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Teacher starts singing Bieber hit but students turn it into a real show
The guy with the pen is actually one of my fave parts.
Ashleigh Schalkwyk
05.06.21

There’s a certain feeling of nostalgia when you remember the time you spent in college. It’s not uncommon for people to remember their college days as the best time of their lives. Of course, their peers and lecturers certainly contributed to some of their most memorable moments.

This teacher made sure that her students would remember this lesson for the rest of their lives.

Youtube/Sophie Fatu
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Youtube/Sophie Fatu

A music professor at West Virginia State University was trying to teach her students about something called deceptive cadence when she goes wildly off-script.

The lesson, which was recorded by one of the students, has since garnered 31 million views on YouTube… and it’s not hard to see why!

Youtube/Sophie Fatu
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Youtube/Sophie Fatu

Deceptive cadence in music, in case you didn’t know, is a musical term that describes a chord progression that gives the listener the feeling that they are left hanging… as if the song sounds unresolved.

Victoria Fatu gave the class a demonstration of how it sounds on the piano, but her students were skeptical.

Youtube/Sophie Fatu
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Youtube/Sophie Fatu

The students argued that deceptive cadence isn’t employed in any music that they know: “Ok, but this doesn’t happen in music,” one student said. “When will we ever use this?” another asks.

So the professor asked them to name a pop song – any song.

Youtube/Sophie Fatu
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Youtube/Sophie Fatu

One of the students replied: “Justin Bieber,” so Victoria played the first few chords of the song “Love Yourself” to prove her point.

Now, victoria had unwittingly started something, and it quickly began to snowball. The students wanted more. One student got up and stood next to the professor with an acoustic guitar to egg her on.

“Sing it, sing it!” they all chanted.

Youtube/Sophie Fatu
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Youtube/Sophie Fatu

Victoria refuses to give in, at first. Then, the student with the guitar begins to strum the beginning of the song… and she finally relents. She takes a deep breath and the room goes quiet.

Her incredible voice rises as she begins to sing, “For all the times that you rain on my parade…”

Youtube/Sophie Fatu
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Youtube/Sophie Fatu

And then, something incredible happens. Victoria delivers the song with all her heart. She’s really getting into it – she’s closing her eyes and swaying her hips.

And every student in the room begins to back her by beatboxing and drumming on their tables. When she hits the chorus, everyone joins in!

Youtube/Sophie Fatu
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Youtube/Sophie Fatu

The whole class is harmonizing to Victoria’s impromptu performance of the Justin Bieber song, and it sounds absolutely amazing! Victoria is one awesome teacher, and her lesson is sure to make an impression on her students – it’s one that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

But Victoria Fatu is no stranger to live performances.

Youtube/Sophie Fatu
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Youtube/Sophie Fatu

The video was uploaded to Sophie Fatu’s Youtube channel.

Sophia is a child prodigy when it comes to music and she has more than 300,000 subscribers. And the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree – Victoria is her mother! Professor Victoria Fatu, who is a singer and concert pianist, has performed on almost every continent… she’s even done a solo recital at Carnegie Hall.

When she’s not performing, she’s teaching music at West Virginia State University.

Facebook/Victoria Fatu
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Facebook/Victoria Fatu

“You probably can guess I’m not your average professor, I’m a very, very, very eccentric professor. And I remember… talking to some of the administrators, saying, ‘I know that I’m eccentric and I don’t behave like I should and I don’t dress like I should, but I give (all my) heart to this,’ and I was very surprised how… welcoming and how well received was my teaching methods,” Victoria is quoted on Now Hear this.

Her teaching method – where she teaches by doing – makes music accessible to her students in such a fun way!

Youtube/Sophie Fatu
Source:
Youtube/Sophie Fatu

Needless to say, the video of her spontaneous performance is hugely popular – it’s easy to see why.

If you want to learn about a complex musical concept in a fun, accessible way, this is the perfect video for you. You also get to sing along to Justin Bieber while you’re at it!

To see Victoria sing with her whole class, watch the video below.

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

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