Bobby McFerrin and the Pentatonic Scale

A colleague of mine sent me this video clip and I was stopped in my tracks by it! Bobby McFerrin was demonstrating the power of the pentatonic scale visually, aurally and kinesthetically - all at the same time!!

It was extremely fascinating to listen to an audience sing a pentatonic (5-tone) scale on the spot with no prior instruction! I presume they had no idea what Mr. McFerrin was doing (initially, he had to coax them to sing), but they were able to follow his lead using their eyes and ears.

The audience members he used to demonstrate this musical scale were attending the "World Science Festival" (2009).  These were not musicians; these were scientists, which made it even more fascinating to me.  I recognized several of the panelists on the stage behind Mr. McFerrin from a PBS special I had seen entitled, "The Music Instinct: Science and Song."  Daniel Levitin  (world reknown musican/neuroscientist) was up there along with several of his neuroscientist colleagues.  Check this out....



In early childhood music, the pentatonic scale is used all over the world to teach simple songs to children.  It is the foundation on which the Orff Schulwerk method is built.  Powerful implications here...

Until next time...