№ 06 · TRIVIA
He Couldn't Read a Note
Composition method, throughout his career
MICHAEL JACKSON
The King of Pop
★ RARE
← MICHAEL JACKSON
CARD N° 06 · TRIVIA · ★ RARE
He Couldn't Read a Note
Composition method, throughout his career
№ 06 TRIVIA
He Couldn't Read a Note
Michael could not read or write standard musical notation, did not play any instrument fluently, and could not produce a session-quality piano part. He composed entirely by singing — every drum hit, every bass line, every chord stack — into a handheld tape recorder.
▶ THE MOMENT
Michael Jackson — Beat It (Home Demo, 1982)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5HEdmm3vac
MICHAEL JACKSON · B·SIDE · VOL.I
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THE FACT
Michael could not read or write standard musical notation, did not play any instrument fluently, and could not produce a session-quality piano part. He composed entirely by singing — every drum hit, every bass line, every chord stack — into a handheld tape recorder.
WHAT MOST DON'T KNOW
His arranger Brad Buxer described the process: Michael would walk into a session humming and beat-boxing a fully-formed track. He would sing the bass line in a low growl, scat the horn parts, do every drum sound with his mouth, and layer vocal melodies on top, all into a Walkman. Buxer or another arranger would then transcribe what he sang and recreate it on real instruments. Listen to the demo of Beat It (later released on Thriller 25) and you can hear Michael's voice acting as the entire band — kick drum, hi-hat, lead guitar — before the real musicians touched it. He once said he heard 'the entire song already finished' in his head and that writing it down was simply a matter of getting it out of his body.
▶
THE MOMENT
Michael Jackson — Beat It (Home Demo, 1982) — Hear him beat-box the entire arrangement before Quincy added musicians.