A few months ago, I shared with you a video of the great vocalist, Bobby McFerrin, demonstrating how easy it is for people to predict a melody created with the pentatonic scale. It was one of the special moments of the World Science Festival in 2009.
The brain scientists sharing the stage with him were astonished by the demonstration. Below is the link to my article and the video in case you didn’t catch it the first time around.
soundwellness.com/your-musical-mind/
The depth of the musical brain is astounding.
So is the human being’s emotional response to music.
One of the world’s most beloved songs is “Amazing Grace” by John Newton. “Amazing Grace” is also written using the pentatonic scale. It carries the magic of bringing us peace in times of great sadness.
The creation of this beautiful song has the most incredible history. Below is a video of the great American singer, Wintley Phipps, talking about the pentatonic scale and sharing the history of the creation of “Amazing Grace.”
This video includes one of the most heart-wrenching and heart-warming performances of “Amazing Grace” that I have ever heard. You might want to have some tissues handy.