Rob Paravonian
Encyclopedia
Rob Paravonian is a comedian, best known for his "Pachelbel
Rant" which parodies the use of the chord progression
from Pachelbel's Canon in many popular songs.
, son of a first-generation Armenian-American
schoolteacher and local politician (His father Haig was mayor of Waukegan from 1989-1993), Rob Paravonian has always loved music, learning cello at age six and playing it from grade school through to the Waukegan High School
Symphony. At age 10 the Grade School Orchestra
went to nationals in Nashville
, and at 13 he went to Florida
with the High School Chamber Orchestra, before teaching himself guitar and bass in high school.
While attending college at USC
in Los Angeles, Rob began working as a comedian, performing at wide-open shows in cafes in L.A. After college he studied improvisation and ensemble work at the Second City Training Center
in Chicago and became a regular at the Improv. He also began going on the road, playing Midwest
clubs and headlining colleges from coast to coast.
After moving to New York, he quickly became a regular at Catch a Rising Star
, and has appeared on Comedy Central
, VH1
, has written cartoon theme songs, written and performed sketch shows and is on his third solo show.
In 2005 he performed for U.S. troops in Afghanistan
, which he described as "a great experience."
, Rob started bringing his guitar with him to pass the time waiting for his set at the open mic
clubs in LA, playing comical songs he'd written with the other comics there. They suggested he try some guitar stuff on stage and, since he had played music most of his life he tried it, and found the crowd enjoyed it.
Much of his success comes from word of mouth
and via the internet.
and Pachelbel's Canon in D major (which he attributes to the fact that he played cello
in school, and the cellist's part consists of eight quarter notes played repeatedly: D, A, B, F#, G, D, G, A) has attracted more than 10.0 million viewers, including more than 100,000 favorites. Throughout the course of his rant, he continuously plays the Canon's chord progression on his acoustic guitar. Below is a list of the songs he references (at times ambiguously) throughout his routine, and the lyrics that tie to each of them (N.B. During several of the latter songs, he changes the chord progression to suit the individual song, although still using the same chords):
Johann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...
Rant" which parodies the use of the chord progression
Chord progression
A chord progression is a series of musical chords, or chord changes that "aims for a definite goal" of establishing a tonality founded on a key, root or tonic chord. In other words, the succession of root relationships...
from Pachelbel's Canon in many popular songs.
Music
Born in Waukegan, IllinoisWaukegan, Illinois
Waukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
, son of a first-generation Armenian-American
Armenian-American
Armenian Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Armenia. During the United States 2000 Census, 385,488 respondents indicated either full or partial Armenian ancestry...
schoolteacher and local politician (His father Haig was mayor of Waukegan from 1989-1993), Rob Paravonian has always loved music, learning cello at age six and playing it from grade school through to the Waukegan High School
Waukegan High School
Waukegan High School, or WHS, is a public, four-year high school located in Waukegan, Illinois, USA, a city to the North of Chicago, Illinois. WHS first opened its doors in 1870. Today, the Brookside Campus extends from Berwick Avenue to McAree Road, and from Brookside Avenue to the center line of...
Symphony. At age 10 the Grade School Orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
went to nationals in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, and at 13 he went to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
with the High School Chamber Orchestra, before teaching himself guitar and bass in high school.
While attending college at USC
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in Los Angeles, Rob began working as a comedian, performing at wide-open shows in cafes in L.A. After college he studied improvisation and ensemble work at the Second City Training Center
Second City Training Center
The Second City Training Center was founded in the mid-1980s to facilitate the growing demand for workshops and instruction from the world famous The Second City theatre. Training Centers are located in Chicago, Toronto and Los Angeles. Satellite centers formerly existed in Metro Detroit, Las...
in Chicago and became a regular at the Improv. He also began going on the road, playing Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
clubs and headlining colleges from coast to coast.
After moving to New York, he quickly became a regular at Catch a Rising Star
Catch a Rising Star
Catch a Rising Star is a chain of comedy clubs, founded in New York City in December 1972 and owned by Rick Newman. It has since spread to other areas, such as Las Vegas and New Jersey....
, and has appeared on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
, VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
, has written cartoon theme songs, written and performed sketch shows and is on his third solo show.
In 2005 he performed for U.S. troops in Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
, which he described as "a great experience."
Musical stand up
Originally a traditional stand up comedianStand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
, Rob started bringing his guitar with him to pass the time waiting for his set at the open mic
Open mike
An open mike or open mic is a live show where audience members may perform at the microphone. Usually, the performers sign up in advance for a time slot with the host or master of ceremonies. These events can be focused on poetry and the spoken word, music, comedy, and the open format of open...
clubs in LA, playing comical songs he'd written with the other comics there. They suggested he try some guitar stuff on stage and, since he had played music most of his life he tried it, and found the crowd enjoyed it.
Much of his success comes from word of mouth
Word of mouth
Word of mouth, or viva voce, is the passing of information from person to person by oral communication. Storytelling is the oldest form of word-of-mouth communication where one person tells others of something, whether a real event or something made up. Oral tradition is cultural material and...
and via the internet.
Pachelbel Rant
Rob's popular YouTube video regarding his hatred toward Johann PachelbelJohann Pachelbel
Johann Pachelbel was a German Baroque composer, organist and teacher, who brought the south German organ tradition to its peak. He composed a large body of sacred and secular music, and his contributions to the development of the chorale prelude and fugue have earned him a place among the most...
and Pachelbel's Canon in D major (which he attributes to the fact that he played cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
in school, and the cellist's part consists of eight quarter notes played repeatedly: D, A, B, F#, G, D, G, A) has attracted more than 10.0 million viewers, including more than 100,000 favorites. Throughout the course of his rant, he continuously plays the Canon's chord progression on his acoustic guitar. Below is a list of the songs he references (at times ambiguously) throughout his routine, and the lyrics that tie to each of them (N.B. During several of the latter songs, he changes the chord progression to suit the individual song, although still using the same chords):
| Band | Song | Lyric |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin C Vitamin C (artist) Colleen Ann Fitzpatrick is an American pop music singer, songwriter, dancer, and actress better known by her stage name, Vitamin C. Her singles include "Graduation ", "As Long As You're Loving Me", "The Itch", and her most successful hit the Top 20 Gold certified "Smile"... |
Graduation (Friends Forever) Graduation (Friends Forever) "Graduation " is a single by American pop singer Vitamin C released in 2000 through Elektra Entertainment. It was the third single from her debut album Vitamin C. The song is considered, to date, the biggest hit of Vitamin C. The song is well known for being played at high school graduations and at... |
"As we go on, we'll remember..." |
| Aerosmith Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many... |
Cryin' Cryin' "Cryin" is a song by American hard rock band Aerosmith. It was written by Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, and Taylor Rhodes. It was released by Geffen Records in October 1993 as a single from their April release, Get a Grip. The song features a music video with Alicia Silverstone.-Chart... |
"There was a time when I was so broken-hearted..." |
| Original Caste Original Caste The Original Caste is a Canadian folk-pop group. Its style is characterized by rich tight vocals and a clean sound; the group was compared to The Carpenters, The Mamas & the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, John Denver and Peter, Paul and Mary. The band formed in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1966 under the... |
One Tin Soldier One Tin Soldier "One Tin Soldier" is a 1960s era anti-war song written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. The Canadian pop group Original Caste first recorded the song in 1969. The track went to No. 6 on the RPM Magazine charts and hit the No.1 position on Canada's most influential radio chain, CHUM-AM, in Canada... |
"Listen children to my story, it was written long ago..." |
| Blues Traveler Blues Traveler Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock... |
Hook Hook (song) "Hook" is a song by jam band Blues Traveler, from their 1994 album Four. The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard Hot 100.The song's title refers to a hook in music terminology: the catchy element or phrase of a song which makes it distinctive and memorable... |
"Suck it in suck it in suck it in / If you're Rin Tin Tin or Anne Boleyn/ Make a desperate move or else you'll win..." |
| Green Day Green Day Green Day is an American punk rock band formed in 1987. The band consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, and drummer Tre Cool... |
Basket Case Basket Case (song) "Basket Case" is a song by American punk rock band Green Day. It was released as the third single from their third album, Dookie. The song spent five weeks at the top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart.Rolling Stone Readers ranked it No... |
"Do you have the time to listen to me whine..."; he then sings his own words for the chorus: "You know, I'm getting really bored/'Cause all songs have the same damn chords/The punk music is a joke, it's really just baroque Baroque music Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era... /Am I just paranoid..." |
| Matchbox 20 | Push | "I wanna push you around, well I will, I will / I wanna push you down, well I will, well I will..." |
| Better than Ezra Better Than Ezra Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Formation and early success:Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 by its four original members - vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin; Joel Rundell, the lead guitarist; bassist Tom Drummond; and drummer, Cary... |
Good Good (song) "Good" is a 1995 song by Better Than Ezra, released as the first single from their major-label debut album, Deluxe. The song would prove to be one of the biggest alternative rock songs of the year... |
"Wahow, it's been good living with you..." |
| Bush Bush (band) Bush are an alternative rock band formed in London in 1992 shortly after vocalist/guitarist Gavin Rossdale and guitarist Nigel Pulsford met in a London nightclub. Realising they shared a love for such diverse artists as the Pixies, Bob Marley, The Jesus Lizard, MC5, Nirvana, Hüsker Dü, and Big... |
Machinehead Machinehead (song) "Machinehead" is a hit single from rock band Bush, released in 1996 from their debut album Sixteen Stone.-Music video:The music video was directed by Shawn Mortensen on November 21, 1995 in London and Portmouth. If you watch closely you can see sections of Shepherd's Bush, were the band members... |
"My machinehead is better than the rest / My machinehead is better than the..." |
| U2 U2 U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music... |
With or Without You With or Without You "With or Without You" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree, and was released as the album's first single on 21 March 1987... |
"See the stone set in her eye / See the thorn twist in her..." |
| Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress. In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the programme, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international hit,... /Ednaswap Ednaswap Ednaswap was an alternative rock band from Los Angeles, United States, that existed between 1993 and 1998.Over a span of five years, the band released four major label records on East West, Elektra Records and Island Records... |
Torn Torn (Ednaswap song) "Torn" is a song by the band Ednaswap from their debut album Ednaswap . It was their second single from that album, after "Glow". "Torn" was written by Scott Cutler, Anne Preven, and Phil Thornalley during a demo session in 1993 before Ednaswap was formed. The lyrics were written by Preven.... |
"I'm all out of faith, this is how I feel / I'm cold and I am shamed, lying naked on the floor..." |
| Avril Lavigne Avril Lavigne Avril Ramona Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more... |
Sk8er Boi | "He was a boy, she was a girl, / Could it be any more obvious..." |
| Twisted Sister Twisted Sister Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands... |
We're Not Gonna Take It | "We're not gonna take it / no, we ain't gonna take it..." |
| Cyndi Grecco Cyndi Grecco Cyndi Grecco was an American singer who sang the theme tune to the popular 1970s American television show, Laverne & Shirley. Titled "Making Our Dreams Come True," the song was also put out as a single and charted at #25 on July 25, 1976. The song came out on the small Private Stock label... |
Making our Dreams come True (Laverne & Shirley Laverne & Shirley Laverne & Shirley is an American television situation comedy that ran on ABC from January 26, 1976, to May 10, 1983... theme song) |
"On your mark, get set, and go now / Got a dream and we just know now..." |
| Bob Marley Bob Marley Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers... |
No Woman, No Cry No Woman, No Cry "No Woman, No Cry" is a reggae song by Bob Marley & The Wailers. The song first became known in 1974 through the studio album Natty Dread. The live version from the 1975 album Live! is perhaps best known — it was this version which was released on the greatest hits compilation Legend. The original... |
"No woman no cry..." |
| The Beatles The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr... |
Let It Be Let It Be (song) "Let It Be" is a song by The Beatles, released in March 1970 as a single, and as the title track of their album Let It Be. It was written by Paul McCartney, but credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was their final single before McCartney announced his departure from the band... |
"When I find myself in times of trouble..." |
| Johnny Cash Johnny Cash John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century... |
Sam Hall Sam Hall (song) “Sam Hall” is an old English folk song about a bitterly unrepentant criminal condemned to death . Prior to the mid 19th century it was called “Jack Hall”, after an infamous English thief, who was hanged in 1707 at Tyburn... |
He replaces "I'll see you all in hell, damn your eyes" from the original with "I'll see your ass in hell, Pachelbel" |