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Musicians are not “the athletes of small muscles”
Musicians are often compared to athletes because, like athletes, we practice a lot, we use repetitive motions, and we’re often performing or playing under stress. Unfortunately, within the past few years, the comparison with athletes has led to referring to musicians as “the athletes of small muscles.” I don’t know where this phrase originated, but…
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Vision and movement
In 2009, the Gold Medal in the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition was won (actually shared) by a 20-yr. old Japanese pianist who is blind, Nobuyuki Tsujii. Although there have been many blind pianists in jazz and popular music (Art Tatum, Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles), this was the first time that a blind pianist…