3 ms·
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 fort
by 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 agoAh, 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.