Bobby McFerrin and the Pentatonic Scale

In this short video, from the 2009 World Science Festival, Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power and universality of the pentatonic scale. Using his audience as an "instrument", McFerrin dances across a giant, imaginary keyboard - think Tom Hanks in the movie, Big - to create a visual metaphor for the pentatonic scale.  As the performance progresses,, the audience sings a simple pentatonic melody, (in tune, no less!) while McFerrin, still dancing, sings a duet with his impromptu chorus.  By the end, the audience, with no prompting other than McFerrin's " dance steps, sings a complete, two-octave, pentatonic scale!

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale, using audience participation, at the event "Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus". Watch the full program here: https://youtu.be/S0kCUss0g9Q Original Program Date: June 12, 2009 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for all the latest from WSF.