I was so happy to stumble upon this video of Bobby McFerrin and his Son Taylor. I am also very happy to see that Bobby has successfully passed on his gift of music. I am looking forward to watching the musical program on June 24th @9pm.

No doubt that the talent is inherit in all from father Robert to Bobby to son Taylor. I get very emotional when I hear Bobby perform. Wednesday, I will get my mind educated about the basic elements of music and our brain’s reaction. It’s all so “Right brain/left Brain.”

Wow, this is cool. I didn’t know he had a son with musical talent.

Lovely, but can’t Junior sing? :-/

Beauty, joy, happiness, it makes me cry.

What a great improvisation!! I often build improvisatory opportunities into my lessons in the elementary music classroom. Students try improvisations as a whole class. Then if they like what they came up with, I allow them to share their solo with the class. Sometimes I join in, or let two students improv. together. They are VERY open to this and get better at it each time they try.

Looks like Taylor may have inherited a gift for rhythm but not for music. Bobby’s gift for both music and rhythm is exceptional. Reminds me a little of Thelonious Monk, a musical genius, and his son T.S. Monk, who didn’t have the musical talent but who became a good drummer.

You are correct, percussion isn’t music. It enhances music, it plays a supporting role to music, it may be an element of music, but it is not the sine qua non of music. Musical notes, arranged in melodies and harmonies with various temporalities, form the sine qua non of music. Drummers are cool, but they ain’t Miles Davis, nor would a Miles Davis bang on a set of drums, or thump on this adams apple, to the exclusion of his trumpet. Thelonious Monk, with his incredible ear, heard clearly his son’s lack of musical ability and directed him to the drums. If I had a child with no musical talent, I would have him play the drums as well, or beatbox. He or she could still join in with the band and have a good time.

I was enjoying the program, and then my heart sank when it went in the (unfortunately inevitable) direction of how music affects other skills/disciplines. The phrase “more practical” was even used, as if music is intrinsically impractical in and of itself. This is a major failing of music advocacy in my opinion. Music IS important in and of itself, not just as a means to some other end.

beat is beat, music is music, music encompasses all, including beat. Genius, like Bobby, has it all. The children of a lesser god, they gotta go alone with the beat.

saying rhythm, or percussion is separate from music is like saying time is separate from space – it is absurd. A musical note, phrase, expression or statement is equally pitch, rhythm, timbre and any other musical quality you could care to name, and percussion is no different. If you imagine percussion has no pitch or timbre, then you clearly don’t understand music fully.

This is just wonderful
I love the ending.. “Alright”.
ahahaha <33

This was cool, but more in a novelty sort of way. (I say this with some trepidtion, given the learned comments that have preceeded mine.) I’m a fan of good old Bobby McF. The man’s a genius, though perhaps not a pioneer. I doubt that the novelty of this performance with Taylor will hold beyond a piece or two of this type. Especially in this age of limited attention spans. But, as mentioned, the man’s a genius, so I’m sure he’ll find a way to parlay this into something new. Or atleast I hope so.

Apparently, my standards for what constitutes musical genius are a bit higher than most of the other posters.

It takes us to a place we don’t get to very often.