[MusicTlk] Question for blind pianists

[Ella Yu]

Hi, I am also a blind pianist and I think we learn to do leaps 
via muscle memory.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: Mike Jolls via MusicTlk <musictlk at nfbnet.org
To: Music Talk Mailing List for Blind Musicians 
<musictlk at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Thu, 14 Feb 2019 20:18:23 +0000
Subject: [MusicTlk] Question for blind pianists

Linda Mentink (and others), here’s a piano question.

I’m working on some Scott Joplin – The Entertainer in particular.  
Of course this piece is using Stride Bass where the left hand has 
to jump around a lot.  There are, at certain parts of the music, 
jumps for the left hand that are two octaves.  One jump in 
particular is from Bb right below middle C to a D natural two 
octaves below middle C … quite a big jump.  I’m trying to learn 
how to do this jump by feel, in other words not look at my hands.  
Invariably I miss the jump.  This is very frustrating.

I’m hoping someone can give me some tips.

Let me just say before I go on that I already know, from other 
pieces I’ve played, that playing by feel is entirely possible.  
Thank goodness I already know that.  Where the jump isn’t too 
far, I can usually do that by feel.

My question, however, is about making BIG jumps.  Do blind 
pianists eventually (after hours and hours and thousands of 
attempts when doing these large jumps) eventually get to the 
point where their brain just knows how far to go?  They know what 
they have to do and they have just learned (or rather their brain 
has learned), through repetition, how to do it.  Or maybe they 
take time in their daily practice routine and do an exercise 
where they practice making jumps so that they give their brain 
practice in doing this.  That way, when it comes to playing a 
piece of actual music, they already know how to do this.  This is 
all an assumption on my part, and I’m asking the question to 
confirm it.  In some parts of the music I’m playing where an 
octave jump is in order, I can usually do that.  My hands are 
large enough that I can feel the octave jump.  But with these big 
jumps, I’m trying to read the music and not look at my hands 
(ultimately I will memorize the music).  My problem is that as 
soon as my hand leaves the keyboard and I try to make the big 
jump, I lose context as to where I am and I am uncertain as to 
whether I can accurately hit what I need to hit.  Sometimes I hit 
it, sometimes not.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcome.

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