I stumbled across this over on the TED site. Bobby McFerrin is one of the world’s most brilliant musical geniuses and under-acknowledged as such IMHO. He’s best known as the “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” guy, but has also won 10 Grammies for his pioneering work. Here he is at the World Science Festival demonstrating delightfully as only he could how our brains are hard-wired for music. It’s a part of who we are as a species. The pentatonic scale McFerrin teaches here in under 3 minutes undergirds most forms of the world’s musical traditions.

To really participate, you kinda have to sing along to get the science. This is a great one to do with your kids. Or your co-workers — you decide.

Experience some black genius in action:

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