Watch Bobby McFerrin make his audience sing a complex pentatonic scale without even trying

22 August 2016, 15:20 | Updated: 6 January 2017, 14:45

Singer, songwriter and all-round clever person Bobby McFerrin is renowned for his ability to use the audience in his shows.

But when he was on a rather academic-looking panel discussion entitled Notes & Neurons, he used a very simple and very clever demonstration to display the power of ‘expectation’.

By giving the crowd a starting note, McFerrin is able to manipulate them into giving him a pentatonic backing over which he improvises new melodies. Sound complex? It’s not. Have a look: