Saturday, December 10, 2016
Musical Geniuses
A couple weeks ago I watched a remarkable documentary that I really wished to share with everyone. (link below)
Derek is an autistic, and blind, severely mentally handicapped man from the UK. He needs constant attention, and cannot function by himself. He leads a difficult and often traumatizing life, but through guidance and much teaching, Derek has found peace in the learning of music. His gift to play the piano at such a remarkable level is attributed to how his brain functions, with more emphasis and ability towards regions that focus of musical capability, and less so in regions that account for things such as speech. My favorite part was when Derek had a long, complex piece, which he had never heard before, played for him a single time, and he was able to sit down after hearing it and play the entire song from memory perfectly. It blew my mind how someone's brain can function so differently, and pick up so much detail, while other parts of the brain that control basic function can be severely impaired. The combination of psychology and music in the documentary made it a new favorite of mine, and I highly suggest watching the entire thing if anyone gets the chance.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzDBFCvIvk4
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This is so inspirational! The power of passion can have great effects on the mind. I believe that if anyone has a passion for something, they will pursue that passion no matter what life throws at them. The part where he hears the piece and then plays makes me wish I had the musical talent that he does. It is truly blissful to see someone go against all odds and pursue what they love to do.
ReplyDeleteThis is so inspirational! The power of passion can have great effects on the mind. I believe that if anyone has a passion for something, they will pursue that passion no matter what life throws at them. The part where he hears the piece and then plays makes me wish I had the musical talent that he does. It is truly blissful to see someone go against all odds and pursue what they love to do.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of a great book I read a while back called Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks, a neurologist. The book is divided into chapters which each discuss and look closely at a case of horrible brain damage or some other traumatic event on the body where, after the event, the person becomes obsessed with and proficient in music. The argument and message of the book is that music is a sometimes unexplained phenomenon of human brains and that people have a natural tendency towards wanting to create music, that often transcends scientific explanation. I remember one case told the story of a man who had open heart surgery - for the second time in ten years - and after the surgery, found that he had music constantly playing in his head. He published a journal in 3 parts of how his life is different now and how he is seamlessly able to write notes on a page, just by listening to what plays in his head. His whole life he was a music professor, so you could say that makes sense, but there are other cases of people having nothing to do with music in their lives becoming obsessed with it randomly. One case described a man, a former football player who'd become a surgeon, who was struck by lightning at a pay phone, had an out of body near death experience, and reported that he became obsessed with music from then on. He ordered sheet music, bought cds and records, and started to teach himself piano. He had never had any previous interest in piano, other than taking lessons for a short time as a boy and giving up out of boredom. The music he listened to was mostly classic rock, but after the lightning, he was determined to learn piano and listen to it. He had some memory problems for a few years after but never any issues with memorizing music. I think it's really cool that music can have such affects on the brain and that science just can't explain it sometimes! I definitely recommend the book, especially for someone who is going into music therapy.
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