Probably a lot of you know
the story of the two salesmen who went down to Africa in the 1900s. They were sent down to find
if there was any opportunity for selling shoes, and they wrote telegrams
back to Manchester. And one of them wrote, “Situation hopeless. Stop.
They don’t wear shoes.” And the other one wrote, “Glorious opportunity.
They don’t have any shoes yet.” (Laughter) Now, there’s a similar situation
in the classical music world, because there are some people who think
that classical music is dying. And there are some of us
who think you ain’t seen nothing yet. And rather than go
into statistics and trends, and tell you about all the orchestras
that are closing, and the record companies that are folding, I thought we should do
an experiment tonight. Actually, it’s not really an experiment,
because I know the outcome. (Laughter) But it’s like an experiment. Now, before we start — (Laughter) Before we start, I need to do two things. One is I want to remind you
of what a seven-year-old child sounds like when he plays the piano. Maybe you have this child at home. He sounds something like this. (Music) (Music ends) I see some of you recognize this child. Now, if he practices for a year
and takes lessons, he’s now eight and he sounds like this. (Music) (Music ends) He practices for another year
and takes lessons — he’s nine. (Music) (Music ends) Then he practices for another year
and takes lessons — now he’s 10. (Music) (Music ends) At that point, they usually give up. (Laughter) (Applause) Now, if you’d waited for one more year,
you would have heard this. (Music) (Music ends) Now, what happened was not
maybe what you thought, which is, he suddenly
became passionate, engaged, involved, got a new teacher,
he hit puberty, or whatever it is. What actually happened
was the impulses were reduced. You see, the first time, he was playing
with an impulse on every note. (Music) And the second,
with an impulse every other note. (Music) You can see it by looking at my head. (Laughter) The nine-year-old put
an impulse on every four notes. (Music) The 10-year-old, on every eight notes. (Music) And the 11-year-old,
one impulse on the whole phrase. (Music) I don’t know how
we got into this position. (Laughter) I didn’t say, “I’m going to move
my shoulder over, move my body.” No, the music pushed me over, which is why I call it
one-buttock playing. (Music) It can be the other buttock. (Music) You know, a gentleman was once
watching a presentation I was doing, when I was working with a young pianist. He was the president
of a corporation in Ohio. I was working with
this young pianist, and said, “The trouble with you
is you’re a two-buttock player. You should be a one-buttock player.” I moved his body while he was playing. And suddenly, the music took off.
It took flight. The audience gasped
when they heard the difference. Then I got a letter from this gentleman. He said, “I was so moved. I went back and I transformed
my entire company into a one-buttock company.” (Laughter) Now, the other thing I wanted
to do is to tell you about you. There are 1,600 people, I believe. My estimation is that probably 45 of you are absolutely passionate
about classical music. You adore classical music.
Your FM is always on that classical dial. You have CDs in your car,
and you go to the symphony, your children are playing instruments. You can’t imagine your life
without classical music. That’s the first group, quite small. Then there’s another bigger group. The people who don’t mind classical music. (Laughter) You know, you’ve come home
from a long day, and you take a glass of wine,
and you put your feet up. A little Vivaldi in the background
doesn’t do any harm. That’s the second group. Now comes the third group: people who never listen
to classical music. It’s just simply not part of your life. You might hear it like second-hand
smoke at the airport … (Laughter) — and maybe a little bit
of a march from “Aida” when you come into the hall. But otherwise, you never hear it. That’s probably the largest group. And then there’s a very small group. These are the people
who think they’re tone-deaf. Amazing number of people think
they’re tone-deaf. Actually, I hear a lot,
“My husband is tone-deaf.” (Laughter) Actually, you cannot be tone-deaf. Nobody is tone-deaf. If you were tone-deaf,
you couldn’t change the gears on your car, in a stick shift car. You couldn’t tell the difference between somebody from Texas
and somebody from Rome. And the telephone. The telephone. If your mother calls on the miserable telephone,
she calls and says, “Hello,” you not only know who it is,
you know what mood she’s in. You have a fantastic ear.
Everybody has a fantastic ear. So nobody is tone-deaf. But I tell you what. It doesn’t work for me
to go on with this thing, with such a wide gulf
between those who understand, love and are passionate
about classical music, and those who have
no relationship to it at all. The tone-deaf people,
they’re no longer here. But even between those three categories, it’s too wide a gulf. So I’m not going to go on
until every single person in this room, downstairs and in Aspen,
and everybody else looking, will come to love
and understand classical music. So that’s what we’re going to do. Now, you notice that there is not
the slightest doubt in my mind that this is going to work,
if you look at my face, right? It’s one of the characteristics
of a leader that he not doubt for one moment the capacity
of the people he’s leading to realize whatever he’s dreaming. Imagine if Martin Luther King
had said, “I have a dream. Of course, I’m not sure
they’ll be up to it.” (Laughter) All right. So I’m going
to take a piece of Chopin. This is a beautiful prelude by Chopin. Some of you will know it. (Music) Do you know what I think
probably happened here? When I started, you thought,
“How beautiful that sounds.” (Music) “I don’t think we should
go to the same place for our summer holidays next year.” (Laughter) It’s funny, isn’t it? It’s funny how those thoughts
kind of waft into your head. And of course — (Applause) Of course, if the piece is long
and you’ve had a long day, you might actually drift off. Then your companion
will dig you in the ribs and say, “Wake up! It’s culture!”
And then you feel even worse. (Laughter) But has it ever occurred to you
that the reason you feel sleepy in classical music is not
because of you, but because of us? Did anybody think while I was playing, “Why is he using so many impulses?” If I’d done this with my head you
certainly would have thought it. (Music) (Music ends) And for the rest of your life,
every time you hear classical music, you’ll always be able to know
if you hear those impulses. So let’s see what’s really going on here. We have a B. This is a B. The next note is a C. And the job of the C is to make the B sad. And it does, doesn’t it? (Laughter) Composers know that. If they want sad music,
they just play those two notes. (Music) But basically, it’s just a B,
with four sads. (Laughter) Now, it goes down to A. Now to G. And then to F. So we have B, A, G, F. And if we have B, A, G, F, what do we expect next? (Music) That might have been a fluke. Let’s try it again. (Music) Oh, the TED choir. (Laughter) And you notice nobody is tone-deaf, right? Nobody is. You know, every village in Bangladesh and every hamlet in China
— everybody knows: da, da, da, da — da. Everybody knows, who’s expecting that E. Chopin didn’t want to reach the E there, because what will have happened? It will be over, like Hamlet.
Do you remember? Act One, scene three, he finds out his uncle killed his father. He keeps on going up
to his uncle and almost killing him. And then he backs away,
he goes up to him again, almost kills him. The critics sitting in the back row there, they have to have an opinion,
so they say, “Hamlet is a procrastinator.” Or they say, “Hamlet has
an Oedipus complex.” No, otherwise the play
would be over, stupid. (Laughter) That’s why Shakespeare puts
all that stuff in Hamlet — Ophelia going mad,
the play within the play, and Yorick’s skull, and the gravediggers. That’s in order to delay — until Act Five, he can kill him. It’s the same with the Chopin. He’s just about to reach the E, and he says, “Oops, better
go back up and do it again.” So he does it again. Now, he gets excited. (Music) That’s excitement, don’t worry about it. Now, he gets to F-sharp,
and finally he goes down to E, but it’s the wrong chord — because the chord
he’s looking for is this one, and instead he does … Now, we call that a deceptive cadence, because it deceives us. I tell my students,
“If you have a deceptive cadence, raise your eyebrows,
and everybody will know.” (Laughter) (Applause) Right. He gets to E, but it’s the wrong chord. Now, he tries E again. That chord doesn’t work. Now, he tries the E again.
That chord doesn’t work. Now, he tries E again,
and that doesn’t work. And then finally … There was a gentleman
in the front row who went, “Mmm.” (Laughter) It’s the same gesture
he makes when he comes home after a long day, turns off
the key in his car and says, “Aah, I’m home.” Because we all know where home is. So this is a piece which goes
from away to home. I’m going to play it all the way through
and you’re going to follow. B, C, B, C, B, C, B — down to A, down to G, down to F. Almost goes to E, but otherwise
the play would be over. He goes back up to B,
he gets very excited. Goes to F-sharp. Goes to E. It’s the wrong chord.
It’s the wrong chord. And finally goes to E, and it’s home. And what you’re going to see
is one-buttock playing. (Laughter) Because for me, to join the B to the E, I have to stop thinking
about every single note along the way, and start thinking about the long,
long line from B to E. You know, we were just in South Africa,
and you can’t go to South Africa without thinking of Mandela
in jail for 27 years. What was he thinking about? Lunch? No, he was thinking
about the vision for South Africa and for human beings. This is about vision.
This is about the long line. Like the bird who flies over the field and doesn’t care about the fences
underneath, all right? So now, you’re going to follow
the line all the way from B to E. And I’ve one last request before I play
this piece all the way through. Would you think of somebody who you adore, who’s no longer there? A beloved grandmother, a lover — somebody in your life
who you love with all your heart, but that person is no longer with you. Bring that person into your mind, and at the same time, follow the line all the way from B to E, and you’ll hear everything
that Chopin had to say. (Music) (Music ends) (Applause) Now, you may be wondering — (Applause) (Applause ends) You may be wondering why I’m clapping. Well, I did this at a school in Boston with about 70 seventh
graders, 12-year-olds. I did exactly what I did with you, and I explained the whole thing. At the end, they went crazy, clapping. I was clapping. They were clapping. Finally, I said, “Why am I clapping?” And one of them said,
“Because we were listening.” (Laughter) Think of it. 1,600 people, busy people, involved in all sorts of different things, listening, understanding and being moved by a piece by Chopin. Now, that is something. Am I sure that every single
person followed that, understood it, was moved by it? Of course, I can’t be sure. But I’ll tell you what happened
to me in Ireland during the Troubles, 10 years ago, and I was working with some Catholic
and Protestant kids on conflict resolution. And I did this with them — a risky thing to do,
because they were street kids. And one of them came to me
the next morning and he said, “You know, I’ve never listened
to classical music in my life, but when you played
that shopping piece …” (Laughter) He said, “My brother was shot last year
and I didn’t cry for him. But last night,
when you played that piece, he was the one I was thinking about. And I felt the tears
streaming down my face. And it felt really
good to cry for my brother.” So I made up my mind at that moment that classical music is for everybody. Everybody. Now, how would you walk — my profession, the music profession
doesn’t see it that way. They say three percent of the population
likes classical music. If only we could move it to four percent,
our problems would be over. (Laughter) How would you walk?
How would you talk? How would you be? If you thought, “Three percent
of the population likes classical music, if only we could move it to four percent.” How would you walk or talk?
How would you be? If you thought, “Everybody
loves classical music — they just haven’t found out about it yet.” See, these are totally different worlds. Now, I had an amazing experience. I was 45 years old, I’d been conducting for 20 years, and I suddenly had a realization. The conductor of an orchestra
doesn’t make a sound. My picture appears
on the front of the CD — (Laughter) But the conductor doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make
other people powerful. And that changed everything for me. It was totally life-changing. People in my orchestra said, “Ben, what happened?”
That’s what happened. I realized my job was to awaken
possibility in other people. And of course, I wanted to know
whether I was doing that. How do you find out? You look at their eyes. If their eyes are shining,
you know you’re doing it. You could light up a village
with this guy’s eyes. (Laughter) Right. So if the eyes are shining,
you know you’re doing it. If the eyes are not shining,
you get to ask a question. And this is the question: who am I being that my players’ eyes are not shining? We can do that with our children, too. Who am I being, that my children’s eyes are not shining? That’s a totally different world. Now, we’re all about to end
this magical, on-the-mountain week, we’re going back into the world. And I say, it’s appropriate
for us to ask the question, who are we being as we go back
out into the world? And you know, I have
a definition of success. For me, it’s very simple. It’s not about wealth and fame and power. It’s about how many shining eyes
I have around me. So now, I have one last thought, which is that it really makes
a difference what we say — the words that come out of our mouth. I learned this from a woman
who survived Auschwitz, one of the rare survivors. She went to Auschwitz
when she was 15 years old. And … And her brother was eight, and the parents were lost. And she told me this, she said, “We were in the train going to Auschwitz, and I looked down and saw
my brother’s shoes were missing. I said, ‘Why are you so stupid,
can’t you keep your things together for goodness’ sake?'” The way an elder sister might speak
to a younger brother. Unfortunately, it was the last
thing she ever said to him, because she never saw him again. He did not survive. And so when she came out
of Auschwitz, she made a vow. She told me this. She said, “I walked out
of Auschwitz into life and I made a vow. And the vow was, “I will never say anything that couldn’t
stand as the last thing I ever say.” Now, can we do that? No. And we’ll make ourselves wrong
and others wrong. But it is a possibility to live into. Thank you. (Applause) Shining eyes. (Applause) Shining eyes. (Applause) Thank you, thank you.
This guy is a phenomenon! Genius!
MaMa…. She was once upon a time for me, she remains the greatest story, ever, told. I was once, now, I don't know any more. I once laid next to you as your tears stream endlessly down your cheeks, I couldn't soothe you quickly enough, holding you so tightly… I never loved so much. I know the meaning of being human now. My very being knows more than ever before. As I find myself, finally, all, alone in the world. I expect my exit will be, once upon a time, there I was by your side, the end.
Music snobs love to tell us how much better 'classical' music is. But whatever music you enjoy, that's the music that will make you happy when you listen to it. Symphonies may be nice, but listening to music that makes you so joyful that you want to get up and dance is on a whole 'nuther level. I had a horrific childhood; classical music did NOTHING for me. But immersing myself in the music of the 60's and 70's kept me happy for a few moments that I could escape away to myself, from the depressing world that I had to live in. So feel free to embrace classical music. But don't insist that it must be the choice of everyone, just because it is YOUR choice.
my greatest respect!
I am in absolute appreciation of this mans zeal and engaging attitude in explaining something many people know almost nothing about ❤️
In order to consume more information I usually listen to podcasts, talks, and audiobooks on increased speed — and it’s awesome. But I’m so glad I didn’t do that for this man.
The problem with this sort of talk is that it only tends to survive for about 30 minutes in the real world. This doesn't nullify its contents nor its meaning; it only shows that we will continue to be who we were unless there's an anchor to our resolve that continually reminds us of the things we want to change and improve.
Thirty minutes is a long time within which we humans can get unsettled, think negatively, become aggravated, or simply depressed by our actual lives and what's going on. Think now a week later. Will you even remember one gem out of the many in this talk? Probably not.
It takes time to make a real change, to be the person who only says things that matter, and to make our children's eyes shiny. And it takes a real commitment that will not feel good, will probably hurt…a lot, and make us cringe deeply often. Real constant change is really constantly hard to do.
Find that anchor. Know its not going to be easy. And for those of you who haven't tried it yet, pick up a Bible and read it. Often.
As a high school musician, I had the opportunity to play in special orchestras conducted by nationally renown conductors. The experience with the guest conductors was extraordinary – night and day from our high school band directors. The depth of the experience with the music was so much deeper and profound. They had an ability to lead us to places that we couldn't go on our own.
classical music transforms? what kind of transformation? well it was not moral for some of the greatest murderers in history loved classical music Stalin, Heydrich, Hitler himself given that Wagner was a classical composer, etc etc etc. And I was a classical musician for 25 years. it did not transform me or any of my professional musical colleagues. so some of you feel amazing things listening to good classical music. been there. done that. so what? the notion i the title here is pure self indulgent hogwash
conductors are mostly egomaniac tyrants. i worked with many of them in 25 years a classical musician. how often did our eyes shine? as jaded professional musicians hardly ever
Seldom have I ever seen that the audience spontaneously stood up and clapped after speech addressed. Nice talk.
BEST TED Talk in History…***
What Chopin piece was it that he played.
I come back to this video to be happy again.
I can't believe he spends 13 minutes talking about arcs and then plays the Chopin like an impatient child.
Teachers who make assumptions about their students; they live in a world of their own.
And it is, come to think of it, quite sad.
Not everybody likes classical music. Not everybody likes chocolate; not everybody likes the sea; not everybody likes toy trains.
There are bits of classical music which are pure magic; but then, there are bits of classical music which are uninspired. There are players who can take you to cloud ten or eleven; and then, there are players who appear exquisite, but they are actually dry and uninspiring.
When you are exposed to those, an angel loses his wings.
Last, but not least, one can enjoy – and even "understand" (for whatever that means to each particular individual) – classical music without thinking of dead relatives or survivors of horrors.
Life, whether set to the tune of classical music or not, is beautiful; life is joy.
What's the name of the song
Mr. Benjamin Zander is a brilliant teacher. His passion for reaching his students is warm and inviting, like a loving grandfather. Any student would be fortunate to have him as their teacher.
👏👏💕💕💕
He did not just make 1600 shiny eyes, it is 4.4 millions and counting. (Minus the 1k tone deafs who dislike)
Не будь вторым
How could someone dislike this?????????? whyyyy whyyyy
yo…….
wow the ending ted sound nearly gave me a heart attack
wow, i'm astounded by so much humanity in him.
Wow, now i understand.
shining eyes 🤩
Wonderful. Thank you.
I'm delighted I could learn English so I'm able to understand what this gentleman is saying. What a great character! I already love classical music but after this…shinning eyes!
In western classical music u need to imagine something or someone to feel the love, but in Indian classical music the music creates love in the listeners heart
I enjoyed this talk so much that I kept checking the time left in the video and hoping it would last much longer than twenty minutes. This man is a good communicator and an excellent teacher I'm sure. This world needs many more people like him.
“The next note is a C, and it’s job is to make the B sad.” This is brilliant.
What a Beautiful Soul
South Africa is regressing to Zimbabwe.
what chopin piece did he play?
Who am i being that the eyes of my children aren't shining…….
If what you are saying to somebody could might be the last thing you say to him, would you still tel him so???
The real beauty in music is its ability to be interpreted in an unlimited amount of ways.
This man is a great player but I'm sorry folks he really rushed that prelude in E minor
He is ART.
brilliant
This is passion somehow put into words. Thank you..
sorry to interrupt myself whilst watching – The musical gentleman refers to "Mandela's vision for the people of South Africa". The musical gentleman should return to South Africa to see what a absolute rabid shithole the criminal government has created of SA. We are a goddam joke thanks to our government. Mandela, along with his dreams, are turning in his grave as his people starve to death. Literally. And on with the lovely show…
Magnifico e molto…allegro!!!…grazie
Fantastic.
Simply fantastic
People always remember how you make them FEEL… This is wonderful. Benjamin is a bright white light that put a huge smile on me inside and outside. Heartwarming… Truly gifted… 🌝
Dramatic BS ending. Allied Military Police HQ. Vienna 1.10.1948 MEMO NR: 31/48
Faith in humanity "Restored"!!!
Wonderful.
Amazing 💗
exactly
what's the piece at 8:54?
Fryderyk Chopin
24 Préludes, Op. 28 : No. 4, Largo in E Minor
You're welcome 🙏
Thank you sir. God bless you.
an another shining eyes, thank you!
Brilliant!
WOW! My eyes are shining so, I can barely see to type "thank you for this!" Super excellent.
Very good.
I have something in my eye.
Shinning Eyes
Losing my dog sounded just like that
jews will jew
Bravo!!!
Song at 8:50 please???
I love classical music so much, I stopped the video halfway through to put some on. I am flying.
If classical composers comeback now and see what music have become… They will laugh. Pretty impossible is to reach their level. Their masterpieces have tue full spectrum of the human emotions in one piece. Today are just specific one. Music should be a journey to the unnoticeable.
best tedtalk i have ever watched
SO ASTONISHINGLY BEAUTIFUL THIS WHOLE TALK…
it's hard to appreciate classical music without any music training, but it is not impossible. the more you listen to different pieces, the more it grows on you.
as someone who discovered classical music in my late 20s I have the following advice:
– don't listen to random compilations – try to find individual pieces and get to know them well;
– get to know the composer. there are some great documentaries around (they will also teach you some basic music theory, which really enhances understanding of the pieces)
– once you find the period or composer you enjoy most, try listening to the same piece by different performers. find someone you really like – then follow them to the pieces you've never heard before. try seeing them live!
– go to as many concerts as possible. if you live in a small town like I do, use trips to bigger towns as opportunities to see some good concerts (I once went to Budapest just to see the recital of my favourite pianist)
I am a guy who hated classical music. But I stumbled upon this video and it changed my perspective. I can now admire the beauty of classical music.
A random thought just occurred to me about the power of presentation. When I was young, a movie came out called Superman with Christopher Reeve. The special effects were groundbreaking for the time. The tag line they used was, "It will make you believe a man can fly." And damned if it didn't. That's why it was so popular. … Benjamin Zander just made me believe that I can be a better person.
Why the Dr King comment? A cheap giggle?
19:58 "I will never say anything that wouldn't stand up to be the last thing I ever said" (more or less), – Aushwitz survivor who scolded her little brother on the train to the camps, she never saw him again. He died. We are running out of time to learn the lessons of the survivors, just as there are now no living survivors of WW1. Thank you Benjamin, the light flows through history through you.
I’ve seen this talk a few times. My eyes keep shining every single time. My favorite ted talk.
I keep coming back here. I think I will for the rest of my life.
Authenticity and Passion = Ben Zander
I listened to that piece and my heart broke all over again. I've always been a lover of classical music, but he has opened my eyes to a new way of hearing and playing.
Absolutely fantastic, It really can be profound, when someone understands their chosen profession. Like this Guy seemed too. Thank you
Name of song that is played on 8:49 ???
(guest)
"….if you have a deceptive cadence,
be sure to raise your eyebrows…."
L.O.L.
Love it.
😊💞😊
He looks like an incarnation of the Doctor
"everybody has a fantastic ear…nobody is tone deaf" Helen Keller disagrees.
His breathing is only noticable when he plays triggered
Who are we being, as a society, that over 1,000 people would downvote this video? 😢
Absolutely touching, cried over the last story. Great speaker!!
So Inspiring ….
A beautiful spirit, and a wonderful communicator.
Brilliant! I'm reading the Art of Possibility. And this talk contains a peek at what's in his marvelous book.
Thanks YouTube for bringing this back up after 11 years, still a magnificent and inspiring talk.
can someone please tell me the music at 8:50 to 8:55 ?
Is there such a thing as musical philosophy?
What an absolutely wonderful method of teaching music appreciation. Excellent stuff!!
I think you should look at Chooka ,No lessons..
THANKYOU
🤲🏻💜🤲🏻
I listened up to Mandela! He and his wife winney were nothing but murderers! He should have died in prison not be held as hero! The wool over everyone’s eyes because someone told you he was a great man, so it must be true. Research it for yourself!
thx
my husband lol… enough for me
Victor Borge he isn't.
bruh this is when yt was a baby
Beautiful beautiful beautiful idea.
what's the name of the song he plays?