World Science Festival 2009: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale

[dragondix]

jeepers thats so heavy. he has a powerful mind, a big heart. You can just see it, hear it, feel it.

[jonataspow]

Gilberto Gil ?!

[SandraSansan92]

Oh My God =D

[MaIpractice]

deedledee deedee

baabaa baba

[TheAgentpendrgast]

@zozoh it really has nothing to do with sophistication and more to do with song writing being done using the circle of fifths. If you've studied any musical composition it frequently revolves around five hence why the pentatonic scale is so ingrained in the collective consciousness of humans as a species.

[Artie0293e09]

I had shoes like that once.

[zozoh]

this shows that the majority of the population is so used to hearing songs revolving only around 5 musical notes (penta in pentatonic meaning 5) where there are 7 notes (do, re, mi... ti) even most rock and metal artists only use pentatonics, which is why many songs may sound alike when put into perspective, more sphisticated music may sound cacophonic to the common music listenier

[NurulAshzlar]

Is he singing a song or just making something up? If it's a song, please let me know what it is!

[dimomid]

A group of random people, regardless of their race, religion or gender, hArmonized beautifully!!! Humanity, there is HOPE!

[FinCroweman]

@dimomid there is dope

[NorCalKnut]

My vocal teacher's vocal teacher was Bobby's mom Sarah back in the day. Yay for me! I scored!

[Incapace0]

GRANDISSSSSSIMO!

[yaanni]

When he hums midway in the video, his voice sounds so much like an alto saxophone.

[SoundsUniqueUK]

Brilliant!

[loginsraulr]

Does someone know what he is singing? (I know it's the pentatonic scale, but I mean it seems to be as though it's part of a complete song) Thanks in advance!

[mhorodyski]

@loginsraulr for 99% it's an improvisation around this simple pentatonic scale :)

[837301]

@loginsraulr It sounds so familiar.

[TheThomaswastaken]

In the Eragon series, the main character regularly describes the music he notices when entering other people's minds. I think that the author did a fantastic job recognizing that all humans have music in the back of their mind, most of the time.

[eaglestdogg]

i do believe he just played the human

[elinzualo]

LIKE A BOSS!!

[emmyjean711]

thumbs up if you sang along

[NealAGray]

I got the music in me and I can't get it out and it's starting to hurt.........maybe I should try this...

[Paris16273212]

gosh, he's genious... :D it's soo weird, but it works xD

[OttoLund]

Nice :)

abeldanger(dot)net

[rydertupua]

gosh, now im gonna look for''NOONTOBs"comment

[ivanalba89]

Genius!



[wshp90]

They ought to put the audience in shot every now and then. I wanna see those brilliant people. Have they been trained in music? 'cause I know I would forget how high the pitch should go at some spot...

[belroc90]

Que Genioo!!!!!

[GeeMunz13]

A minor pentatonic scale is the first scale Iever learned and Mike Freeland taught me that.

[GeeMunz13]

Awesome!

[tic130]

why does this only have less than 2 and a half million views?! it NEEDS to be seen.

[auomauom]

music is the only thing that is powerful enough to get everyone's mind in tuned with each other.

[CharadeStudios]

That was ridiculous!!!

[shuruq100]

amazing !!



[EngNaruSuks]

I woulda totally fucked that up if I was in the audience.

[bibbisbibbis]

@EngNaruSuks I'm totally glad you weren't in the audience.

[GlayJRockfan]

Bobby McFerrin is awesome. He's so talented!

[salablani]

A question please: Is cyberspace in America?? Thank you I thought so.

[Daniel300017]

Wow!



[Th0oDi]

Hhhhhhh wallah fallah :D

[skiracerdude6969]

what's the tune??

[AliceAsya]

Translation is: "Forgiveness of God .. Forgiveness of God .. Forgiveness of God .. Forgiveness of God .. God's forgiveness"

Which has nothing to do with this video...

[ayanome]

@AliceAsya lol thank you! i was just about to ask what it translates to. XD How do you pronounce it though? Is it the same as how they're "singing" the scale? is that why that commenter put it up?

[koally78]

happened on my b- day does that mean im awesome june 12

[YngwieJohann1989]

oww yeah!

[onepoint22]

@noonotb: hah! it's america in america. elsewhere it's not!

[ssx47]

@onepoint22 sorry speek no americanoo

[KKOPPI]

0:42 smartasses.

[hknuddv]

@fatiamh wow, only an american...

It's arabic. Which, by the way, is one of the most poetic and beautiful languages in existence.

Before I get a reply saying 'wut are youuu? Sum kind o' terrrrist or sumtin?'

I'd like to point out that I'm a white english teenager.

You see the rest of the world actually learn about these strange things called 'other cultures' in school.

I love how it isn't considered racist to hate americans, because the whole world hates them :D

[Embrigh]

@hknuddv *reads what you wrote then reads what you replied to*. I thought he made a remark that denoted him as an American in someway. It appears he has not, yet regardless your remark denotes what I consider willful ignorance towards at population of 300 million comprised of a vast array of diverse ethnicities. Clearly he lacks your mental capabilities, but to stoop to his level to insult him, and thus insult others who lie outside your generality, does not show you know any better.

[fatiamh]

@hknuddv Umm..

1. What do being a "white english teenager" have to do with anything?

2. Ok so now Im suppose to be an expert on other languages?

3. I go to school I know about different cultures, but wtf do that have to do with my comment?

4. It was a JOKE! I was not being racist or trying to mock a whole culture obviously.

5. Im a black english teenager but that too have nothing to do with anything.

6. You could of ended it which "it's arabic" not stupidity.

[YouGotWoodRolled]

@hknuddv you're a lame cunt. One moron does not represent 300 million people. America is the most diverse country in the world.

[hknuddv]

@fatiamh Just to add, 10 seconds on google yielded this translation:

"God guide me to the right path and guide you and guide you to the true religion of Islam"

People like you make me want to scream.

Does the notion that an afternoon on wiki-fucking-pedia might enlighten you frighten you?

[fatiamh]

@hknuddv Thats very interesting you dick.

[wizardsyay]

i wish there was more! 

[00belief00]

too good to be true -_-

[geassmanleon]

a-freakin-mazin'

[afrothunder352]

The only reason people should get on youtube is because of this.

[cinemastereo]

I love you, Bobby Mcferrin!! Keep doin' what you do...you...

[0Eonomine0]

Music is an amazing thing

[iSuad09]

تحمسست وصرت اسوي معهم مره حلوو!!

[roooooooomi09]

وش السالفة؟؟؟ هذا مؤتمر ولا ايش؟

[Tudebekkie]

Geniaal!

[00belief00]

now i know where all the church songs come from !!

[hcdavis07]

does anyone know the name of the song ?

[MsBernadette1990]

who takes an arrow to the knee tho??

[bigalmd09]

@MsBernadette1990 it's a Skyrim reference, and it has gone viral now

[kangasmom]

Got the chance to play this game with him in person as a young adult... the video just doesn't capture it... he's a Genius....

[ammarabdulaziz]

الله يهديني الى الصراط المستقيم ويهديك ويهديكم الى دين الحق الاسلام

[Skymzx]

i didn't get it

[wakee7]

@noonotb ليش?

[fatiamh]

@noonotb 19 people know what this says....

[metalboy27]

@noonotb English please. This is America!

[Sunfireray]

@metalboy27 Where, exactly, are you referring to? The Internet?

Do you think the Internet, ergo this vdieo, is located in a physical PLACE?

'Murrca ain't the whole world, bub.

[AyeYirMa]

@metalboy27 It's youtube actually. Fuck up.

[Tayilaraye]

ما الذي تتحدثين عنه؟ الصفح من أجل ماذا؟

[shehrifs]

كلام فاضي

[ScrapTheIdea]

I never really liked bobby mcferrin but i really like this

[dscribbz]

Amazing.

[zemc77]

Bobby McFerrin: Playing people with leaps since 1950.

[shankarank]

There are apparently 95 rogue youtubers who go around disliking every video for no reason.

[supaspydamn]

Human Beings are amazing! We're all built the same!

[Arcticwerewolve]

By far one of the ore fascinating things I've seen

[unpopularman]

I sang along lol. Awesome.

[andrespower73]

A MA ZI NG!!

[yourmusichannel101]

My music teacher showed tis to my class and we were all amazed! ;)

SuPeR

[Paulintheoh8]

is this an actual song?

[iExcaliBruh]

WAIT! What did JohnF30Music say anyways? Jeez this is gonna take forever to find his comment. :(

[hacke101]

@iExcaliBruh if you want the trick to finding comments, push view all comments at the bottom of the page, and then push CTRL + F for find, then type in his username and the browser will automatically find the comment

[iExcaliBruh]

@hacke101 thx bro lol never knew that haha

[lam3ken]

My cousin gets to attend all these cool seminars on music and stuff. & what do i get ? Guard Duty.

[Lochey06]

I used to jump like that... Then I took an arrow to the knee

[TarsosProgram]

I analyzed the tone scale used in the performance by Bobby McFerrin and the audience. Remarkably they used an unequally divided pentatonic scale with a perfect fifth in it, nothing like the normal western scale see tarsos.0110.be

[kszaku94]

I couldnt see him for a moment when he hidden in shadow lolz.



[jstwannablvd]

Amazing

[kevalajnen]

I used to be a human piano too, until I took an arrow to the knee.

[BonTonVon]

@kevalajnen Hey! You're stealing my lines like they're sweetrolls or something

[ChapelOvBlood]

@BonTonVon you are just on a roll with these haha, i would love to know who the first person to use the skyrim line out of context was. it makes me laugh everytime lol

[AZNFlipy12]

@kevalajnen IN the knee

[themandude69]

@kevalajnen hahahahahahahahahahahahah my god i cannot escape skyrim.

[SweetReliefCoach]

Fabulous demonstration!

[BerniePwnsNoobs]

Is that a popular song that he's singing? It's so God damn catchy!

[ReceiptPython]

@BerniePwnsNoobs Virtually every popular melody is based off of the pentatonic scale. I'd say at least 90% of the songs in existence are based off of the pentatonic scale. It's got to remind you of something.

[TheSurgmaster]

@BonTonVon

Lol

[psiloification]

@BonTonVon FUS RO DA sir



[LITEE43]

That was wonderful. Anyone can sing and sing well.

[MrKareemBlack]

Really amazing !!!



[rough1neck2chicken3]

sort of reminds me of a few scenes from close encounters of the third kind

[zjedzmacoche]

tam siedzi palikot : D

[XDXDXDXDXDXDXD]

That was beautiful. And so simple. Whaaaat.

[TheLuckyFactor]

This guy is mad dad

[TehMusicCentral]

this is so cool and fun :D

[ebbotube]

i've always believed that music can bring all of us together ..and that it is god's greatest creation

[VolcardoReviewer]

@ebbotube Hahahahaha

[ebbotube]

@VolcardoReviewer what's so funny ?

[asset002]

93 people are tone def

[xX0Jota0Xx]

well now he has two hits

[HolyandFallen666]

i'm 12 y/o and what is this?

[elopez26]

niceeee!!



[zumbaba1979]

Maravilhoso!

[aaronshows]

Notice that the melody he sings gives the audience the fifth of the scale many times, even in octave pitches, before he jumps to that note, therefore enforcing the pentatonic sound before they make the decision "on their own." You could also argue that the pentatonic, while common in much of popular music, is also a naturally occurring scale to our ears because of the overtone series.

[Juliusthebastard]

@aaronshows The second point you make, about it being a naturally occurring scale, is also the point being made at the entire lecture. Look at the title in the background; it says "In Search of a Common Chorus".

[aaronshows]

@Juliusthebastard Yes but the point that it is naturally occurring BECAUSE of the overtone series isn't mentioned in the video, rather McFerrin says it happens "for some reason." Granted, I absolutely love McFerrin's music and admire his incredible talent, and I'm sure he knows a great deal about the overtone series, but I'm wondering why it wasn't mentioned. (It may have been later, but I haven't yet watched the other lectures, and if it is, then...it answers my question.) Thanks for the reply!

[liupeks7]

the chellist aside at the end "WTF, i can produce better music"

[diathugs]

is there an actual song to this? help me out

[BloodTal0n]

This is indeed amazing, but what I wonder is if this would really be that common of an occurance if it wasn't for all the pop music (or any music for that reason) most of us have heard along the entirety of our lives using the Pentatonic scale. If all our music was commonly written in the Lydian scale across the ages, would this experiment have a different outcome?

[FoValentine]

@BloodTal0n yeah, it probably would. But then again, the really interesting thing about the pentatonic scale is how it is somehow is the most used scale in almost every single musical tradition, from Europe to Africa and even Asia. Somehow the pentatonic scale is an inherently natural scale to most people, which also explains why, as he states at the end of the video, this apparently works no matter what audience he is given.

[Greysax]

This is why music is a universal language! Amazing!

[Argonaar]

This is one of the greatest things I've ever seen !

[diego10ev]

If aliens ever come visit, let's send Bobby McFerrin to receive them.

[michaelgrella]

This is the guy that wrote "Don't Worry, be Happy", no, not Bob Marley.

[Phoosh]

What is this, some new kind of instrument?

[crafton200]

You could be from a village from Bangladesh, a town from Europe, a city from the USA.. it doesn't matter, it proves all we are connected. This is the really interesting about that.

[feniksity]

OMG that's so awesome !

[ViViD4i]

I found the new sound

[Sylkra]

When this guy's alone in his room he does things like this, when I'm alone in my room I watch porn :)

[poet2012]

absolutely marvelous !!

[fLiRtYcHiCk27]

How could you dislike this?! This is amazing!!

[ThroughTheIsOfANoob]

well from that we can deduce that the audience is mostly girls or men dont sing

[wwwzenwww]

i have no other word for this other than "magical" blows me away every time i watch this :) love ya bobby

[83papple]

great....

[adieulot]

I don't believe this.™

[misschristaljoy]

Awesome! I Stumbled :)

[tomas3491]

esta vien este video, seguro que te gusta

[JohnF30Music]

there's nothing amazing about this. they're just assuming that the jumps represent switching to the next key of a scale

[esojbar]

@JohnF30Music Yes, it's obvious, but as far as I know nobody had done it before that way. He's trying to show that the pentatonic scale is natural, organic, it's inside us, different from the tempered system with its half-tones.

[JohnF30Music]

@esojbar what makes you think this is not possible to achieve in any other scale? I bet my life that major scales work exactly the same way. probably even better, because they're used in almost all pop songs out there.

[esojbar]

@JohnF30Music I didn't say that it is not possible to achieve in other scale,

[bartpander]

@JohnF30Music I am not so shure about this. pentatonic is more of a universal scale. let's ask bobby to try it once!

[JOHNDEEBANK]

@JohnF30Music Exactly. Ur point?

[itachi972]

brilliant.



[MochaLiLy71]

That would have been a fascinating conference to attend... and I love Bobby!

[maricristinacastel]

I want to hear the whole conference! how that is possible?

[unome2lsx]

@maricristinacastel try ted.com

[ynos313]

That's epic

[chessryu]

Bue-ní-si-mo... para mí como músico, esto es muy interesante... ;-)

[diegolomas90]

exelent!!



[majlosko]

I had the honor to be the sheep in the audience on his concerte and i liked it :)

[wangchungfoo]

I know there are WAY more than 91 people who are tone deaf in the world, but why are the giving Bobby McFerrin thumbs down?

[ceilingkatt]

This is so brilliant.

[cappie2000]

so epic :)

[mark29072907]

lol he didnt do anything xD

[eclipsesonic]

Genial!

[jcorteletti]

Incrível.

[MJMaximum]

This is amazing.

[turbonbc]

BOBBY should a make a duet with Casey Abrams

[GraydonTheVlogger]

91 people are deaf

[Ididthistowatchnsfw]

dude.....why did he sing don't worry be happy in a Jamaican accent?

[MrClickity]

Seen this a million times and it still impresses me. Now here's an interesting question: does this work because so much popular music is based on the pentatonic scale or is so much popular music based on the scale because it's somehow ingrained in our brains? If it's the latter, why? What about this scale (as opposed to, say, the chromatic scale) appeals to us so much?