The Pentatonic Scale


(Vimeo link)

Bobby McFerrin involves the audience in a music lesson during the 2009 World Science Festival. The seminar was called "Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus." I love how he knew exactly the way the crowd would follow along. -via Metafilter

I'm actually currently writing a book on the primitive and pervasive nature of pentatonic scales. They are truly mysterious.

This, however, is a better example of neural programming. While it is interesting that everybody got the third note "correct", it's because of sensation triggers in the visual field. The ratio of the dance steps are proportional to one another. Thus, the expectation at even a subconcious level, is to follow the same musical distance, which we call an interval. In this case, it is a called a "major second", or "whole step" (think skipped notes on a piano).

The other parts of mimicry, such as when the crowd gets the high and low notes merely by his movements, are directly related to the fact that they hear him singing these pitches earlier in the piece. In music, subtle neural programming goes on during repetition of simple material and listening to melody. The brain has this amazing ability to construct and compare, analyze and order. That's what's so cool about music. It's like fun exercise for your brain. NEAT!!!
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theturbolemming,
It is still really in its infantile state so far, and I'm a pretty busy guy. But I'm plotting and documenting, researching and picking up pieces here and there. I visit here often. I'll be pitching my book at neatorama anyway, so who knows?
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