The Power of the Pentatonic Scale
- Thread starter Tomek
- Start date
Buddy
The Living Force
Thanks for sharing that, Polonel.
[quote author=_http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/01/bobby-mcferrin-hacks.html]
Marilyn sez, "Bobby McFerrin uses the pentatonic scale and an audience's expectations to demonstrate neural programming at the World Science Festival 2009". Despite his brilliance, when all is said and done, future generations will probably only remember him for the "don't worry be happy song."
...
That's the really nice thing about certain pentatonic scales (like the black notes on the piano) they sound harmonious in any order and combination.
[/quote]
That is, as you may have gathered, Bobby McFerrin, singer of "Don't Worry, Be Happy", demonstrating the deep connection between the pentatonic scale and the human brain.
If you think about it, a scale represents a series of frequency jumps. If you play an instrument, you're probably used to thinking about frequency jumps in terms of half steps between notes.
Major scales, with the C-Major scale as our example, have the following half-step progression, where the final note is the same base note an octave higher:
Base Note, BN + 2 half steps, BN + 4, BN + 5, BN + 7, BN + 9, BN + 11, BN + 12
A pentatonic (penta: five, tonic: tones) scale, however, is very different, having only five notes per octave rather than the seven of the major and minor scales. These notes have the following two different half-step progressions, depending on whether you're talking about the major or minor pentatonic scales
BN = Base Note
Major - BN, BN + 2, BN + 4, BN + 7, BN + 9, BN + 12
Minor - BN, BN + 3, BN + 5, BN + 7, BN + 10, BN + 12
[quote author=_http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/01/bobby-mcferrin-hacks.html]
As the historical precedent for the pentatonic scale has already been established above, it's a reasonable hypothesis that learned anticipation assists in an unaware audience extrapolating notes -- given a sequence 1, 3, 5, it's equally likely for the next number in the sequence to be 42 as well as 7, but since the first three numbers in the sequence are recognizable, we match it with an existing pattern.[/quote]
Keep that in mind when you read the rest below:
Now, the question is, what's so special about the pentatonic scale? Why is it that Bobby McFerrin can go anywhere in the world, jump around on a stage, and have the entire audience not only follow along, but anticipate new notes in perfect harmony?
If we continue thinking in terms of half note progressions, we can analyze the way Bobby McFerrin "teaches" the audience how to sing along. He starts by defining a base note: jumping up and down while repeating a single note until the audience gets it. Then Bobby moves up to the next note, and defines that one as two half-steps above the base note. Now, if we're just choosing between the scales we've discussed above, then we know that we must be in either the major scale, the minor scale, or the major pentatonic scale--the minor pentatonic scale is eliminated because it has a three half-step jump from its base note to the next higher note.
But then Bobby jumps somewhere unexpected. He goes further up the stage, to a position of higher pitch that he hasn't defined, and the audience follows along perfectly. The new position is two half steps above the previous one, and four half steps above the base note. Interestingly, this didn't have to be so. Out of the three choices the audience had (major scale, minor scale, and major pentatonic scale), two of them (the major scale, and the major pentatonic scale) have a third note at four half steps above the base note, while the minor scale has a third note at three half steps above the base note. Here is clear evidence of the entire audience making the same particular choice all at once.
Now the audience is singing along in either the major scale or the major pentatonic scale, and we can't be sure which one it is, because the first three notes of each are identical. So to break the uncertainty, Bobby defines a fourth note: the note below the base note, as being three half steps below the base note in pitch. Now there isn't any more uncertainty. Only the major pentatonic scale has such a half note progression (in the regular major scale, the note below the base note is only one half step below in pitch). And the audience sings along, anticipating note after note both higher and lower than any Bobby had defined.
Clearly, the audience didn't magically assume they were going to be singing the major pentatonic scale from the very first note. Otherwise Bobby could have defined one note, and just started jumping around the stage to an anticipatory audience. No, the audience needed some prodding in the right direction before they were able to grasp the pattern. Remarkably, though, they needed very little prodding.
_http://www.intellectualpornography.com/2009/07/one-oclock-daily-bobby-mcferrin-and-the-pentatonic-scale.html
I think the point (and part of the title of the conference section) is neural programming. If he sets up the first few notes of the scale and lets the audience know where to go, they'll follow without too much prompting or without audience members having specific previous knowledge of a pentatonic scale.
It's math and pattern recognition.
_http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/01/bobby-mcferrin-hacks.html
[quote author=_http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/01/bobby-mcferrin-hacks.html]
Marilyn sez, "Bobby McFerrin uses the pentatonic scale and an audience's expectations to demonstrate neural programming at the World Science Festival 2009". Despite his brilliance, when all is said and done, future generations will probably only remember him for the "don't worry be happy song."
...
That's the really nice thing about certain pentatonic scales (like the black notes on the piano) they sound harmonious in any order and combination.
[/quote]
That is, as you may have gathered, Bobby McFerrin, singer of "Don't Worry, Be Happy", demonstrating the deep connection between the pentatonic scale and the human brain.
If you think about it, a scale represents a series of frequency jumps. If you play an instrument, you're probably used to thinking about frequency jumps in terms of half steps between notes.
Major scales, with the C-Major scale as our example, have the following half-step progression, where the final note is the same base note an octave higher:
Base Note, BN + 2 half steps, BN + 4, BN + 5, BN + 7, BN + 9, BN + 11, BN + 12
A pentatonic (penta: five, tonic: tones) scale, however, is very different, having only five notes per octave rather than the seven of the major and minor scales. These notes have the following two different half-step progressions, depending on whether you're talking about the major or minor pentatonic scales
BN = Base Note
Major - BN, BN + 2, BN + 4, BN + 7, BN + 9, BN + 12
Minor - BN, BN + 3, BN + 5, BN + 7, BN + 10, BN + 12
[quote author=_http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/01/bobby-mcferrin-hacks.html]
As the historical precedent for the pentatonic scale has already been established above, it's a reasonable hypothesis that learned anticipation assists in an unaware audience extrapolating notes -- given a sequence 1, 3, 5, it's equally likely for the next number in the sequence to be 42 as well as 7, but since the first three numbers in the sequence are recognizable, we match it with an existing pattern.[/quote]
Keep that in mind when you read the rest below:
Now, the question is, what's so special about the pentatonic scale? Why is it that Bobby McFerrin can go anywhere in the world, jump around on a stage, and have the entire audience not only follow along, but anticipate new notes in perfect harmony?
If we continue thinking in terms of half note progressions, we can analyze the way Bobby McFerrin "teaches" the audience how to sing along. He starts by defining a base note: jumping up and down while repeating a single note until the audience gets it. Then Bobby moves up to the next note, and defines that one as two half-steps above the base note. Now, if we're just choosing between the scales we've discussed above, then we know that we must be in either the major scale, the minor scale, or the major pentatonic scale--the minor pentatonic scale is eliminated because it has a three half-step jump from its base note to the next higher note.
But then Bobby jumps somewhere unexpected. He goes further up the stage, to a position of higher pitch that he hasn't defined, and the audience follows along perfectly. The new position is two half steps above the previous one, and four half steps above the base note. Interestingly, this didn't have to be so. Out of the three choices the audience had (major scale, minor scale, and major pentatonic scale), two of them (the major scale, and the major pentatonic scale) have a third note at four half steps above the base note, while the minor scale has a third note at three half steps above the base note. Here is clear evidence of the entire audience making the same particular choice all at once.
Now the audience is singing along in either the major scale or the major pentatonic scale, and we can't be sure which one it is, because the first three notes of each are identical. So to break the uncertainty, Bobby defines a fourth note: the note below the base note, as being three half steps below the base note in pitch. Now there isn't any more uncertainty. Only the major pentatonic scale has such a half note progression (in the regular major scale, the note below the base note is only one half step below in pitch). And the audience sings along, anticipating note after note both higher and lower than any Bobby had defined.
Clearly, the audience didn't magically assume they were going to be singing the major pentatonic scale from the very first note. Otherwise Bobby could have defined one note, and just started jumping around the stage to an anticipatory audience. No, the audience needed some prodding in the right direction before they were able to grasp the pattern. Remarkably, though, they needed very little prodding.
_http://www.intellectualpornography.com/2009/07/one-oclock-daily-bobby-mcferrin-and-the-pentatonic-scale.html
I think the point (and part of the title of the conference section) is neural programming. If he sets up the first few notes of the scale and lets the audience know where to go, they'll follow without too much prompting or without audience members having specific previous knowledge of a pentatonic scale.
It's math and pattern recognition.
_http://www.boingboing.net/2009/08/01/bobby-mcferrin-hacks.html
