StarTalk Podcast: The Hidden Science of Music with Eric Whitacre

I just love this group, I wish i could join the patreon, but its like an axhorbitant amount where in from, If i do get some adult money tho il join it

AAAAAhhhhhhh, the word a__.....really? not for my students, sigh

😂

Vdy4+shebe$;... Eric Whitaker????? Omg!! I love his choral peices so much!! Great choice!!!!!

The dissonance is cosmic!!!

What is the song she is playing last on piano and the same one earlier??????

Eugenia Cheng portion is fascinating...can have more of her?

I loved it when Chuck said "I don't wanna hear any more Eric Whitacre!"

best ending of any show

Little known fact: Einstein was an amateur violinist.

I can't believe Chuck doesn't have a dishwasher!

Music makes you smarter.

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There's so much they could have covered. I'd love to see him revisit this topic with a more varied group of experts.

Learning music at a young age by ear causes the right (creative) side of the brain to grow larger. Learning music (usually piano) by reading sheet music causes the left (logical) side of the brain to grow larger. The effect drops off at age 7 (the threshold age). Einstein learned piano and violin at a very young age.

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good one

Something interesting happens about two thirds of the way through any pop song because the songwriter wants to keep the listener interested. They're heard the verse and chorus twice; take it to the bridge. I sincerely doubt the songwriters who came up with this formula were thinking about Fibonacci or the Golden Ratio; they just wanted to sell more records. This kind of pattern is also common in baroque music, where the minstrels' motivation may have been to not be a target for spoiled food.

Tyson needs to cut out the color correction.

I can’t be the only that laughs at some peoples pronunciation of pianist

I sing in the sanctuary choir of our church and one of our members was a teacher at the local college. He overheard a colleague ask a question of the physics class. There was only silence, to which the instructor posed the same problem. Again, silence. Finally the instructor said to the class, "C'mon, guys, this isn't music theory!"

What was the last piece she played?

i was kicked out of my band and chorus class when i was young but they called me in privately to teach me how to play instruments i think i now realize why they did that.(it wasn't bc i was bad, if anyhting it was bc i couldnt learn in a classroom environment) and it made me better understand music bc i had to learn it on my own. i remember surprising my music teacher when i learned how to play 2 songs within the hour i was given to learn it. then he movedme to drums, then a trumpet then he stopped calling me in for no reason.

The Beatles always thought that learning it would've damaged their originality and when McCartney took George Martin's idea up he demurred after a brief dalliance telling him why bother when we've got you ! 🤡

The interview audio is 1000X better than Chuck’s

Very complex topic, what appears generally to be true regarding how music lessons impact creativity (according to Heather Belin) often doesn't hold up. If your head is immersed in rote acquisition or you listen to just about every recording artist out there, it can effect what you do, (or try not to do) when you pick up an instrument or attempt to compose. Dozens of Berklee and Julliard graduates sound very derivative. If you look at the musicians who have moved the bar or expanded the vocabulary of an instrument, they very rarely have a history of listening to everything that's out there. You can hear a musician trying not to sound like Santana, Hendrix, Stavinsky, Coltrane, Zappa or Holdsworth...you're more likely to make a new path in a place that isn't already covered with trails.

"Little Lamb who Made Thee" uses the lyrics from the William Blakr poem "Little Lamb". That poem is the counterpart to the Blake poem "The Tyger". That's the one with the line "Tyger, tyger burning bright in the forest of the night."

That inverted melody is a lot like the darkness of the tyger poem reflecting the lightness in the lamb poem. Both poems paired together to reflect the duality of God. They ask how the same being could have created the tiger (a creature that is terrible, frightening, and dangerous) and the lamb (a creature that is soft, harmless, and vunerable).

It's interesting that the patterns (math) created in the music reflect the symmetry and asymmetry found in the two poems.

FIRST S2NTENCE,...PERFECT!1 im self tought and my circle is continiously surprised as is my doc and pshyc

As a professional musician, ( yes I’ve held full time jobs performing that actually pay well) please ASK your kids what would you LIKE to play. That is sooo important get them a private good teacher so they have a chance at sounding GOOD. If you don’t like your sound , you won’t enjoy it. Even for fun..lessons can actually be free as well if you do research

JG Wentworth.

My Dad, born in 1962, is the youngest of 20 siblings who grew up (in nowhere wisconsin) in a little cabin with wood heat and outdoor "plumbing".. Music was their life! In the 70's, 80's and 90's my Uncles, Dad, and cousins always had a family band and played everywhere for everyone... Benefits, fundraisers, weddings, taverns, parades. To this day I have a handful of cousins in a handful of popular local bands. Our population is under 10,000 but anyone here knows that's Arnolds and music are one! NOT ONE OF THEM CAN READ MUSIC!! THEY HEAR IT, THEY KNOW WHAT KEY IT IS IN AND WHAT CHORDS! must be because our bloodline is from Whales!

I played sax when I was a kid and French horn in high school. I also played snare in performance (concert) band for a couple years. And I didn't like a second of it. My folks made me do it and I just wasn't musically inclined and struggled the whole time. I was alright for a kid, but definitely no prodigy 😂

Forgive the microphone quality? It sounds better than the rest of the microphones

Please do an entire episode with Eugenia! She was fantastic!

I’ve got to confess that I was totally fascinated with the topic and Heather’s knowledge and expertise, however I ought to disagree with a comment she made about learning languages and the malleability of the brain. Undoubtedly learning a language at an early age is a lot more efficient than when one is much older, nevertheless, it has nothing to do with the accent. Everyone speaks with an accent the difference is that as a youngster you are more at ease to acquire a new accent but as an adult it is more difficult to lose yours. So no matter how extensive your knowledge on the new language is, you will still use your mother tongue accent.

Go Eugenia!

I wonder what these people would think of Dream Theater

But what about the Grateful Dead?

I've had the privilege to perform some of Eric Whitacre's music. In fact, his song "October" is a classical piece that we play at a Halloween event where most of the audience is children. The other songs are things they know, mostly Disney villain songs, Addams Family theme, or other "creepy" music, but that one is a classical song that the children all listen to in awe. There's something innate about it that draws them in.

Being a human with brains i can verify that this video IS AWESOME

should have made it fun, my son started with guitar hero then liked it so much he moved on to School of Rock then attendedand graduated from Uni of the Arts Phila. guitar performance.

2/3 the way through most modern music is the bridge which is usually the most different and interesting part of the song hehehhe

I wish my force me to learn music.

Just the title made my day.

Anything you can do i can do better lol

If you close your eyes when Chuck is talking, it looks like he is closing his nose with his hand

Both my children had lessons from age 3 . They played in musical ensembles the entire time they were growing up. BTW they are both of mensa IQ levels. They also did art and sports and religious activities. My son is working on his PHD in music theory and my daughter is a biologist/zoologist. No regrets.