing!!!

My all-time favorite 70's band.

I'd love to hear your reaction to Casiopea, a Japanese Funk/Jazz Fusion band.

I saw them in concert. It was one of the best times I ever had in all my life.

I love you touched on "In the Stone" possibly my favorite song by EWF. I played it in high marching school band in the 80's. Love your analysis. Our band teacher (RIP E. Paschal), told us that song and EWF would be talked about for decades in the future. Here we are. THX!!!!!