Switched on Pop Jacob Collier can make anyone sing
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Mar 17, 2026 
Sam Sanders, journalist and improvisational interviewer, and Jacob Collier, multi-instrumentalist and harmony wizard, take the stage. They talk live listening habits, how streaming changed curation, music as mood medicine and play. Jacob demonstrates harmony, conducts audience choirs, discusses teaching with empathy, melodic exercises, AI in music, and ways to recover musical confidence.
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Harmony Controls Emotional Expectation
- Harmony is about tension and release and maps to human senses like high/low and bright/dark.
- Jacob demonstrates by changing harmonic contexts under a fixed pitch (F) to show how expectation shapes emotional color.
Jacob's Recommendation Sandbox Percussion
- Jacob recently listened to Sandbox Percussion and raved about their polyrhythmic, emotional playing.
- He introduced them to the crowd as a recent musical tickle and later recommended their album Pillars.
Curate Playlists By Feeling Not Genre
- Curate listening playlists by mood, direction, or texture to diagnose and shape your taste as a creator.
- Jacob keeps public playlists like 'optimum' and themed lists (upwards, downwards, emoji textures) to guide feeling and creation.