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Saturday, September 24, 2011

Still a Pioneer! (More from San Bernadino)

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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