TED Talks Music

How does music shape us? Digital ethnomusicologist and TED Fellow Kyra Gaunt studies how Black girls can preserve the integrity of their own voices while listening, dancing and singing to pop songs la...

"Music can unlock a frozen memory that melts into the seeds of our creativity," says musician Rosanne Cash. Reflecting on the power of memory, solitude and community, she performs "The Sunken Lands" a...

Performing two original songs, stand-up comedian, writer and musician Marcia Belsky shares comical commentary on some peculiar aspects of our culture -- from Instagram-stalking your crush to fending o...

Evoke a familiar tune in a song and get slapped with a lawsuit ... it's a tale almost as old as copyright itself. Lawyer and technologist Damien Riehl digs into why "owning" a melody is a ludicrous le...

Have you ever wondered why you like sad music? Do you find comfort or inspiration in rainy days? In this profound, poetic talk, author Susan Cain invites you to embrace the feeling of longing -- or th...

Singer-songwriter Charlie Puth dazzles in a performance of his effortlessly catchy hit "Attention" and an impeccable cover of Stevie Wonder's "You and I", live from the TED Countdown stage.

Over the last two years, a collective of composers, musicians, computer programmers, scientists and activists has set out to reinterpret Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" for a transformed world, restituti...

"Every conversation has the potential to open up and reveal all the layers and layers within it, all those rooms within rooms," says podcaster and musician Hrishikesh Hirway. In this profoundly moving...

Twerking is mainstream now ... but do you know where it came from? Superstar Lizzo traces booty shaking to a traditional West African dance and tells how Black women across generations kept the rhythm...

Music can act as a guide, says cellist Steven Sharp Nelson. It has the power to unlock the mind, tap into the heart and bring light in the darkest times. Take a deep breath as Nelson takes you on a me...