Improvising on piano, aged 14

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.

(Music)

(Music ends)

(Applause)

Thank you!

(Applause continues)

Thank you very much.

Like the speaker before me --
I am a TED virgin, I guess.

I'm also the first time here, and ...

(Laughter)

I don't know what to say!

(Applause)

I'm really happy
that Mr. Anderson invited me.

I'm really grateful that I get a chance
to play for everyone.

And the song that I just played
was by Josef Hofmann.

It's called "Kaleidoscope."

And Hofmann is a Polish pianist
and composer of the late 19th century,

and he's widely considered
one of the greatest pianists of all time.

I have another piece
that I'd like to play for you.

It's called "Abegg Variations,"
by Robert Schumann,

a German 19th-century composer.

The name "Abegg" is actually A-B-E-G-G,

and that's the main theme in the melody.

(Plays the notes A, B, E, G and G)

That comes from the last name
of one of Schumann's female friends.

(Laughter)

But he wrote that for his wife.

(Laughter)

So actually, if you listen carefully,

there are supposed to be
five variations on this Abegg theme.

It's written around 1834,

so even though it's old,
I hope you'll like it.

(Music)

(Music ends)

(Applause)

Now comes the part that I hate.

Well, because Mr. Anderson told me

that this session is called
"Sync and Flow,"

I was wondering, "What do I know
that these geniuses don't?"

(Laughter)

So, I'll talk about musical composition,

even though I don't know where to start.

How do I compose?

I think Yamaha does a really good job
of teaching us how to compose.

What I do first is, I make a lot
of little musical ideas

you can just improvise
here at the piano --

and I choose one of those
to become my main theme, my main melody,

like the Abegg that you just heard.

And once I choose my main theme,
I have to decide:

Out of all the styles in music,
what kind of style do I want?

And this year,
I composed a Romantic style.

So for inspiration,
I listened to Liszt and Tchaikovsky

and all the great Romantic composers.

Next, I make the structure
of the entire piece with my teachers.

They help me plan out the whole piece.

And then the hard part
is filling it in with musical ideas,

because then you have to think.

(Laughter)

And then, when the piece
takes somewhat of a solified form --

solidified, excuse me -- solidified form,

you're supposed to actually
polish the piece, polish the details,

and then polish the overall
performance of the composition.

And another thing
that I enjoy doing is drawing.

Drawing, because I like to draw,
you know, Japanese anime art.

I think that's a craze
among teens right now.

And once I realized it,

there's a parallel between creating
music and creating art,

because for your motive, or your
little initial idea for your drawing,

it's your character -- you want
to decide who you want to draw,

or if you want to draw
an original character.

And then you want to decide:
How are you going to draw the character?

Like, am I going to use one page?
Am I going to draw it on the computer?

Am I going to use a two-page spread
like a comic book?

For a more grandiose effect, I guess.

And then you have to do
the initial sketch of the character,

which is like your structure of a piece,

and then you add pen and pencil,
and whatever details that you need --

that's polishing the drawing.

And another thing that both of these
have in common is your state of mind,

because I know I'm one of those teenagers
that are really easily distracted.

So if I'm trying to do homework
and I don't feel like it,

I'll try to draw or,
you know, waste my time.

And then what happens is,
sometimes I absolutely can't draw

or I can't compose at all,

and then it's like
there's too much on your mind.

You can't focus
on what you're supposed to do.

And sometimes, if you manage to use
your time wisely and work on it,

you'll get something out of it,
but it doesn't come naturally.

What happens is,
if something magical happens,

if something natural happens to you,

you're able to produce
all this beautiful stuff instantly,

and then that's what I consider "flow,"

because that's when everything clicks
and you're able to do anything.

You feel like you're on top of your game
and you can do anything you want.

I'm not going to play
my own composition today because,

although I did finish it,
it's way too long.

Instead, I'd like to try something
called "improvisation."

I have here seven note cards,

one with each note
of the musical alphabet.

And I'd like someone to come up here
and choose five --

anyone to come up here and choose five --

and then I can make it
into some sort of melody,

and I'll improvise it.

Wow. A volunteer, yay!

(Laughter)

(Applause)

Jennifer Lin: Nice to meet you.

Goldie Hawn: Thank you. Choose five?

JL: Yes, five cards. Any five cards.

GH: OK, one.
JL: OK.

GH: Two.
JL: Yes.

GH: Three.

GH: Oh, D and F -- too familiar.

(Laughter)

JL: One more.
GH: OK. "E" for "effort."

JL: Would you mind reading them out
in the order that you chose them?

GH: OK -- C, G, B, A and E.

JL: Thank you very much!

GH: You're welcome. And what about these?

JL: I won't use them. Thank you!

(Applause)

Now, she chose C, G, B, A, E.

I'm going to try to put that
in some sort of order.

(Plays notes)

OK, that's nice.

So, I'm going to have a moment to think,

and I'll try to make something out of it.

(Plays the five notes)

(Music)

(Music ends)

(Applause)

The next song, or the encore
that I'm going to play

is called "Bumble Boogie," by Jack Fina.

(Applause)

(Music)

(Music ends)

(Applause)