Bah. Bah. Bahhhhh. Do, dee, do, dee dee. Bah. Bahhh.

July 31, 2009 2:10 PM

Bobby McFerrin demonstrates the power of the pentatonic scale. (sl vimeo)
posted by Cool Papa Bell (22 comments total)

I am not at all worried about this. In fact, it makes me happy.
posted by Pecinpah at 2:17 PM on July 31, 2009 [5 favorites]

Pure music.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:17 PM on July 31, 2009

didn't alvin lee do that at woodstock?
posted by pyramid termite at 2:18 PM on July 31, 2009

That was pretty awesome. Thanks for sharing.
posted by TomMelee at 2:20 PM on July 31, 2009

Man, this is pretty amazing
posted by allen.spaulding at 2:20 PM on July 31, 2009

That was very cool.
posted by threetoed at 2:22 PM on July 31, 2009

That was great. Nice find.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:25 PM on July 31, 2009

Bobby McFerrin is one of the coolest artists out there. Here's a couple of videos I keep on my Zen: Drive (an original, I think) and Opportunity (a Joan Armatrading cover).

There's about a bazillion videos of him on YouTube worth checking out.
posted by Benny Andajetz at 2:27 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Related post.
posted by Dumsnill at 2:27 PM on July 31, 2009

Previously
posted by Burhanistan at 2:28 PM on July 31, 2009

Now I want some Ocean Spray Cranberry juice.
posted by SirOmega at 2:31 PM on July 31, 2009

Now I want to sing and dance for joy!
posted by humannaire at 2:34 PM on July 31, 2009

Awesome.
posted by doctor_negative at 2:35 PM on July 31, 2009

Thanks for reminding me that I love Bobby McFerrin.
posted by msali at 2:36 PM on July 31, 2009

That is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long, long time. Bobby McFerrin is a rather brilliant guy.
posted by datter at 2:36 PM on July 31, 2009

For those of you, like me, who have no idea what the pentatonic scale is (and still don't totally understand). But this was cool.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:37 PM on July 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

Related: The Reverie Harp is a designed to be so easy to play that anyone can make beautiful music [...] The harp is tuned to a pentatonic scale, so every note complements all the other notes. That means you can't play a specific song on it, but just running one's finger across it sounds like a cascading waterfall.
posted by ALongDecember at 2:39 PM on July 31, 2009

Related post.

Previously

And, lest we forget, the related MetaTalk to the previous related Ferrin FPP.
posted by ericb at 2:45 PM on July 31, 2009

It's cool that the funny noise guy from Police Academy had a career after the franchise died out.
posted by item at 2:46 PM on July 31, 2009 [1 favorite]

Can you imagine what it's like inside Bobby McFerrin's head as he just walks around every day? The world is this guys xylophone.
posted by orme at 2:47 PM on July 31, 2009 [2 favorites]

I thought that was pretty cool. Honestly, I disliked Don't Worry, soooo much that I think I created a blind spot around McFerrin. Seems that may have been my loss!
posted by Richat at 2:50 PM on July 31, 2009

The sléndro anhemitonic scales of central Javanese gamelan approach the pentatonic.
posted by ageispolis at 3:02 PM on July 31, 2009