Bobby McFerrin Goes Pentatonic!

One of my classmates e-mailed this to the entire class while we were discussing the social psychology aspects of music. I have always loved Bobby McFerrin, but this is really neat! I can't imagine that all the people in the audience were musicians since this was a Science fair, so that makes it all the more impressive that the audience could sing the correct notes without practice!

Many people talk about music as a universal language, but this has always been difficult to quantify. Every culture may have their own music, but music in different parts of the world varies greatly and does not easily transfer between countries. Bobby said that he has been able to create this experience all over the world, so there is something about the pentatonic scale that transcends cultures and different forms of music theory and organization.

I must have watched this video five or six times. I especially love the reactions of the scientists and doctors on stage! They kept thinking Bobby was finished, but Bobby just kept going until they were speechless at the end. Sometimes music makes sense to our minds and bodies without us needing to understand how it is happening!