An 11-year-old prodigy performs old-school jazz | Joey Alexander
Raised listening to his dad's old records, Joey Alexander plays a brand of sharp, modern piano jazz that you likely wouldn't expect to hear...
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TEDTalks Music
Some of the world's greatest musicians and researchers showcase the power and science of music onstage at the TED conference, TEDx events and partner events around the world. You can also do...
Episodes
20 of 43 episodes
Hidden music rituals around the world | Vincent Moon and Naná Vasconcelos
Vincent Moon travels the world with a backpack and a camera, filming astonishing music and ritual the world rarely sees -- from a powerful S...
Why I take the piano on the road ... and in the air | Daria van den Bercken
Pianist Daria van den Bercken fell in love with the baroque keyboard music of George Frideric Handel. Now, she aims to ignite this passion i...
The DIY orchestra of the future | Ge Wang
Ge Wang makes computer music, but it isn't all about coded bleeps and blips. With the Stanford Laptop Orchestra, he creates new instruments...
How I started writing songs again | Sting
Sting's early life was dominated by a shipyard—and he dreamed of nothing more than escaping the industrial drudgery. But after a nasty bout...
How sampling transformed music | Mark Ronson
Sampling isn't about "hijacking nostalgia wholesale," says Mark Ronson. It's about inserting yourself into the narrative of a song while als...
To hear this music you have to be there. Literally | Ryan Holladay
In this lovely talk, TED Fellow Ryan Holladay shares his experiment with "location-aware music." This programming and musical feat involves...
In the key of genius | Derek Paravicini and Adam Ockelford
Born three and a half months prematurely, Derek Paravicini is blind and has severe autism. But with perfect pitch, innate talent and a lot o...
The polyphonic me | Beardyman
Frustrated by not being able to sing two notes at the same time, musical inventor Beardyman built a machine to allow him to create loops and...
The violin, and my dark night of the soul | Ji-Hae Park
In her quest to become a world-famous violinist, Ji-Hae Park fell into a severe depression. Only music was able to lift her out again -- sho...
Virtual Choir Live | Eric Whitacre
Composer and conductor Eric Whitacre has inspired millions by bringing together "virtual choirs," singers from many countries spliced togeth...
The art of asking | Amanda Palmer
Don't make people pay for music, says Amanda Palmer: Let them. In a passionate talk that begins in her days as a street performer (drop a do...
Dance, tiny robots! | Bruno Maisonnier
There's a place in France where the robots do a dance. And that place is TEDxConcorde, where Bruno Maisonnier of Aldebaran Robotics choreogr...
Teen wonders play bluegrass | Sleepy Man Banjo Boys
Brothers Jonny, Robbie and Tommy Mizzone are The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys, a trio of virtuoso bluegrass musicians who play with dazzling vivaci...
The mad scientist of music | Mark Applebaum
Mark Applebaum writes music that breaks the rules in fantastic ways, composing a concerto for a florist and crafting a musical instrument fr...
New ways to see music (with color! and fire!) | Jared Ficklin
Designer Jared Ficklin creates wild visualizations that let us see music, using color and even fire (a first for the TED stage) to analyze h...
A young guitarist meets his hero | Usman Riaz + Preston Reed
Usman Riaz is a 21-year-old whiz at the percussive guitar, a style he learned to play by watching his heroes on YouTube. The TED Fellow play...
Dancing with light | Quixotic Fusion
Quixotic Fusion is an ensemble of artists that brings together aerial acrobatics, dance, theater, film, music and visual fx. Watch as they p...
Beats that defy boxes | Reggie Watts
Reggie Watts' beats defy boxes. Unplug your logic board and watch as he blends poetry and crosses musical genres in this larger-than-life pe...
Music and emotion through time | Michael Tilson Thomas
In this epic overview, Michael Tilson Thomas traces the development of classical music through the development of written notation, the reco...