Video analyzing the vocal harmonies of Alice in Chains

This youtuber runs through some classic AIC songs and talks about what’s going on with the vocal harmonies. Some of the analysis connects more broadly to harmonic choices in their songwriting. Plus it’s just kind of cool hearing some of AIC’s more dissonant stuff outlined on a piano.

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It’s amazing to hear the full chords (guitar + bass power chords + vocal harmonies) in “them bones”!

EDIT: now I feel the need to steal all these crazy chord voicings :rofl:

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Short rant - It’s really interesting how grunge was always thought of as “the death of guitar solos”. For one, the big grunge bands (AIC, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Nirvana) all had guitar solos in their music. They may not have been Paul Gilbert level virtuosity, but the solos were still there. -End short rant.

What’s even more interesting is the extremely elegant composition and harmony (both vocal and just the underlying chord progressions) techniques that existed in these bands’ music. You could write masters degree level papers on at least half the songs on SuperUnkown or Dirt.

Resuming of short rant - maybe we lost some virtuosity in terms of musicianship in popular music of the 90’s, but we definitely gained some virtuosity in composition :slight_smile:

Thanks for the thread @Frylock this was a really nice video.

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Some great solos on Pearl Jams first album, “Ten”. Actually some great guitar work throughout!

This was so awesome. AIC is in my top 5 because when I started learning guitar, their stuff was so fun to play and it wasn’t too hard to learn. I play lead guitar in cover bands, and this has always made it difficult for me to cover harmonies well. Because I’m generally thinking more towards a melody from my guitar. This was helpful to see how to approach harmonies in a different way. I’m gonna watch again and more of her videos to see if I can get a better grasp on some musical theory concepts she discussed. I think it’s mostly stuff I understand but need to hear a few more times for it to click. Thanks for sharing