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
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04:08
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07:41
(Music)
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10:53
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11:21
Chris Anderson: You guys were amazing.
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Chris Anderson : Vous êtes extraordinaires.
11:23
That's amazing.
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C’est incroyable!
11:25
(Applause)
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11:28
You just don't hear that every day.
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On n’entend pas ça tous les jours.
11:30
(Laughter)
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(Rires)
11:32
Usman, the official story is that
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Usman, selon l’histoire officielle,
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you learned to play the guitar
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vous avez appris à jouer la guitare
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by watching Jimmy Page on YouTube.
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en regardant Jimmy Page sur YouTube.
11:38
Usman Riaz: Yes, that was the first one. And then I --
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Usman Riaz : Oui, il a été le premier et puis je...
11:41
That was the first thing I learned,
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C’est ce que j’ai appris en premier
11:43
and then I started progressing to other things.
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et après, je suis allé progressivement vers d’autres choses,
11:46
And I started watching Kaki King a lot,
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et j’ai commencé à beaucoup regarder Kaki King
11:49
and she would always cite Preston Reed as a big influence,
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et elle citait toujours Preston Reed comme étant d’une grande influence,
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so then I started watching his videos,
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alors, j’ai commencé à regarder ses vidéos,
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and it's very surreal right now to be --
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et maintenant c’est très surréaliste d’être ici...
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(Laughter)
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12:05
CA: Was that piece just now,
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CA : Le morceau que vous venez de jouer,
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that was one of his songs that you learned, or how did that happen?
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c’était l’une de ses chansons que vous avez apprise? ou comment ça s'est passé?
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UR: I'd never learned it before,
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UR : Je ne l’avais jamais apprise avant,
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but he told me that we would be playing that on stage,
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mais il m’a dit que nous le jouerions sur scène,
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so I was familiar with it, so that's why I had so much more fun learning it.
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donc je la connaissais bien, c’est pourquoi j’ai eu tellement plus de plaisir à l’apprendre.
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And it finally happened, so ...
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Et c’est enfin arrivé, donc...
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(Laughter)
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CA: Preston, from your point of view,
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CA : Preston, de votre point de vue,
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I mean, you invented this like 20 years ago, right?
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je veux dire, vous avez inventé ça il y a 20 ans, non?
12:26
How does it feel to see someone like this
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Qu’est-ce que ça fait de voir quelqu’un comme lui
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come along taking your art and doing so much with it?
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venir prendre votre art et en faire tant de choses?
12:33
Preston Reed: It's mind-blowing,
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Preston Reed : C’est sensationnel
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and I feel really proud, really honored.
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et j’en sui vraiment fier, vraiment honoré.
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And he's a wonderful musician, so it's cool.
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Et il est un merveilleux musicien, donc c’est cool.
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(Laughter)
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CA: I guess, I don't think there is like a one-minute other piece you guys can do?
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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?
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Vous pouvez? Une improvisation? Vous avez autre chose?
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PR: We haven't prepared anything.
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PR : Nous n’avons rien préparé.
12:58
CA: There isn't. I'll tell you what.
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CA : Il n’y a rien. Mais bon,
13:02
If you have another 30 or 40 seconds,
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si vous avez encore 30 ou 40 secondes,
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and you have another 30 or 40 seconds,
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et vous aussi,
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and we just see that, I just think --
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et nous le voyons déjà, je pense que...
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I can feel it. We want to hear a little more.
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Je le sens. Nous voulons en entendre un peu plus.
13:12
And if it goes horribly wrong, no worries.
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Et si ça se passe vraiment mal, ne vous inquiétez pas.
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(Laughter)
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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