La La Land

[corganek]

I was stunned to learn that Ryan Gosling learned to play the piano from scratch for his role in La La Land--in THREE MONTHS!  Seriously, how is that possible?

I have just returned to (and fallen in love with) piano at age 69 after 50 years off!  I took lessons as a child from grades 1 to 12, then never touched a piano until 6 months ago.  In these past 6 months I've played seriously and mindfully for hours a day, and I'm truly excited about my progress.  But I sound like a third grader compared to Gosling's performance in the movie.  In fact, I wonder if I'll ever play that flawlessly.  How can he do that in three months, and why can't I?

[adodd81802]

Envy is the biggest reason people don't progress.

We all learn differently, we all have different situations and different environments, concentrate on your own progress only.

Learning a small technical passage of music over and over again for 3 months is definitely achievable, when you have the best teacher and the best support

[dcstudio]

He didn't learn to "play the piano" as you are defining it. He is not endowed with the technical skills and vast knowledge of music displayed by his character.  He learned to play what he played.  He learned by rote...he didn't learn to read. An expert teacher two hours a day five days a week for 3 months...with that salary as incentive...lol...what couldn't you learn how to play?  They say it's gosling but surely the audio track is not just one continuous take of the same flawless performance. The studio magic plays an important supporting role in this as well. Audio engineering at its finest.  I would be very interested in hearing the raw unmixed tracks of Mr. Goslings playing.

It's still impressive nonetheless.

[tinyhands]

This interview was on the radio the other day explaining a bit of the process. Also final soundtrack was recorded by a professional, but no hand doubles were used for the visuals so yes, still impressive none the less

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38593897

[dcstudio]

This interview was on the radio the other day explaining a bit of the process. Also final soundtrack was recorded by a professional, but no hand doubles were used for the visuals so yes, still impressive none the less

- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-38593897

So it's the same as Tom Hulce in Amadeus and Adrian Brody in The Pianist.  That should tell you something about learning to play...you are not listening to him only seeing his hands move...an admirable skill...but he didn't learn to "play". Now I really want to hear Gosling play the piano for real.