TED Talks
TED: The birth of virtual reality as an art form | Chris Milk
Chris Milk uses innovative technologies to make personal, interactive, human stories. Accompanied by Joshua Roman on cello and McKenzie Stubbert on piano, Milk traces his relationship to music and art -- from the first moment he...
TED Talks
TED: The nit-picking glory of The New Yorker's Comma Queen | Mary Norris
Copy editing for The New Yorker is like playing shortstop for a Major League Baseball team -- every little movement gets picked over by the critics, says Mary Norris, who has played the position for more than thirty years. In that time,...
TED Talks
TED: How frustration can make us more creative | Tim Harford
Challenges and problems can derail your creative process ... or they can make you more creative than ever. In the surprising story behind the best-selling solo piano album of all time, Tim Harford may just convince you of the advantages...
TED Talks
TED: Insightful human portraits made from data | R. Luke DuBois
Artist R. Luke DuBois makes unique portraits of presidents, cities, himself and even Britney Spears using data and personality. In this talk, he shares nine projects -- from maps of the country built using information taken from millions...
TED Talks
Eddi Reader: "Kiteflyer's Hill"
Singer/songwriter Eddi Reader performs "Kiteflyer's Hill," a tender look back at a lost love. With Thomas Dolby on piano.
TED Talks
Eddi Reader: "What You've Got"
Singer/songwriter Eddi Reader performs "What You Do With What You've Got," a meditation on a very TED theme: how to use your gifts and talents to make a difference. With Thomas Dolby on piano.
TED Talks
TED: Poetry, music and identity | Jorge Drexler
One night in 2002, a friend gave Jorge Drexler the chorus to a song and challenged him to write the rest of it using a complex, poetic form known as the "Decima." In this fascinating talk, Drexler examines the blended nature of identity,...
TED Talks
TED: Can a computer write poetry? | Oscar Schwartz
If you read a poem and feel moved by it, but then find out it was actually written by a computer, would you feel differently about the experience? Would you think that the computer had expressed itself and been creative, or would you...
TED Talks
Mark Applebaum: The mad scientist of music
Mark Applebaum writes music that breaks the rules in fantastic ways, composing a concerto for a florist and crafting a musical instrument from junk and found objects. This quirky talk might just inspire you to shake up the "rules" of...
TED Talks
TED: The enchanting music of sign language | Christine Sun Kim
Artist and TED Fellow Christine Sun Kim was born deaf, and she was taught to believe that sound wasn't a part of her life, that it was a hearing person's thing. Through her art, she discovered similarities between American Sign Language...
Curated Video
Haiku Poetry
Haiku Poetry reviews the elements of a haiku and explains how to compose one.
Curated Video
Lyric Poetry
This video explores the components of a lyric poem and explains how to compose a lyric poem.
Music Matters
Composing with a 5 Note Pitch Set - Music Composition
How to write a piece of music with only five notes. This music composition lesson takes a set of five notes and considers ideas for composing or improvising a piece based on those notes. We then explore how the Australian composer, Peter...
Jack Rackam
Musical Theatre's Most Iconic Duo | The Life & Times of Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan was one of those kids that made everyone hate themselves because while his friends were learning how to carry the one, he composed an anthem about weeping for Jerusalem on the shores of Babylon and he could play all of...
Odd Quartet
Fanny Mendelssohn - A Life of Music - Music History Crash Course
Fanny Mendelssohn was a german composer and pianist of the early romantic era. Born in 1805, she was the eldest of four children of Abraham and Lea Mendelssohn. Her father was a very successful banker which meant that the family was...
Music Matters
Which Chord Comes Next? (Major Chord Progression Chart) - Music Composition
How do you know which chord you could use next? We share our very own major chord progression chart that will help get you started in figuring out which chord comes next. Musicians often wonder which is the best way to progress from one...
Music Matters
Composing from a Chord Progression - Music Composition
Composing music in different styles using the same chord progression. Have you ever experienced the frustration of finding a sequence of chords you really like the sound of but have been unsure about how to compose a melody to fit those...
Music Matters
Simple Soloing using the Pentatonic Scale - Music Performance
Never been quite sure what the pentatonic scale is? Know what the pentatonic scale is but not sure how to use it? Want to improvise or compose a really effective piece without having to know much about theory or chords? Get creative with...
Music Matters
Romantic Waltz Style - Composing for the Piano
In this episode of composing for the piano we take the Music Matters theme and present it as a Waltz in Romantic style. The Music Matters theme was originally written in 4 time. By converting it into 3 time with some rhythmic...
Odd Quartet
Time Signature Tricks
Sometimes music composers use different tricks to make music sound like it's written in a different time signature than the one on the page. In this video we look at two different techniques that help create this rhythm illusion. The...
Music Matters
Writing a Melody Over a Chord Progression - Music Composition
How to compose and develop melody over a set of chords. Are you someone who can come up with a chord progression but you’re not quite sure how to improvise or write a melody to go with it? In this music composition lesson, we take a...
Odd Quartet
New World Symphony - Antonin Dvorak
Today we are looking at Symphony No. 9 by Antonín Dvořák. Dvorak was a composer of the Romantic era and made a name for himself as a musician and composer from an early age. In 1892 he was invited to become the director of the National...
Music Matters
Adding Chords to a Melody on the Piano - Music Composition
How to find and choose chords to fit a melody. Have you ever written a melody but didn’t really know how to find chords to fit it? If you have a melody and you’re searching for chords to harmonise with it this music composition lesson...