ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Preston Reed - Revolutionary Guitarist
Preston Reed’s hands have an otherworldly coordination. The fingers, nails, thumbs, and palms of both left and right dance, pluck, strum, and slap his guitar, which bursts with a full sound.

Why you should listen

Most guitarists the world over play their instruments in essentially the same way: the left hand holds the neck and applies pressure to each string to change notes, while the right hand plays the melody. Not so with Preston Reed.

In the 1980s, Reed began playing his instrument in new ways, sometimes twisting his left hand to pick out a melody while the right hand strummed accompaniment or tapping the guitar’s body like a drum. A new playing style was born, with deep chords, complex percussion, and weightless melodies. And he's inspired new generations of guitarists to further innovate on the genre he pioneered.

More profile about the speaker
Preston Reed | Speaker | TED.com
Usman Riaz - Artist, composer
TED Senior Fellow Usman Riaz is an artist and composer.

Why you should listen

Usman Riaz is the founder of Mano Animation Studios -- Pakistans first hand-drawn animation studio. Their first project, The Glassworker (شیشہ گر), was created by a team of creatives from Pakistan, Malaysia, Canada, South Africa, the US and the UK. 

More profile about the speaker
Usman Riaz | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2012

Usman Riaz + Preston Reed: A young guitarist meets his hero

Usman Riaz et Preston Reed : Un jeune guitariste rencontre son héros

Filmed:
5,260,414 views

À 21 ans, Usman Riaz est un génie de la guitare percussive, un style qu'il a appris en regardant ses héros sur YouTube. Ce TED fellow joue sur la scène de TEDGlobal 2012, suivi d'un bouleversant solo du maître de la guitare percussive, Preston Reed. Voyez ces deux guitaristes se lancer dans une improvisation spontanée.
- Revolutionary Guitarist
Preston Reed’s hands have an otherworldly coordination. The fingers, nails, thumbs, and palms of both left and right dance, pluck, strum, and slap his guitar, which bursts with a full sound. Full bio - Artist, composer
TED Senior Fellow Usman Riaz is an artist and composer. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:17
(Music)
0
1237
196647
(Musique)
03:33
(Applause)
1
197884
23658
(Applaudissements)
03:57
(Applause)
2
221542
11556
(Applaudissements)
04:08
(Music)
3
233098
188146
(Musique)
07:17
(Applause)
4
421244
21143
(Applaudissements)
07:41
(Music)
5
445787
191868
(Musique)
10:53
(Applause)
6
637655
28298
(Applaudissements)
11:21
Chris Anderson: You guys were amazing.
7
665953
1567
Chris Anderson : Vous êtes extraordinaires.
11:23
That's amazing.
8
667520
1752
C’est incroyable!
11:25
(Applause)
9
669272
3538
(Applaudissements)
11:28
You just don't hear that every day.
10
672810
1630
On n’entend pas ça tous les jours.
11:30
(Laughter)
11
674440
1951
(Rires)
11:32
Usman, the official story is that
12
676391
2401
Usman, selon l’histoire officielle,
11:34
you learned to play the guitar
13
678792
1480
vous avez appris à jouer la guitare
11:36
by watching Jimmy Page on YouTube.
14
680272
1983
en regardant Jimmy Page sur YouTube.
11:38
Usman Riaz: Yes, that was the first one. And then I --
15
682255
3172
Usman Riaz : Oui, il a été le premier et puis je...
11:41
That was the first thing I learned,
16
685427
2296
C’est ce que j’ai appris en premier
11:43
and then I started progressing to other things.
17
687723
2631
et après, je suis allé progressivement vers d’autres choses,
11:46
And I started watching Kaki King a lot,
18
690354
3039
et j’ai commencé à beaucoup regarder Kaki King
11:49
and she would always cite Preston Reed as a big influence,
19
693393
3753
et elle citait toujours Preston Reed comme étant d’une grande influence,
11:53
so then I started watching his videos,
20
697146
2144
alors, j’ai commencé à regarder ses vidéos,
11:55
and it's very surreal right now to be --
21
699290
3244
et maintenant c’est très surréaliste d’être ici...
11:58
(Laughter)
22
702534
2161
(Rires)
12:00
(Applause)
23
704695
4700
(Applaudissements)
12:05
CA: Was that piece just now,
24
709395
1772
CA : Le morceau que vous venez de jouer,
12:07
that was one of his songs that you learned, or how did that happen?
25
711167
3190
c’était l’une de ses chansons que vous avez apprise? ou comment ça s'est passé?
12:10
UR: I'd never learned it before,
26
714357
1096
UR : Je ne l’avais jamais apprise avant,
12:11
but he told me that we would be playing that on stage,
27
715453
3017
mais il m’a dit que nous le jouerions sur scène,
12:14
so I was familiar with it, so that's why I had so much more fun learning it.
28
718470
4391
donc je la connaissais bien, c’est pourquoi j’ai eu tellement plus de plaisir à l’apprendre.
12:18
And it finally happened, so ...
29
722861
2688
Et c’est enfin arrivé, donc...
12:21
(Laughter)
30
725549
1452
(Rires)
12:22
CA: Preston, from your point of view,
31
727001
1452
CA : Preston, de votre point de vue,
12:24
I mean, you invented this like 20 years ago, right?
32
728453
1864
je veux dire, vous avez inventé ça il y a 20 ans, non?
12:26
How does it feel to see someone like this
33
730317
2848
Qu’est-ce que ça fait de voir quelqu’un comme lui
12:29
come along taking your art and doing so much with it?
34
733165
4700
venir prendre votre art et en faire tant de choses?
12:33
Preston Reed: It's mind-blowing,
35
737865
2349
Preston Reed : C’est sensationnel
12:36
and I feel really proud, really honored.
36
740214
3295
et j’en sui vraiment fier, vraiment honoré.
12:39
And he's a wonderful musician, so it's cool.
37
743509
5504
Et il est un merveilleux musicien, donc c’est cool.
12:44
(Laughter)
38
749013
2920
(Rires)
12:47
CA: I guess, I don't think there is like a one-minute other piece you guys can do?
39
751933
5312
CA : Je suppose, je ne pense pas que vous ayez un autre extrait qui fasse une minute et que vous pourriez nous jouer?
12:53
Can you? Do you jam? Do you have anything else?
40
757245
2432
Vous pouvez? Une improvisation? Vous avez autre chose?
12:55
PR: We haven't prepared anything.
41
759677
2782
PR : Nous n’avons rien préparé.
12:58
CA: There isn't. I'll tell you what.
42
762459
4314
CA : Il n’y a rien. Mais bon,
13:02
If you have another 30 or 40 seconds,
43
766773
3561
si vous avez encore 30 ou 40 secondes,
13:06
and you have another 30 or 40 seconds,
44
770334
1423
et vous aussi,
13:07
and we just see that, I just think --
45
771757
1528
et nous le voyons déjà, je pense que...
13:09
I can feel it. We want to hear a little more.
46
773285
2816
Je le sens. Nous voulons en entendre un peu plus.
13:12
And if it goes horribly wrong, no worries.
47
776101
1912
Et si ça se passe vraiment mal, ne vous inquiétez pas.
13:13
(Applause)
48
778013
3432
(Applaudissements)
13:17
(Laughter)
49
781445
8000
(Rires)
13:31
(Music)
50
795329
166531
(Musique)
16:17
(Applause)
51
961860
14697
(Applaudissements)

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Preston Reed - Revolutionary Guitarist
Preston Reed’s hands have an otherworldly coordination. The fingers, nails, thumbs, and palms of both left and right dance, pluck, strum, and slap his guitar, which bursts with a full sound.

Why you should listen

Most guitarists the world over play their instruments in essentially the same way: the left hand holds the neck and applies pressure to each string to change notes, while the right hand plays the melody. Not so with Preston Reed.

In the 1980s, Reed began playing his instrument in new ways, sometimes twisting his left hand to pick out a melody while the right hand strummed accompaniment or tapping the guitar’s body like a drum. A new playing style was born, with deep chords, complex percussion, and weightless melodies. And he's inspired new generations of guitarists to further innovate on the genre he pioneered.

More profile about the speaker
Preston Reed | Speaker | TED.com
Usman Riaz - Artist, composer
TED Senior Fellow Usman Riaz is an artist and composer.

Why you should listen

Usman Riaz is the founder of Mano Animation Studios -- Pakistans first hand-drawn animation studio. Their first project, The Glassworker (شیشہ گر), was created by a team of creatives from Pakistan, Malaysia, Canada, South Africa, the US and the UK. 

More profile about the speaker
Usman Riaz | Speaker | TED.com

Data provided by TED.

This site was created in May 2015 and the last update was on January 12, 2020. It will no longer be updated.

We are currently creating a new site called "eng.lish.video" and would be grateful if you could access it.

If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to write comments in your language on the contact form.

Privacy Policy

Developer's Blog

Buy Me A Coffee