Stefon Harris: There are no mistakes on the bandstand

160,133 views ・ 2011-12-09

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:15
Okay, I have no idea what we're going to play.
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I won't be able to tell you what it is until it happens.
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00:21
I didn't realize there was going to be a little music before.
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00:24
So I think I'm going to start with what I just heard.
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00:26
(Music)
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06:01
(Applause)
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06:10
Okay, so first of all,
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06:12
let's welcome Mr. Jamire Williams on the drums,
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06:15
(Applause)
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06:18
Burniss Travis on the bass,
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06:20
(Applause)
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and Mr. Christian Sands on the piano.
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06:25
(Applause)
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06:28
So the bandstand, as we call it,
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this is an incredible space.
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It is really a sacred space.
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And one of the things that is really sacred about it
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is that you have no opportunity to think about the future,
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or the past.
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You really are alive right here in this moment.
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There are so many decisions being made
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when you walk on the bandstand.
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We had no idea what key we were going to play in.
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In the middle, we sort of made our way
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into a song called "Titi Boom."
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But that could have happened -- maybe, maybe not.
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06:57
Everyone's listening. We're responding.
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You have no time for projected ideas.
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So the idea of a mistake:
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From the perspective of a jazz musician,
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it's easier to talk about someone else's mistake.
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So the way I perceive a mistake when I'm on the bandstand --
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first of all, we don't really see it as a mistake.
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The only mistake lies
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in that I'm not able to perceive
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what it is that someone else did.
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Every "mistake" is an opportunity in jazz.
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So it's hard to even describe
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what a funny note would be.
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So for example, if I played a color, like we were playing on a palette,
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that sounded like this ...
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(Music)
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So if Christian played a note -- like play an F.
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07:39
(Music)
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See, these are all right inside of the color palette.
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If you played an E.
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See, these all lie right inside
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of this general emotional palette that we were painting.
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07:51
If you played an F# though,
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07:53
(Dissonance)
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to most people's ears, they would perceive that as a mistake.
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08:00
So I'm going to show you, we're going to play just for a second.
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08:02
And we're going to play on this palette.
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And at some point, Christian will introduce this note.
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And we won't react to it.
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He'll introduce it for a second
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and then I'll stop, I'll talk for a second.
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We'll see what happens when we play with this palette.
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08:14
(Music)
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So someone could conceptually perceive that as a mistake.
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The only way that I would say it was a mistake
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is in that we didn't react to it.
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It was an opportunity that was missed.
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So it's unpredictable. We'll paint this palette again.
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He'll play it. I don't know how we'll react to it, but something will change.
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We'll all accept his ideas,
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or not.
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08:59
(Music)
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10:08
So you see, he played this note.
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I ended up creating a melody out of it.
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The texture changed in the drums this time.
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It got a little bit more rhythmic, a little bit more intense
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in response to how I responded to it.
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So there is no mistake.
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The only mistake is if I'm not aware,
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if each individual musician is not aware
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and accepting enough of his fellow band member
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to incorporate the idea and we don't allow for creativity.
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So jazz, this bandstand is absolutely amazing.
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It's a very purifying experience.
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And I know that I speak for all of us when I tell you that we don't take it for granted.
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We know that to be able to come on the bandstand and play music is a blessing.
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So how does this all relate to behavioral finance?
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Well we're jazz musicians,
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so stereotypically we don't have a great relationship to finance.
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(Laughter)
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Anyway, I just wanted to sort of point out the way that we handle it.
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And the other dynamic of it
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is that we don't micromanage in jazz.
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You have some people who do.
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But what that does
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is it actually limits the artistic possibilities.
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If I come up and I dictate to the band
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that I want to play like this and I want the music to go this way,
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and I just jump right in ...
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ready, just play some time.
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One, two, one, two, three, four.
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11:20
(Music)
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It's kind of chaotic because I'm bullying my ideas.
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I'm telling them, "You come with me over this way."
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If I really want the music to go there,
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the best way for me to do it is to listen.
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This is a science of listening.
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11:42
It has far more to do with what I can perceive
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than what it is that I can do.
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So if I want the music to get to a certain level of intensity,
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the first step for me is
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to be patient, to listen to what's going on
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and pull from something that's going on around me.
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When you do that, you engage and inspire the other musicians
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and they give you more, and gradually it builds.
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12:01
Watch. One, two, a one, two, three, four.
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12:04
(Music)
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Totally different experience when I'm pulling ideas.
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It's much more organic. It's much more nuanced.
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It's not about bullying my vision or anything like that.
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It's about being here in the moment,
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accepting one another
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and allowing creativity to flow.
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12:57
Thank you.
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12:59
(Applause)
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