I enjoyed hearing this enormously gifted young woman perform. Thanks for posting.
posted by kinnakeet at 4:51 AM on December 8, 2023
posted by kinnakeet at 4:51 AM on December 8, 2023
Pet peeve time: this is skill, not talent or gifts or divine inspiration. Calling what she does a talent devalues all the time and effort she must have put in to be able to do this.
I know that I'm fighting against a lot of inertia in how we talk abot people who are good at things, but I'll keep trying. :)
posted by PennD at 4:59 AM on December 8, 2023 [10 favorites]
I know that I'm fighting against a lot of inertia in how we talk abot people who are good at things, but I'll keep trying. :)
posted by PennD at 4:59 AM on December 8, 2023 [10 favorites]
The Amber Trust – Lucy’s story is a film made 3 years earlier about Lucy when she was 10 years old, blind, with autism and severe learning difficulties, but exceptional musical potential. Her teacher, Daniel, explains and demonstrates how he guides Lucy to play classical pieces on the piano. Adam Ockelford, founder of The Amber Trust, speaks at the end of the film. Lucy’s story is a part of ‘Amber Sound Touch’, The Amber Trust’s online resource for teaching music to blind and partially sighted children and young people, including those with additional disabilities. For more details, visit The Amber Trust website.The miracle that is Lucy—a neurodivergent blind 13-year-old child prodigy featured on ‘The Piano’
Written and compiled (citing sources) by Ken Chawkin for The Uncarved Blog.
She has been being trained by Daniel for 10 years.
posted by y2karl at 6:41 AM on December 8, 2023 [2 favorites]
Well, that is Jud O's Lucy Illingworth Channel to be sure.
The way her parents found out about her talent was when they placed a toy keyboard in her crib when she was three. She started playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on it. At first, they thought she had pushed a pre set button for the tune -- until they discovered there was no such thing. Then they realized she had figured it out herself.
So, yes, she has been trained for ten years but she did indeed have a gift to begin with.
posted by y2karl at 7:01 AM on December 8, 2023
The way her parents found out about her talent was when they placed a toy keyboard in her crib when she was three. She started playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on it. At first, they thought she had pushed a pre set button for the tune -- until they discovered there was no such thing. Then they realized she had figured it out herself.
So, yes, she has been trained for ten years but she did indeed have a gift to begin with.
posted by y2karl at 7:01 AM on December 8, 2023
Pet peeve time: this is skill, not talent or gifts or divine inspiration. Calling what she does a talent devalues all the time and effort she must have put in to be able to do this.
I know that I'm fighting against a lot of inertia in how we talk abot people who are good at things, but I'll keep trying. :)
As someone who has played piano all my life and has a degree from a music conservatory (albeit not in piano), I'd say it's a combination of talent and skill. Yes, anyone can be taught to play the piano, and there is a lot of work that goes into achieving a certain level of aptitude.
At the same time, there is a fair amount of innate talent that goes into being a musician - a musical ear, an understanding of the nuance that goes into a particular piece, etc. (Maybe a better way to put it is that there is a distinction between skill and artistry, and Lucy has both.)
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:10 AM on December 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
I know that I'm fighting against a lot of inertia in how we talk abot people who are good at things, but I'll keep trying. :)
As someone who has played piano all my life and has a degree from a music conservatory (albeit not in piano), I'd say it's a combination of talent and skill. Yes, anyone can be taught to play the piano, and there is a lot of work that goes into achieving a certain level of aptitude.
At the same time, there is a fair amount of innate talent that goes into being a musician - a musical ear, an understanding of the nuance that goes into a particular piece, etc. (Maybe a better way to put it is that there is a distinction between skill and artistry, and Lucy has both.)
posted by Ben Trismegistus at 7:10 AM on December 8, 2023 [3 favorites]
She further explained that, as well as having no vision at all, Lucy has a chromosome 16 duplication (which Candice also carries), and is globally developmentally delayed, meaning she struggles with communication.Miracle' Lucy's starring moment! Who is the blind pianist, 13, who left the new King and Queen speechless with her performance at the Coronation concert?
But she revealed that, when her daughter was 'very little', she was given a 'tiny keyboard' which she took into hospital with her.
'She played Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star perfectly on it,' Candice says, adding she caught the attention of a nurse who initially thought the tune was pre-recorded.
However, when the nurse realised Lucy had played the tune all by herself, she said it was 'spectacular'.
Shew then found a piano teacher, Daniel Bath, who has been coaching her ever since through the Amber Trust, which works with blind musicians.
Speaking on the programme, Daniel explained: 'Our lessons aren't like normal piano lessons.
posted by y2karl at 7:15 AM on December 8, 2023
Fantastic. Props to her mother for the early exposure to music.
Lucy is skilled and talented in a way you don't see with the "look how fast I can follow instructions!" variety of videos of kids playing music. When I was barely out of diapers, my mom sat me at the piano to watch and listen to her play, and my parents soon discovered my musical ear. I started on lessons at age 6, but I absolutely couldn't do anything like what Lucy was capable of when I was the same age as her in any of those videos.
posted by emelenjr at 7:32 AM on December 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Lucy is skilled and talented in a way you don't see with the "look how fast I can follow instructions!" variety of videos of kids playing music. When I was barely out of diapers, my mom sat me at the piano to watch and listen to her play, and my parents soon discovered my musical ear. I started on lessons at age 6, but I absolutely couldn't do anything like what Lucy was capable of when I was the same age as her in any of those videos.
posted by emelenjr at 7:32 AM on December 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
Metafilter: a basset hound speaking fluent French.
[this is good]
posted by flabdablet at 2:00 PM on December 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
[this is good]
posted by flabdablet at 2:00 PM on December 8, 2023 [1 favorite]
From 7 years ago:
Amazing 8 year old Lucy plays piano with Musical Savant Derek Paravicini.
And they do Watermelon Man, no less.
posted by y2karl at 10:22 PM on December 8, 2023
Amazing 8 year old Lucy plays piano with Musical Savant Derek Paravicini.
And they do Watermelon Man, no less.
posted by y2karl at 10:22 PM on December 8, 2023
« Older Twenty-one red handfish hatched in successful... | The rate of catastrophes appears roughly constant... Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
The brain is very plastic. People with processing and physical issues—whether they were born that way or not—if they can interface with the world and have the urge to express themselves, there will be other parts of the brain that can take the on double-duty of doing so, so that that person can express themselves.
Now, all that said, that was a beautiful piece played with virtuosity. I'm glad she's into music; it makes the world a better place, inside and out. I bet she'd play a killer Monk.
posted by not_on_display at 11:57 PM on December 7, 2023 [7 favorites]