This is interesting-- after he hands off his guitar he tells the crowd that he's got an ear problem that makes it difficult to hear some of the keys. I wrote some time ago about the book Musicophelia, by Oliver Sacks, which talks about this-- a common problem for musicians with longevity. When your hearing goes (mine would be gone forever after one day in front of Chuck's Dual Showman) pitch can go, too. A properly tuned instrument can sound out of tune. Oliver Sacks wrote about a composer who thought his piano was out of tune-- but it wasn't. It's an incredibly tough thing to deal with for a musician-- but Chuck seems to be doing it. Lately his guitar playing is sounding better than it has for several years. I think they're learning to adjust the sound so that it works. He's been a pioneer all his life, and, as his friend Daryl Davis once told me, he's being a pioneer in his old age, laying down the law about how to play when you're 85 years old! Go, Chuck go! (Obrigada Ida May.)
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