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Blind and Visually Impaired Community

Full History - 2019 - 12 - 16 - ID#ebpexx
9
"You Raise Me Up" cover by a blind violinist and blindfolded pianist! (youtu.be)
submitted by BlazzingBlocks
BlazzingBlocks [OP] 1 points 3y ago
Hey guys, I'm a sighted pianist who had the incredible opportunity to do a music recording with my blind violinist friend to raise awareness on the visually impaired. For this video, I was blindfolded and therefore, had to rely on my other senses to make this cover.

He was the nicest, most polite person and yet he's so talented. For him, music was a way he accepted his blindness and he hopes to inspire musicians and persons with disabilities all over the world to keep going no matter what!
razzretina 1 points 3y ago
You guys sound great together!

Out of curiosity, do you have to look at the piano keys to play or do you play by feel and look at the music? Or is it both? I wasn't a great pianist when I played, but I did it by touch and memorized the music. I'm always kind of curious how sighted people do things; sometimes the thought of having to watch something to do it is very alien to me. XD
BlazzingBlocks [OP] 0 points 3y ago
For us sighted people, it's usually a combination of both sight and muscle memory. When I perform with a music sheet, I usually alternate between looking at my material and keys quickly in fractions of a second. It also depends if there are huge leaps, then I'll rely on my sight. Notes which are less than one octave to play usually don't pose any problem without looking.

Interestingly, when playing blindfolded, the playing in keys with flats and sharps becomes helpful because the black keys can be used as a guide. I'd say that playing blindfolded or without looking is actually a skill that many pianists should work on because for "on-the-spot" performances with little practice, it is really important to keep an eye on the music sheets and try not to get lost.

I play drums and bass guitar too and usually for drums, I have my eyes fixed on the material being familiar with the layout of my kit. However for bass guitar, I find it really hard not to look at the strings, because it's hard to feel the frets. And that's why I have so much respect for my blind violinist friend, with violin being a completely fretless instrument, it must mean he had practiced so much he has every millimeter of his instrument recognized by muscle memory.
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