Hello again! This week, we will be discussing one of the internet’s most beloved virtuosic musicians – Jacob Collier. For this post, I will provide a substantial overview of Jacob Collier’s life in music and what exactly makes him so special.
Performer, arranger, multi-instrumentalist and musical phenomena.
Jacob Collier was born into a family of exceptional talent. The musicality falls more-so on his mother’s side, as she works as an instructor at the Royal Academy of Music alongside being a successful violinist. Not only is his mother a notable musician, but his grandparents on his mother’s side are also professional violinists. Given this, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Collier was encapsulated by music from a young age. He was successful in teaching himself a plethora of instruments, with proficiencies in bass guitar, guitar, mandolin, and drums. However, Collier’s skills abilities as an instrumentalist truly shine through his abilities on the piano, where his ability to improvise complex, intriguing melodies shines through. Collier had already made waves in the music industry by his early 20’s, beginning in his late teens on Youtube. Collier made dreams come true, from being signed by industry icon Quincy Jones to receiving mentorship and opportunities to play with Jazz legend Herbie Hancock. Arguably, his most notable achievement in the industry thus far has been winning two Grammys for his arrangements “You and I” and “Flinstones” in 2017.
The young prodigy posed elated and humble with his new awards
Today, Jacob continues to impress on the world stage throughout his various tours around the globe, sharing his seemingly limitless musical capacities. For the remainder of this article, however, I’d like to provide a better sense of why Collier is so special by backtracking to 2016. It was during this time that Jacob posted a complex, multi-tracked cover arrangement of the Christmas Carrol, In The Bleak Midwinter. Jacob performed a common tonal shift known as a modulation, which occurs when a piece changes tonalities or keys at any given point in the composition. Some of the most popular examples of this are found in Michael Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror” at around 2:50 and Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” at around 3:36. Although, these kinds of modulations and other variants are concerned with key changes to other conventional keys (i.e. “Man in the Mirror” modulates a half step from G to G sharp/A flat). Collier, whose cover began in E major, modulates to F major and then to G half-sharp major.
A still of Collier enthusiastically providing a musical masterclass to eager patrons (linked below).
Is this a real key? How is this possible? Collier managed to not only work his way into this “key between keys” but make it musical by way of talent-infused finesse. During a masterclass, Collier talks of his extensive exploration of harmony, and how he is aware of subtle yet notable differences between tuning systems and intervals between notes. Taking the key of D, Collier described the A432 tuning (an alternate tuning system; the A note above the middle C vibrates at 432 hertz) as feeling “indoors,” while A440 hertz (the standardized, mainstream tuning system also dubbed “concert pitch” that most all of the music you listen to is tuned to) provides a for a slightly different feeling of “outdoors.” This shifting of the very tuning system Collier is working within – exploiting the subtle, microtonal differences between notes – and this “stretching” of harmony is what Collier explains as what led him to compose the seamless transition from E Major into the “non-existent” key of G – half sharp.
The aforementioned masterclass is a wonderful exhibition of Collier’s musical intellect, and is very much representative of how deeply connected he is with music itself. Although there will always be virtuosic musicians, child prodigies and whatnot, there won’t always be other Jacob Colliers. Moreover, Collier sets himself far apart from the already gifted select few through his incredible abilities to bend the rules of music in uncharted ways. Through this, Collier crafts incredibly complex and exciting musical pieces that can wow many – from legendary record producers and jazz musicians to youtube passerby’s alike!
Collier tends to be very animated on stage; still taken from a show
