|
Recently, I was on the beautiful cruise ship the Celebrity Solstice for a much needed holiday about the South Pacific. It was here that I first witnessed the very interesting and very entertaining Ashley Carruthers play his piano show for the cruise nightly entertainment .
I say interesting because whilst most would be caught up in his exceptional performance skills, stories and the fact that he is an awesome Australian (on a ship full of Australians!), I was caught up in watching his technique - which is very unique to be able to do for our brain. I tried to leave my work in neurology at work but running into Ashley randomly and cornering him with questions I couldn't help but ask and explain. And instead of calling me a nerd and sending me away laughing he asked me if I would write for his newsletter.
To be able to play the piano at great speed is typically not encouraged amongst the music profession. Whilst there is a performance aspect to the speed to which a song is played there is also a significant physical aspect to consider with melodies. When a piano key is struck with a finger, there are hundreds of connections that travel our brain that over time become 'plastic' or etched into our brain. But to play a piano piece, this is multiplied thousands of times just for one song which is a lot for our brain to handle.
So what happens when we speed that up?
We have all seen the childhood prodigies on YouTube who play the piano at a ridiculous pace and we all gush in awe of their ability. But in my work we see these prodigy children and adults eventually lose the ability to play the piano altogether. And when I say lose, I mean they are unable to perform basic scale drills. There fingers become clumsy and do not seem to communicate to with what they want to do.
What happens is the neurological load becomes so heavy that with thousands and thousands of key inputs from fast key strikes that the brain loses the ability to tell each finger strike apart. It is unable to create that plastic 'etch' that makes the skill automatic. So, it starts to chunk them together. One finger strike etches with another and another until the brain just sees it as one big movement. And sadly, the piano player loses the discriminate ability to play. It is sad also because this translates to other fine motor movements. Simple functional tasks like using a knife and fork become difficult and it takes years to rehabilitate.
But, what about Ashley?
Ashley is known for and can play the piano at significant speed with a unique technical style that overrides this neurological response. In speaking to him he beautifully described the way he played not by notes and what his hands do but, to the shape of the melody or the musical piece. What this means is he has taught his brain to etch bigger movements as a priority that come through his wrist, arm and shoulders in a particular shape offloading his hands and fingers. Playing the piano for him is about generating a whole body movement pattern that as a secondary is about discrete finger movements. This reduces the neurological load significantly, the brain can handle it, and makes for a very, very entertaining show and performance.
I would highly, highly recommend finding a show and seeing Ashley Carruthers. I will be following his career with interest and hope he continues to succeed on the international scene (And work Disney music tracks into his performances).
Nicole Smith
Neuroscientist-Sydney
|
