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Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.

2
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I've asked if the lights
could be lifted for this session,

3
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and David Glover agreed.

4
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And the reason, thank you very much,
is I like to see the whites of your eyes.

5
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(Laughter)

6
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And I like to see you as my class.

7
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I hope you've all made the connection

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that music is an incredibly important part
of what has been happening today.

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We started with a didjeribone,

10
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an improvisation
on this extraordinary instrument.

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We then saw a film
that had been put together

12
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showing how TEDx was setup,
and music, actually, made that film work.

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Without music, that film
would have been a very different film.

14
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We then saw the rabbit, that had music;

15
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- a tragic end for the rabbit,
but nonetheless, music -

16
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(Laughter)

17
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and then we have had "Synergy",

18
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whose piece, their percussion piece,
was an improvised piece.

19
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I spoke to Bree afterwards and I said,
"That's clearly improvised,"

20
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and she said, "Yes, we work
on a particular pattern.

21
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We take that pattern,

22
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and every time we perform
that piece, we do it differently."

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Then, we had a string quartet,

24
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which included amplified sounds
with improvisation.

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Structures upon which other structures
had been imposed.

26
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This is the creative process.

27
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This is the process
which starts with an idea

28
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which comes from the imagination,
the musical imagination.

29
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And when the musical imagination
is ignited in a group circumstance,

30
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we have the most extraordinary power
to change lives with music,

31
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and to involve people in music.

32
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And it should start
with very, very, very young children

33
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not teenagers.

34
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Not that -- you can't start--

35
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I've taught teenagers

36
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who had their first experience
with music as teenagers.

37
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But my view is
that all of that improvisation,

38
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all of that creativity you saw
on the stage today,

39
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is the right of every child,

40
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no matter where and no matter
what the circumstance.

41
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Every child, I believe, should have access
to properly taught music

42
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in the hands
of a properly taught teacher.

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(Applause)

44
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And it can start in the simplest way.

45
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Music is an oral art.

46
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And when I talk about music, I define it

47
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as "sound, organized in some way,

48
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passing through time."

49
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With children, we begin with imitation,

50
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the most powerful way of teaching.

51
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And if you don't mind
becoming three-year-olds

52
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just for a minute
- I promise you, a minute -

53
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I will make my point.

54
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I'm going to clap a pattern,
I want you to clap it back.

55
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(clapping)

56
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(Audience clapping)

57
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You're clearly not three.

58
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(Laughter)

59
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Here's another one.

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(Clapping sequence)

61
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(Audience claps sequence)

62
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What you notice is you accelerate,
you get louder,

63
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and you don't actually do
the pattern properly

64
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(Laughter)

65
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which means you are educable,
you can be taught.

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(Laughter)

67
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When you do that with children,

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what you're doing is you're engaging them

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in their first oral experience.

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They need to listen.

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And as a result of the listening,
they repeat, and it requires focus.

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When this happens, and we take
a very simple nursery rhyme,

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and we say, with children, we go,

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(singing) "Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall.

75
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Humpty Dumpty had a great fall."

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We do this little pattern,

77
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I frequently say to the little children,
very young children,

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"Who can do a different pattern?"

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Child one puts a hand up and goes

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(singing same pattern)
"Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall ..."

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I said, "Thank you very much."
Who can do a different pattern?"

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(singing same pattern)
"Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall ..."

83
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(Laughter)

84
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And then, the next child will say,
"When will this be over?"

85
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(Laughter)

86
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All teaching is an act of faith.

87
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And with children,
the idea that repetition

88
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and putting it in the circumstance
of offering ideas is vital.

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Music is important
for the following reasons:

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it is abstract, it doesn't mean
anything outside itself.

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When we play a sound,
you can interpret that sound as you wish.

92
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I'm going to go to the TEDx Steinway.

93
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(Laughter)

94
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And it is a Steinway.
I've sampled [David's] Steinway.

95
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I'm going to play some sounds.
(playing piano)

96
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Those sounds are abstract.
They mean nothing other than themselves.

97
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If I then say, "I'm going to play
a composition, and it's called something.

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I want you to imagine
what this composition might be called."

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(Playing a short tune)

100
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Does anyone have an idea
what that composition might be called?

101
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Probably "Highly forgettable".

102
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(Laughter)

103
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But, in each person,

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that sort of music, any music,
will evoke a different response.

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Music does not describe.
Music does not narrate.

106
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Music does not tell stories. Music evokes.

107
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Music suggests, music implies,

108
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and music opens up the mind
of a child in an extraordinary way.

109
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And I want to give you some ideas
on that - back to the Steinway.

110
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These three pieces deal with night.

111
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(playing "Claire de Lune" by Debussy)

112
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"Claire de Lune" of Debussy.

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(playing "A Little Night Music" by Mozart)

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"A Little Night Music" of Mozart.

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(playing "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven)

116
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"Moonlight Sonata" of Beethoven.

117
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They have nothing to do
with night whatsoever.

118
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(Laughter)

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The title is simply a way in.

120
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But this abstraction about music
is what offers a child

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the chance to move into
a really special world of thinking.

122
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And we get children, therefore,
to try to understand

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that the most important thing about music

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is to make your own music.

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Children must make their own music.

126
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It is not they shouldn't reproduce music,

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but they must make their own,

128
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and they make it best through singing.

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That every child,
given normal circumstances,

130
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has the capacity to sing;
you, all, have the capacity to sing.

131
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Shall we test that?

132
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(Laughter)

133
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Yes, we shall.

134
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(Laughter)

135
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I will give you a little phrase
and I'd like you to sing it back.

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La-la-la-la-la, la-la, la, la.

137
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(Audience) La-la-la-la-la, la-la, la, la.

138
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Richard Gill: La, la-la, la-la, la-la.

139
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(Audience) La, la-la, la-la, la-la.

140
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RG: Pitch better than rhythm for you lot.

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(Laughter)

142
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Very good.

143
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Now what about if I give you
a little pattern here,

144
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like, foot, hand, foot, hand.

145
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Just try that, foot, hand,
and then, sing this back,

146
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la-la, la-la, la, la, la.

147
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(Audience) La-la, la-la, la, la, la.

148
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RG: La, la-la, la-la, la-la.

149
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(Audience) La, la-la, la-la, la-la.

150
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RG: Now sing the whole thing
from the beginning. Go.

151
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(Audience) La-la, la-la, la, la, la.
La, la-la, la-la, la-la.

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RG: Exactly.
When in doubt - improvise, right?

153
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(Laughter)

154
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(Applause)

155
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Through singing
is how we engage every child.

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Through singing is how we teach children

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to be literate, to read and write.

158
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Through singing is how we teach
children to analyze.

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I was working with a group
of first grade girls,

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and we were doing a song
about "Pat-a-cake, pat-a-cake".

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And I had the pitch on the board.

162
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Not that they could read the pitch,

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but I believe
they should confront the example.

164
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And throughout the lesson,
we did a number of activities.

165
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And at one stage, I said to them,

166
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"Let's look at the song on the board.
What do you notice?"

167
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And one of them said,
"It goes up, and it goes down."

168
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This little bright one
by the theater divide said,

169
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"Well, there are crotchets
and minims in that song."

170
00:10:03,154 --> 00:10:04,495
(Laughter)

171
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And everyone else in the class
went, "Oh, boy."

172
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(Laughter)

173
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So at the end of the lesson,

174
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I like to make a summary,
"What have we done?"

175
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It's very important for me
to find out what we have done.

176
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So all of them are sitting
on the floor, and I said to them,

177
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"What did we do today?"

178
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"Nothing."

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(Laughter)

180
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That's a very common response, "Nothing."

181
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(Laughter)

182
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We just jumped,
and we clapped, and we sang.

183
00:10:29,884 --> 00:10:32,495
And they went--
and I finally got out what they did.

184
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This one put her hand up and said,

185
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"Well, we learned about crotchets
and minims, but I had to teach us."

186
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(Laughter)

187
00:10:40,070 --> 00:10:41,684
(Applause)

188
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Most interesting was watching
the other kids go, "Yeah, that's true."

189
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(Laughter)

190
00:10:49,438 --> 00:10:54,198
So the next day, another song
is on the board,

191
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and all these lessons are being videoed,
they're being taped.

192
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Another song on the board,
we're observing the notation.

193
00:11:02,176 --> 00:11:05,170
And at the end of the lesson,
I bring them all together,

194
00:11:05,171 --> 00:11:08,396
and I said, "What do you notice
about the notation today?

195
00:11:08,397 --> 00:11:11,766
The pattern. It goes up,
it goes down, it does this?"

196
00:11:11,767 --> 00:11:14,468
And she was sitting right there,
and she looked up at me,

197
00:11:14,534 --> 00:11:16,901
and she said, "I haven't got a clue."

198
00:11:16,903 --> 00:11:18,797
(Laughter)

199
00:11:21,467 --> 00:11:24,001
Which was tolerated
by the rest of the class.

200
00:11:24,013 --> 00:11:25,282
(Laughter)

201
00:11:25,283 --> 00:11:27,293
That concept. They probably agreed.

202
00:11:28,228 --> 00:11:30,220
With music,

203
00:11:30,221 --> 00:11:34,688
you open up the mind of a child
in a very special way,

204
00:11:34,689 --> 00:11:38,396
different from drama,
different from dance,

205
00:11:38,397 --> 00:11:40,596
and different from visual arts.

206
00:11:40,597 --> 00:11:45,475
There was a movement which said
all the arts work the same way,

207
00:11:45,476 --> 00:11:49,462
when we went through the touchy-feely 60s.

208
00:11:49,463 --> 00:11:54,705
That is simply not true.
The arts function in different ways.

209
00:11:54,706 --> 00:11:59,350
And music, in my view,
is at the top of the food chain.

210
00:11:59,351 --> 00:12:00,708
(Laughter)

211
00:12:00,709 --> 00:12:04,132
The drama people tend
not to agree with me on that.

212
00:12:04,133 --> 00:12:05,133
(Laughter)

213
00:12:05,134 --> 00:12:07,270
But I also put dance in there.

214
00:12:07,271 --> 00:12:13,113
But what I want to say is
that the power of the creative thought

215
00:12:13,114 --> 00:12:17,667
transferred from music
to all other areas of learning

216
00:12:17,668 --> 00:12:20,326
is hugely potent.

217
00:12:20,327 --> 00:12:24,686
The neurological evidence for music is in

218
00:12:24,687 --> 00:12:26,996
in a spectacular way.

219
00:12:26,997 --> 00:12:29,229
That's a bonus.

220
00:12:29,230 --> 00:12:34,001
Music is worth teaching for its own sake.

221
00:12:34,002 --> 00:12:37,621
It is worth teaching because it is good,

222
00:12:37,622 --> 00:12:40,813
it is worth teaching because it is unique,

223
00:12:40,814 --> 00:12:42,726
and it is worth teaching

224
00:12:42,727 --> 00:12:46,322
because it empowers
children spectacularly.

225
00:12:46,323 --> 00:12:50,312
And when you get a fifth grade boy
who comes up with a piece of music

226
00:12:50,313 --> 00:12:55,084
and says, "Look, I made this myself,"

227
00:12:55,085 --> 00:12:57,012
with that sort of threat

228
00:12:57,013 --> 00:12:58,383
(Laughter)

229
00:12:58,384 --> 00:13:01,116
you know it's working, thank you.

230
00:13:01,117 --> 00:13:02,854
(Applause) (Cheers)