Improvising on piano, aged 14
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0:02 - 0:08(Music)
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4:13 - 4:16(Music ends)
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4:16 - 4:22(Applause)
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4:34 - 4:35Thank you!
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4:35 - 4:39(Applause continues)
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4:40 - 4:41Thank you very much.
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4:43 - 4:47Like the speaker before me --
I am a TED virgin, I guess. -
4:47 - 4:50I'm also the first time here, and ...
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4:50 - 4:51(Laughter)
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4:51 - 4:53I don't know what to say!
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4:53 - 4:56(Applause)
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4:56 - 4:59I'm really happy
that Mr. Anderson invited me. -
4:59 - 5:02I'm really grateful that I get a chance
to play for everyone. -
5:03 - 5:06And the song that I just played
was by Josef Hofmann. -
5:06 - 5:08It's called "Kaleidoscope."
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5:08 - 5:14And Hofmann is a Polish pianist
and composer of the late 19th century, -
5:14 - 5:18and he's widely considered
one of the greatest pianists of all time. -
5:18 - 5:21I have another piece
that I'd like to play for you. -
5:21 - 5:25It's called "Abegg Variations,"
by Robert Schumann, -
5:25 - 5:28a German 19th-century composer.
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5:29 - 5:33The name "Abegg" is actually A-B-E-G-G,
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5:33 - 5:35and that's the main theme in the melody.
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5:35 - 5:38(Plays the notes A, B, E, G and G)
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5:39 - 5:43That comes from the last name
of one of Schumann's female friends. -
5:44 - 5:45(Laughter)
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5:45 - 5:48But he wrote that for his wife.
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5:48 - 5:51(Laughter)
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5:52 - 5:54So actually, if you listen carefully,
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5:54 - 5:57there are supposed to be
five variations on this Abegg theme. -
5:57 - 6:00It's written around 1834,
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6:00 - 6:02so even though it's old,
I hope you'll like it. -
6:06 - 6:11(Music)
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12:55 - 12:57(Music ends)
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12:58 - 13:05(Applause)
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13:06 - 13:07Now comes the part that I hate.
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13:11 - 13:13Well, because Mr. Anderson told me
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13:13 - 13:16that this session is called
"Sync and Flow," -
13:16 - 13:19I was wondering, "What do I know
that these geniuses don't?" -
13:19 - 13:20(Laughter)
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13:20 - 13:22So, I'll talk about musical composition,
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13:22 - 13:24even though I don't know where to start.
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13:26 - 13:27How do I compose?
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13:28 - 13:31I think Yamaha does a really good job
of teaching us how to compose. -
13:31 - 13:35What I do first is, I make a lot
of little musical ideas -
13:35 - 13:37you can just improvise
here at the piano -- -
13:37 - 13:41and I choose one of those
to become my main theme, my main melody, -
13:41 - 13:43like the Abegg that you just heard.
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13:43 - 13:47And once I choose my main theme,
I have to decide: -
13:47 - 13:50Out of all the styles in music,
what kind of style do I want? -
13:51 - 13:53And this year,
I composed a Romantic style. -
13:54 - 13:57So for inspiration,
I listened to Liszt and Tchaikovsky -
13:57 - 13:59and all the great Romantic composers.
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14:00 - 14:05Next, I make the structure
of the entire piece with my teachers. -
14:05 - 14:07They help me plan out the whole piece.
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14:07 - 14:11And then the hard part
is filling it in with musical ideas, -
14:11 - 14:13because then you have to think.
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14:13 - 14:15(Laughter)
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14:15 - 14:18And then, when the piece
takes somewhat of a solified form -- -
14:18 - 14:21solidified, excuse me -- solidified form,
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14:21 - 14:26you're supposed to actually
polish the piece, polish the details, -
14:26 - 14:29and then polish the overall
performance of the composition. -
14:30 - 14:33And another thing
that I enjoy doing is drawing. -
14:33 - 14:36Drawing, because I like to draw,
you know, Japanese anime art. -
14:36 - 14:39I think that's a craze
among teens right now. -
14:39 - 14:41And once I realized it,
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14:41 - 14:45there's a parallel between creating
music and creating art, -
14:45 - 14:50because for your motif, or your
little initial idea for your drawing, -
14:50 - 14:53it's your character -- you want
to decide who you want to draw, -
14:53 - 14:55or if you want to draw
an original character. -
14:55 - 14:59And then you want to decide:
How are you going to draw the character? -
14:59 - 15:02Like, am I going to use one page?
Am I going to draw it on the computer? -
15:02 - 15:06Am I going to use a two-page spread
like a comic book? -
15:06 - 15:08For a more grandiose effect, I guess.
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15:08 - 15:11And then you have to do
the initial sketch of the character, -
15:11 - 15:13which is like your structure of a piece,
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15:13 - 15:17and then you add pen and pencil,
and whatever details that you need -- -
15:17 - 15:19that's polishing the drawing.
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15:19 - 15:23And another thing that both of these
have in common is your state of mind, -
15:23 - 15:28because I know I'm one of those teenagers
that are really easily distracted. -
15:28 - 15:33So if I'm trying to do homework
and I don't feel like it, -
15:33 - 15:36I'll try to draw or,
you know, waste my time. -
15:36 - 15:39And then what happens is,
sometimes I absolutely can't draw -
15:39 - 15:41or I can't compose at all,
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15:41 - 15:43and then it's like
there's too much on your mind. -
15:43 - 15:45You can't focus
on what you're supposed to do. -
15:46 - 15:51And sometimes, if you manage to use
your time wisely and work on it, -
15:51 - 15:54you'll get something out of it,
but it doesn't come naturally. -
15:54 - 15:57What happens is,
if something magical happens, -
15:57 - 16:00if something natural happens to you,
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16:00 - 16:03you're able to produce
all this beautiful stuff instantly, -
16:03 - 16:05and then that's what I consider "flow,"
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16:05 - 16:09because that's when everything clicks
and you're able to do anything. -
16:09 - 16:13You feel like you're on top of your game
and you can do anything you want. -
16:13 - 16:16I'm not going to play
my own composition today because, -
16:16 - 16:19although I did finish it,
it's way too long. -
16:20 - 16:23Instead, I'd like to try something
called "improvisation." -
16:23 - 16:25I have here seven note cards,
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16:26 - 16:29one with each note
of the musical alphabet. -
16:29 - 16:33And I'd like someone to come up here
and choose five -- -
16:33 - 16:35anyone to come up here and choose five --
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16:35 - 16:37and then I can make it
into some sort of melody, -
16:37 - 16:39and I'll improvise it.
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16:40 - 16:43Wow. A volunteer, yay!
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16:43 - 16:44(Laughter)
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16:44 - 16:47(Applause)
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16:48 - 16:49Jennifer Lin: Nice to meet you.
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16:50 - 16:53Goldie Hawn: Thank you. Choose five?
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16:53 - 16:55JL: Yes, five cards. Any five cards.
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16:55 - 16:56GH: OK, one.
JL: OK. -
16:57 - 16:59GH: Two.
JL: Yes. -
17:00 - 17:01GH: Three.
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17:03 - 17:06GH: Oh, D and F -- too familiar.
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17:06 - 17:10(Laughter)
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17:10 - 17:14JL: One more.
GH: OK. "E" for "effort." -
17:14 - 17:17JL: Would you mind reading them out
in the order that you chose them? -
17:17 - 17:23GH: OK -- C, G, B, A and E.
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17:23 - 17:24JL: Thank you very much!
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17:24 - 17:26GH: You're welcome. And what about these?
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17:26 - 17:29JL: I won't use them. Thank you!
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17:30 - 17:36(Applause)
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17:37 - 17:41Now, she chose C, G, B, A, E.
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17:41 - 17:43I'm going to try to put that
in some sort of order. -
17:43 - 17:47(Plays notes)
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17:49 - 17:50OK, that's nice.
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17:51 - 17:53So, I'm going to have a moment to think,
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17:53 - 17:55and I'll try to make something out of it.
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18:00 - 18:03(Plays the five notes)
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18:11 - 18:18(Music)
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21:27 - 21:29(Music ends)
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21:29 - 21:36(Applause)
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21:36 - 21:39The next song, or the encore
that I'm going to play -
21:39 - 21:42is called "Bumble Boogie," by Jack Fina.
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21:43 - 21:44(Applause)
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21:48 - 21:53(Music)
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23:40 - 23:42(Music ends)
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23:42 - 23:48(Applause)
- Title:
- Improvising on piano, aged 14
- Speaker:
- Jennifer Lin
- Description:
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Pianist and composer Jennifer Lin gives a magical performance, talks about the process of creativity and improvises a moving solo piece based on a random sequence of notes.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 23:52
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Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Improvising on piano, aged 14 | |
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Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Improvising on piano, aged 14 | |
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Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Improvising on piano, aged 14 | |
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TED edited English subtitles for Improvising on piano, aged 14 | |
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TED added a translation |
Krystian Aparta
The English transcript was updated on 10/6/2015.