Bobby McFerrin Improvises A Cappella, Song Three of Three shows people how the body can make

different musical sounds. His voice uses most of the notes on the solfege of that key. Though the notes
are repeated, it accents that deep, raw emotions most blues composers aim for. He also does this lower
voice that mimics a double bass with its staccato-like notes underneath his singing. It adds another
rhythmic element to the makeup of blues music. One might try to tie both of these elements together to
describe the surroundings of the composer. The lyrics talk about the streets of Chicago and how love is
significant there. In America, blues plays a part in deep emotional expression. I think the double bass
represents the irregular heartbeat of a person in love; the composer uses the musical art of syncopation
to create this image the listeners head in a way to connect to the song. The sweet falsetto of the males
voice creates a soothing sound that contrast the double bass beat and original down beat.
This genre showcases the down-to-earth society of urban America. Western, or more modernized,
cultures may view this song as a common version of music a part of society. Other cultures, for example
in Europe, view emotional music like this as a look into how Americans think of love; as an honest fight for
love. They might think that blues music is a symbol of American history that still rings in the ears of the
countrys citizens every day. I for one grew up in the Caribbean and have a completely different view of
this genre growing up. We in the Caribbean treat blues music with respect because of the raw emotion,
and the history of how this genre came to be. Older people connect with easier than the younger
generation does. Even fathers still serenade Caribbean mothers these simple blues tunes til this day.
The Power of the Pentatonic Scale covers how our brains easily and uniquely connect with patterns of
music; distinctively pentatonic scale patterns. By dictionary definition, a pentatonic scale is a musical
scale of five tones in which the octave is reached at the sixth tone; specifically a scale in which the tones
are arranged like a major scale with its fourth and seventh tones omitted. Bobby McFerrin uses visuals of
him jumping left and right to symbolizing the voices moving up and down the scale. It is amazing how he
shows the power of the mind when the audience goes lower or higher without instruction on how it
sounds. A five note scale is very common in modern music. Starting with basic county music which
usually uses three common triads or chords throughout songs. Other popular songs use for chords that
are usually a major or minor third away from each other (give or take if it composed in a minor key).
These simple patterns are around us since children and have become natural in our musical thinking.
Pentatonic scales are more common around the world, even more than heptatonic scale which contains
the normal seven notes. This might stem from the fact that ancient music used mostly pentatonic scales
when putting together songs. Even some of our songs have this scale in them! While watching this video,
the two contrasting cultures that popped into my mind where the American and Chinese cultures. In
American music, you might not hear the full pentatonic scale right away until you think about it, but in
Chinese culture, it is different. At some of their big events, they play songs with this scale. The older
Chinese generation could even remember emperors or royal families coming out and being introduced
with songs like this. I believe this culture treats songs with this type of style with more reverence and
hierarchy.