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I was really impressed with this, and sent it to my wife, who pointed out that it's not all that impressive. If you watch, McFerrin gives the crowd 4 out of 5

by autarch 17y ago

I was really impressed with this, and sent it to my wife, who pointed out that it's not all that impressive. If you watch, McFerrin gives the crowd 4 out of 5 pitches _first_. Assuming he starts on C, he gives them C-D-E, and then A. He also makes a point of making a bigger leap from C to A (a minor third) from between C-D-E (each a major second). At that point, it's hard to see how the crowd could come up with anything _but_ a pentatonic scale! He's given them four notes, and established that a small jump is a major second and a big jump is a minor third. So when makes the big jump from E to G and the crowd follows along it's not all that magical. If he'd just given them C-D-E and made a small step stage left, would they have gone for B or Bb instead? It's still a fun little performance to watch, but I don't think it proves anything about the pentatonic scale being hardwired into the human brain.

extension 17y ago
He gives them three notes, they figure out the other two and extend the scale across two octaves. For a room full of laypeople watching a guy jump back and forth, that's remarkable. Now, in this day and age, anybody who hasn't been raised by wolves has had the pentatonic scale drilled into them from the day they were born. Also, it's not an arbitrary bunch of notes. It's derived from simple harmonic principles. Still, I would not have guessed that this stunt would be possible.
- autarch 17y ago
  Ah, you're right, he doesn't give them E. However, my point remains the same. He gives them C and D. The audience comes up with E, which is totally natural for a _major scale_! Then McFerrin gives them the A (with the big jump). At that point the audience is either forced to go with A minor or a pentatonic scale. Considering the fact that he has established two jump sizes (minor third vs major second), it's pretty much impossible for them to choose A minor.

by autarch 17y ago

extension 17y ago

He gives them three notes, they figure out the other two and extend the scale across two octaves. For a room full of laypeople watching a guy jump back and forth, that's remarkable. Now, in this day and age, anybody who hasn't been raised by wolves has had the pentatonic scale drilled into them from the day they were born. Also, it's not an arbitrary bunch of notes. It's derived from simple harmonic principles. Still, I would not have guessed that this stunt would be possible.

autarch 17y ago
Ah, you're right, he doesn't give them E. However, my point remains the same. He gives them C and D. The audience comes up with E, which is totally natural for a _major scale_! Then McFerrin gives them the A (with the big jump). At that point the audience is either forced to go with A minor or a pentatonic scale. Considering the fact that he has established two jump sizes (minor third vs major second), it's pretty much impossible for them to choose A minor.