Nobuyuki Tsujii the blind pianist!

[hunterb]

how is this possible!?

 

[j_menz]

He has perfect pitch and learns pieces by ear.  For those of us who don't memorise off a score, it seems no more remarkable to do it that way, really.

[ubon2010]

He has perfect pitch and learns pieces by ear.  For those of us who don't memorise off a score, it seems no more remarkable to do it that way, really.

I have followed the career of Nobuyuki Tsujii (Nobu) for years now. 

He is extraordinary.  What is remarkable is not that he can play complex works without being able to see the music scores, but that he plays without ever being able to see the keyboard that he plays on -- nor the piano itself.  Nobu plays with remarkable accuracy, making large leaps, hand crosses, double octaves in opposite directions seemingly effortlessly.   His performances are spellbinding.

Nobu plays for his own enjoyment, and I think also to make a point that his handicap cannot stop him.  He has chosen to play works considered extremely difficult even to sighted pianists - he whips out Liszt's "La Campanella" and Chopin's "Revolution" routinely, and has performed Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2 , Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 successfully with different orchestras.  Next year (2015) will see him perform Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Vasily Petrenko.

I have a theory about how Nobu wields his magic - if you care, please take a look at this piece "Nobuyuki Tsujii 'sees'"
https://mlliu2006.blogspot.com/2013/11/nobuyuki-tsujii-sees.html

[faulty_damper]

I call it absolute touch. It's something that can be learned relatively easily since it's a motor skill, not a visual one; vision is the biggest distraction in learning how to play the piano.  Anyone can learn it and do so quite easily, far faster than if you used your eyes to learn.

[falala]

I call it absolute touch.

Can you describe a bit more what you mean by that, and how one goes about learning it?

[faulty_damper]

Can you describe a bit more what you mean by that, and how one goes about learning it?

Absolute touch can be learned spontaneously.  Many jazz pianists have this ability because they have to look at the other musicians while they play.  It is a spatial representation of the keyboard in ones mind.  Here's a simple way to learn what I mean:

With the eyes closed:

1. play a key (e.g. middle C)
2. play any other key as close or as far away (e.g. A, two octaves away)
3. repeat for accuracy.

It's quite easy to learn and takes very few tries to become accurate.

[ubon2010]

Absolute touch can be learned spontaneously.  Many jazz pianists have this ability because they have to look at the other musicians while they play.  It is a spatial representation of the keyboard in ones mind.  Here's a simple way to learn what I mean:

With the eyes closed:

1. play a key (e.g. middle C)
2. play any other key as close or as far away (e.g. A, two octaves away)
3. repeat for accuracy.

It's quite easy to learn and takes very few tries to become accurate.

In my essay I also theorize that Nobu goes by a spatial representation of the keyboard.  However, with due respect, I don't think it's "quite easy".  Likewise, I recently saw a video that claims anyone can develop absolute pitch, but I know professional musicians who do not have that ability.

Here is what one visual impaired pianist wrote in response to your post:
"Of course I would disagree with ... sighted people trying to say that playing a piano without sight is easy and easier than doing it when sighted.... From experience, it is not easy to make large leaps accurately and to do what Nobu does all the time without making a single mistake is still remarkable."

[faulty_damper]

Here is what one visual impaired pianist wrote in response to your post:
"Of course I would disagree with ... sighted people trying to say that playing a piano without sight is easy and easier than doing it when sighted.... From experience, it is not easy to make large leaps accurately and to do what Nobu does all the time without making a single mistake is still remarkable."

There's obvious error in this person's authority on the matter.  If s/he is visually impaired, he can only know his way.  I, as a sighted person, can know both ways simply by closing my eyes.

[ubon2010]

There's obvious error in this person's authority on the matter.  If s/he is visually impaired, he can only know his way.  I, as a sighted person, can know both ways simply be closing my eyes.

I see that I am in the presence of the ultimate authority.  
Everyone is  entitled to his opinion.   I do look forward to seeing your magnificent performance of La Campanella on stage some day, performed blindfolded.
By the way - it is a common misconception for a sighted person to think that he can experience what a blind person experiences simply by closing his eyes, as pointed out in this radio segment aired on the American National Public Radio on January 12, 2014
https://www.npr.org/2014/01/12/261437992/lessons-on-blindness-for-the-benefit-of-those-who-see 
The segment features author  Rosemary Mahoney, who wrote the book "For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches from the World of the Blind ".   

[ryankmfdm]

 I know I might get some heat for this, but I might go as far as to say that being blind is almost an advantage when it comes to playing a musical instrument. We're all aware of how detrimental it is to get into the habit of looking at your hands while you play, and I'm sure most of us are also aware that the loss of one sense necessarily improves the others--it's neurobiology. Unfortunately, being blind ain't much of an advantage in any other area of life.

 There is also even one huge disadvantage to being a blind musician, and that's that your interpretation of a piece is necessarily based on someone else's. I.e., for obvious reasons, you can never look at a given score and interpret it according to your sensibilities. I still find Tsujii and other blind musicians remarkably impressive, though.

[ubon2010]

I know I might get some heat for this, but I might go as far as to say that being blind is almost an advantage when it comes to playing a musical instrument. We're all aware of how detrimental it is to get into the habit of looking at your hands while you play, and I'm sure most of us are also aware that the loss of one sense necessarily improves the others--it's neurobiology. Unfortunately, being blind ain't much of an advantage in any other area of life.  It is not necessarily as bleak as those of us sighted people think.

I highly recommend a recently published book "For the Benefit of Those Who See: Dispatches from the World of the Blind" (by Rosemary Mahoney) - it has raised my awareness of life for the blind, which is not necessarily as bleak as sighted people assume.

There is also even one huge disadvantage to being a blind musician, and that's that your interpretation of a piece is necessarily based on someone else's. I.e., for obvious reasons, you can never look at a given score and interpret it according to your sensibilities. I still find Tsujii and other blind musicians remarkably impressive, though.

CORRECTION: Nobuyuki Tsujii DOES NOT rely on others' interpretations for his own.  He has the music recorded, hands separate, on cassette tapes, which he can then listen repeatedly to learn the notes.  It is equivalent to sight-reading a score.  His interpretation is his own.  In interviews, he specifically stated that although he does listen to recordings of others' performances for pleasure, he does not learn his music from them.
There are many other blind classical pianists, but Nobuyuki Tsujii is performing at a level that has not been seen before.

[slobone]

CORRECTION: Nobuyuki Tsujii DOES NOT rely on others' interpretations for his own.  He has the music recorded, hands separate, on cassette tapes, which he can then listen repeatedly to learn the notes.  It is equivalent to sight-reading a score.  His interpretation is his own.  In interviews, he specifically stated that although he does listen to recordings of others' performances for pleasure, he does not learn his music from them.
There are many other blind classical pianists, but Nobuyuki Tsujii is performing at a level that has not been seen before.

But what about all the stuff that's in the sheet music other than the notes? Dynamic markings, phrase markings, misc instructions (espressivo, dolce)? Does he get somebody to read that to him?

[faulty_damper]

I'm not impressed that he can play the piano even though he's blind.  I'm not fooled just because he can't see.  While that may fool most, I have ears which don't deceive me.

[haydnseeker]

He has perfect pitch and learns pieces by ear.

That's no great surprise.  In his book Musicophilia, Oliver Sacks mentions a study which found that 60% of blind musicians had perfect pitch.


Chopin Ballade 1
Schumann ABEGG Variations
Debussy Images I (all 3)
Berg Sonata

[ubon2010]

But what about all the stuff that's in the sheet music other than the notes? Dynamic markings, phrase markings, misc instructions (espressivo, dolce)? Does he get somebody to read that to him?

The annotations (for tempo, expressions, etc.) are included, by voice, on those cassette tapes.  Each cassette tape is the equivalent of a few measures of the music score.  The astonishing thing is how he puts it all together in his head - imagine doing that for Ravel's Gaspard de la Nuit, which Nobu will perform in Japan this July in 10 recitals.  Tickets for those recitals are selling out in no time.

[ignaceii]

He took gold in the von Cliburn.
The boy or young man deserves the big stages and labels, in stead of the chinese, with there cheap remarks.
What he does is far more moving, what you want. The gold was not because he was blind..
If he doesn't get chances, it's another disgrace.

[vladimir_gouldowsky]

.

[ubon2010]

He took gold in the von Cliburn.
The boy or young man deserves the big stages and labels, in stead of the chinese, with there cheap remarks.
What he does is far more moving, what you want. The gold was not because he was blind..
If he doesn't get chances, it's another disgrace.

There were some disparaging remarks.  But Nobuyuki Tsujii has fared quite well since the Cliburn gold.  He is a superstar in Japan, where he packs the concert halls. And he has performed at the Carnegie Hall (twice) and at the BBC Proms, among other international appearances, to great cheers. 

Nobuyuki Tsujii will probably always have to wrestle with the stigma that his success rides on the public's sympathy for his blindness.   But action speaks louder than words.   Nobu is currently on a Chopin/Liszt recital tour with a program in which Liszt's La Campanella is far from the most difficult.  In July he will perform Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit, in September Ravel's Piano Concerto in G Major, and in January Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 3 -- all debut performances.