Mr. Rogers' music was intricate (2020) [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z40SZ77CHK0

by CaliforniaKarl • 2 years ago

149 80 2 years ago

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CaliforniaKarl• 2 years ago

I shortened the title from "Mr. Rogers' Music Was Way More Intricate Than You Remember"

duxup2• 2 years ago

I like the "Mr. Rogers' Music Was Intricate" title way better. Thank you.

zwieback6• 2 years ago

I like Johnny Costa but always found Mr. Rogers himself creepy and never more so than when he was singing.

mandmandam• 2 years ago

You found Mr. Rogers creepy?

... I guess that proves you can't please everyone.

Mr. Rogers is literally seen as the incarnation of wholesomeness, part of the holy secular trinity of positive male role models with Levar Burton and Bob Ross.

You might consider not casting aspersions based on absolutely nothing. If there were any allegations of creepiness they'd have come out by now, so like... Keep his name out yo mouth.

zwieback6• 2 years ago

Sorry, man, just my personal reaction. I'm with you on Levar Burton and Bob Ross though.

toast0• 2 years ago

I mean, I also found him creepy, so I don't think zwieback is that unusual.

Like who is this guy who always wanted to have a neighbor just like me. and always wanted to live in a neighborhood with me. And with all the eye contact, it doesn't feel like a hypothetical you, it feels like me. Stranger danger signs.

I mean, watch this episode[1], and tell me that opening monologue doesn't feel creepy?

When I was young, this show felt a lot different than some of other shows in terms of speaking to the audience directly so much. Plus, it didn't have a cool pinball animation, I'd rather watch Sesame Street and learn my numbers, thanks ;)

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yujaPRM1PQo

wharvle• 2 years ago

It might be the very-long takes without cuts (it’s nuts, he does the jacket-to-cardigan and oxfords-to-loafers getting-home routine and launches straight into his first segment all as one shot in at least most episodes, the craft and skill on display is really impressive) plus lots of looking straight at the camera, which are intended to avoid confusion (people aren’t born understanding the “language” of film editing) and make kids feel like he’s addressing them personally. Some folks find that kind of direct attention uncomfortable, and the avoidance of film/tv editing artifice might make it feel even more so.

aklemm• 2 years ago

Mister Rogers exhibits the most radical interpersonal philosophy I've ever witnessed: he mastered taking everyone for who they are.

It's the most profound kindness I've ever seen practiced as a way of being.

So, yeah, it's a little uncomfortable.

duxup2• 2 years ago

Mr Rogers always seemed to be communicating with kids and adults as a peer, never talking down to them "just as kids", and the music selected for his show seems quite similar.

atleastoptimal• 2 years ago

Similarly this is why I feel kids were drawn to Steve from Blues Clues.

popmatrix• 2 years ago

The Atlantic spoke about how intentional Mr. Roger's communication was on his show which is an interesting read: (google cache) https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:lXyHza...

WaffleIronMaker• 2 years ago

Original Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/06/mr-rogers...

Internet Archive: https://web.archive.org/web/20231227020506/https://www.theat...

Projectiboga2• 2 years ago

I was born in 1968. I got an hour of TV each afternoon, I always did Sesame Street and Mr Roger's Neighborhood, I really liked his whole show and I assume I learned a lot from him.

Neff• 2 years ago

I really like his breakdowns of pop culture music. His videos on The Peanuts and Cowboy Bebop are such fun dives into unexpected intricacies

jzb• 2 years ago

I'm always down for learning more about Fred Rogers and his show. Such an amazing individual. Doesn't look like he recorded much (outside the show), but definitely will be looking into what he has recorded.

chimeracoder• 2 years ago

Doesn't look like he recorded much (outside the show), but definitely will be looking into what he has recorded.

For anyone who hasn't seen it, one must-see video outside the show is Fred Rogers testifying before the Senate in 1969, in order to defend funding for public television. He is able to win over an incredibly rude and hostile senator in just a few minutes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKy7ljRr0AA

lupire3• 2 years ago

Why exaggerate and insult like that? The Senator was not rude or hostile.

Projectiboga2• 2 years ago

Anyone near the Library of Congress, the transcript of that day's testimony is part of a 733 foot 'volume'? It should be near the front as that subcommittee only started in 1969, so it should be near the beginning. https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/0...

smcnally2• 2 years ago

“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” kicks off with Fred at the piano and is a good documentary throughout.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7681902/?ref_=nm_knf_t_2

(That’s IMDB’s ‘ref_’)

riemannzeta2• 2 years ago

https://open.spotify.com/album/5rorTQbNjzQGwlfmv1ecsK

You are Special

Really great energy. Nothing quite like it.

slugmass• 2 years ago

Fred Rogers was a music composition major at Rollins College[1] and his wife Sara Joanne Byrd majored in piano[2]. So it is no wonder that he cared about the music on his TV show.

[1] <https://scholarship.rollins.edu/tomokan/67> page 69.

[2] <https://scholarship.rollins.edu/tomokan/66>

pimlottc2• 2 years ago

There's actually a really nice clip of Mr Rogers playing piano himself in the video @ 5:29:

https://youtu.be/Z40SZ77CHK0?si=mo1WRUFcZyL4XH7h&t=329

4d4m• 2 years ago

Music theory power couple!

ohthehugemanate• 2 years ago

Some of his early work as a producer was also for the NBC Opera Theater and Firestone Hour TV shows, which broadcast great performances of classical music and (you guessed it) opera.

ljp_206• 2 years ago

All (or at least nearly 2000) of Mr. Rogers episodes are available on Archive.org. It's really great to be able to share these with our child, and us parents often appreciate the break and quietness more than our kid does!

thinkingtoilet• 2 years ago

When my son was young and had to go get his first hair cut I thought of trying to find a Mr. Rogers episode to see if he talks about it. I found a very old episode, so old it was in black and white, and I was surprised to find he sat through the whole thing. Hair cuts can be a big deal for young children, but after watching that episode we've never had an issue with hair cuts. It still works!

plussed_reader• 2 years ago

There is power in the old magicks...

gregsadetsky• 2 years ago

That's incredible, thanks for the reference!

Episode 1 looks so great. So so timeless..!

https://archive.org/details/tt0062588_202201/0001.mp4

anadem• 2 years ago

Thanks so much for the direct link. I'm hoping my grandkids will enjoy Mr Rogers as much as my kids did; he was a wonderful fixture in their lives.

mikermcneil• 2 years ago

Such an interesting man. Quoted his mom in the company values recently: https://fleetdm.com/handbook/company#empathy

""" When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping." To this day, especially in times of "disaster", I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers—so many caring people in this world. —Fred Rogers """

tricky• 2 years ago

I've always wondered how intentional Fred Rogers was when writing these songs. I've been in a shitty ska punk band for years and the hyperactive singer will be like, "Guys! I've got this great new song and it goes like this." He'll sing a melody for a verse or whatever and we'll piece together a chord progression then he'll sing the chorus and we'll piece chords together that sort of fit it but it will be in some bananas different key. The band is all looking at each other like WTF is this nonsense? but the crazy thing is the song winds up working and it is crazy complex even though none of us have any idea what we're doing.

0xdeadbeefbabe• 2 years ago

How about covering "Everybody's Fancy"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My84I3ZjHv0 But come up with other chords?

adzm• 2 years ago

I mean, music theory is all about communication and describing how things sound, not fitting everything in a box. Though once you learn the theory behind why your stuff works despite the clashing keys, you'll be able to describe it to other musicians and more easily apply it intentionally.

thefourthchime• 2 years ago

The same guy also breaks down the Thomas The Tank Engine theme song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og1Pbn8OufI&t=486s

christophilus• 2 years ago

I always loved the music on the show. It’s probably why I still turn on Bill Evans and similar to this day when I want to relax.

72846hsidhdh• 2 years ago

Rafa e Luiz

NoZebra120vClip• 2 years ago

Mr. Rogers was a fully-qualified Presbyterian minister. He was a televangelist who didn't directly mention Jesus Christ as his savior.

One of the precepts of hymns and sung texts is that the music imparts the mood and emotion, rather than the speaker imposing his own interpretation on the text. Even if someone chants recto tono, the mode/key will elicit a less personal and more universal feeling to the words.

Mr. Rogers was still part of that transition from vaudeville and live musical theater. My childhood experience of his musicality was that it was sometimes so well-integrated that we hardly noticed he was singing, or accompanied, and sometimes it took center stage, such as when the trolley bell sounded and the piano imitated its travel along the tracks.

All that insight from this video, such as the improvisation and originality of each recording, the mature nature of the arrangements rather than a "childish" plinking of the keys, that's all a confirmation of my feelings about Mr. Rogers being an excellent father figure and an icon of what mass media can do right.

kazinator• 2 years ago

I'm now reminiscing about some conversation I had in a music store circa 1988 or 1989, in which the other guy referred to "that brutal jazz" in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood.

scelerat• 2 years ago

Between Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street, there was a ton of really good music -- good on its own terms -- for kids growing up in that era.

seanc• 2 years ago

Same guy did a video about the Sesame Street Pinball Number Count song (one-two-thee-four-five...six-seven-eight-nine-ten...eleven-twelve)

The song is teaching children to count, but the rhythm is very advanced (7/4 time!) so trying to count the beats like a musician is just bananas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMtGImlEmu0

bitbckt• 2 years ago

As a musician (and incidentally a fan of this YT channel) the only non bananas way to count that is “like a musician”.

smcnally2• 2 years ago

There must be something in the water this week for kids who grew up in that era -- posted earlier about Mister Rogers' Neighborhood and Sesame Street documentaries

"Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street" & "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" & a few of my own take-aways on both https://meanbusiness.com/2024/01/22/sesame-street-the-neighb...

thelastparadise• 2 years ago

This is all mindblowing --based on what Jonathan Davis was saying, Mr. Rogers wasn't what this is depicting.

jcims• 2 years ago

Squad Goals

Aloha• 2 years ago

Between the music on Mr. Rogers and the Vince Guaraldi music on the Peanuts special, a generation of Jazz lovers were launched.

dclowd9901• 2 years ago

Were that it were so. In the last 20 years, just about every jazz club everywhere has shut its doors. There’s only one good one that I know of now, that plays live jazz every single night (like a jazz club ought): the 1905 in Portland, OR.

If you care about the arts, get the fuck out of your house and go support the arts. Jazz clubs are hanging by a hair. Maybe a city doesn’t need more than one or two, but most cities have none.

jayrot• 2 years ago

Adam Neely’s video essay on the music of The Backyardigans is pretty great as well.

riemannzeta2• 2 years ago

Custom GPT trained on some of Fred Rogers work

https://chat.openai.com/g/g-oW7MpoDDn-mister-rogers-gpt

Mr. Rogers' music was intricate (2020) [video]

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