Jacob Collier Breaks Down the WHOLE of Music for Elementary Schoolers

What's up everybody? My name is Jacob Collier and today I'm going to be your music teacher. How many of you have played musical instrument before? No. Let's see if he has what it takes to be celebrity substitute. We're here at PS182 in Harlem, New York, where Grammy Award winner Jacob Collier is going to be subbing in for the school's music teacher. And after the lesson, we're going to be surprising the school by clearing literally everything on their Amazon wish list. But more on that later. Jacob Julian, are you nervous? Are you excited? What's going through your head? have some ideas, but the feeling get is that when get in the room, those ideas are just going to go out the window and it's going to be spontaneous. What do you think the hardest part of today is going to be? When was at school, always had hard time and with long periods of time with focusing on one thing. So, wanted to make sure they have something that they can focus on at all times. The goal for me is to teach the whole of music. Over the next 2 hours, you have to teach 18 kids your entire lesson before you and the kids have to perform what they learned for their teacher. And on top of that, you're going to be getting graded by their actual teacher. So, no pressure. Terrifying stuff. All right, Jacob. Should we meet the teacher you're subbing in for? I'm so ready. This is Mr. Robinson. He has been teaching for 43 years, is jazz and rock drummer, and specializes in Mima. Mima special. Mr. Robinson, join us. Hello. Do you have any advice for Jacob? Enjoy it. And this is really good class. They're good kids. They're rowdy and active. Here is your official name tag. Okay, I'm ready. I'm ready. All right, Mr. Robinson, let me take you to the teacher camera. Come on. During the lesson, you are going to be sitting in this chair and watching Jacob perform. And you're going to be grading him on how he's doing. Give him your honest opinion. Jacob's lesson is to teach the kids how to use their bodies and voices as instruments before showing them how music inspires movement. Once they've mastered that, they'll put the pieces together in performance for their teacher, who will be grading Jacob the entire time. All right, Jacob. I'm going to bring the kids in. You ready? I'm ready. Kids, come on in. Hello. Little baby, don't say word. Papa's going to buy you mocking bird. And Dark Bird won't sing, but Papa's going to buy without Yeah. Any thoughts? Any notes? And he's wearing lot of color. You're quite colorful as well. have hands. They're behaving way better than they normally do. Mom, like saw you sing song before. Really? That's good to hear. It's fun to sing lot. That is so true. Sometimes make my own songs in my head. Really? do the same thing. Sometimes my dad my my dad takes his guitar and starts making songs for us and he's got great control. We're going to be learning about music. What do you think music is, everybody? Very cool beats. Very cool beats. That's big part of music. It's like lots of noise that maybe sometimes people love it, some people don't really love it. Yeah. How many of you have played musical instrument before? No. Every single one of you is musician. Did you know that? And how do know that? You might say, "Honey, have guitar at my house." You have guitar at your house. Do Do you know why also know that you're all musicians? Because you have heartbeat right now. Your heart is going right. You're You're like walking drum machine. You know that? think we should make some music together. How How do you feel about that? All right. say we get right into it. Jacob, take us away. Let's do complicated one. am drunk. Hey, that's very good. Very good. Very good. My body is drunk. Okay, our bodies are drums. Got it. Now, Jacob's going to show the kids how to use their voices as instruments, too. So, Asha, I'll tell you quick story. So, in the last few years, I've played about 500 concerts. And in every one of those concerts, this crocodile has sat on the piano and has watched the audience. So, we are very good friends, me and this crocodile. like the crocodile. like the crocodile, too. Who here knows this song? Roll, roll, roll your boatently down the street. would try to get them in front of me and not have my back to any of them. I'm going to sing like scary monster. That was pretty scary. Let's go this. Yeah. The first part of the lesson is complete. So, checked in with Mr. Robinson to see what things he wished he had to teach at his fullest potential. is it's very difficult to for students to have to share instruments. How many instruments do you have access to right now? not very many. Just just very few. Maybe Amazon can help with that. But first, let's see if Jacob can keep these kids focused for part two of the lesson where he instructed the kids to move their bodies however the music made them feel. Yes. How were you feeling when the music was flowing through you? Thinking of dancing strawberries. Dancing strawberries. That's what music can do with you. I'm going to play for you. Okay, beautiful. But as soon as Jacob let them touch the guitar, all they wanted to do was sing again. From the heart. love eating cherries. is the best food ever. It's so fun to eat. got my cherries. I'm taking them to the park. I'm playing, but like eating my cherries on the bench. Wow. Jacob may have missed few lesson beats there, but at least the kids were enjoying writing their own songs. Okay, everybody. So, we have song, right? Row, Row, Row Your Boat. Banger. Are you ready to go and sing song for Mr. Robinson? Okay, let's do it. just realized you have an accent. do have an accent. It's true. As Jacob got the kids ready for their performance, checked back in with their teacher one last time. It's been fun, right? think we're doing an okay job. you're doing great job. What is Jacob absolutely killing? And what's something that he can improve on little bit? Well, he's really good at keeping their attention. He's saying all the right things. He's making it fun. The one suggestion that would make would be try to get them all in front of you. You really have to see them all the time. It only takes one second for something bad to happen. Let's see if Jacob and the kids are ready for the performance. I'm not 100% sure what's going to happen. We're going to hear some screaming probably. Good luck and I'm excited to see what you do. Thank you very much. All right, Mr. Robinson, come on in. Well, we'll see how this goes. Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the Hall of Music with with the kids of PS1 182. 1 2 3 go. All right. Wow. Yeah. Yes, you did. All right. So, the performance has happened. Jacob, how did you feel about it? Felt wonderful. Mr. Robinson, thought it was fantastic. It's time for the report card. Okay. So, gave you the minus. Yeah. How could we have made it an for next time? just make sure no kids are behind you when you're talking to them. That's about all could think of. Tuli noted. minus is great grade for your first time. I'm stoked. One last thing, Mr. Robinson, before we go, as token of our gratitude, we went ahead and fulfilled everything on the school's Amazon wish list. What? Can we bring in some boxes? Not only did we get the school tons of new instruments, including an upright piano and performing arts products, but essential school supplies needed for every single classroom. This is going to add so much to our program. That's it for now. We'll see you next time. So, want to know how did Jacob do as teacher? learned that I'm drum. Powerful. Can you sing little bit of one of your songs? No pressure. Here we go. Row, row, row your boat. that was outstanding. like how you turn baby song into like rock song. thanks. Yeah, that's what music can do to you. Jacob could have been little bit better at putting us in front of him. Jacob, if you learned one thing today, do not put your back to the kids. don't think he did anything wrong. Music is the best thing in the whole galaxy. Wow, what conclusion.