Bobby McFerrin: vocal technique at its best

Bobby McFerrin stole the show from all the other music acts in town in February, 2008. The son of an opera singer and an orchestra conductor, and a trained pianist himself, McFerrin performs all pieces himself: his musical instrument is his voice, unlike conventional singers who are trained to shape melody with words.

The human voice was the first musical instrument ever played, when people started imitating animal calls and the sounds of nature such as rain and wind. It was later that carved flutes and whistles, the first melodic instruments, came into being. Strings followed, and melodic percussion instruments like marimbas and keyboards came last.

McFerrin has learned our ancestors’ way of making music vocally and has followed music’s evolutionary trail all the way to modernity. His work spans different historic periods, geographies, and vocal techniques, including Baroque breathing like that of a classical singer performing Handel or Bach; African American funk and jazz scat; blues and Caribbean folk phrasing; and Asian and African religious chants.

McFerrin’s recordings have sold twenty million copies, and he has ten Grammy awards to his credit. He has performed with jazz greats like pianists Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock; trumpeter Wynton Marsalis; and singers The Manhattan Transfer, as well as classical cellist Yo-Yo Ma; actor Robin Williams; and many others. McFerrin has also conducted orchestras in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and London.

His most famous piece, the upbeat “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”, was a number one hit on the pop charts in 1988, and won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammys.

Bobby McFerrin performed at Bellas Artes in Mexico City on February 14, 2008. The author is a soprano, jazz and samba singer, linguist, and symphonic castanets player.