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Improvising on piano, aged 14

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

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.

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Video Language:
English
Team:
closed TED
Project:
TEDTalks
Duration:
23:52
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Improvising on piano, aged 14
Krystian Aparta commented on English subtitles for Improvising on piano, aged 14
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Improvising on piano, aged 14
Krystian Aparta edited English subtitles for Improvising on piano, aged 14
TED edited English subtitles for Improvising on piano, aged 14
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