[Harp-L] How important is it to be able to read music while keeping your pants on?

[jon kip]

> Jon,
> 
> At a party in LA, I asked Ray Charles how he could have both hands on the keyboard while reading braille music. Without missing a beat, he quipped, “I practice with my pants off!”
> 
> Happy Hacking,
> cdh


Glad you liked the post....writing it was another installation in my Professional Quality Practice Avoidance....

My mom taught us about the neuroplasticity and we paid attention. 

She lived to be 96 and stayed coherent up until The End. 

I don't think your feelings about musical notation are, in fact, a negative  bias.

You can't see. Reading normal notation isn't an option for you. 

And you manage to deal with it, which is very cool, no matter what method you use.

That said, I think  neither of us should resort to Ray's method of reading music, for live gigs, anyway.

Firstly, we'd get a bit  chilly, and secondly, People's focus MIGHT be on other things than the quality of our musical performance.


jk
jonkip.com

> On Dec 9, 2016, at 9:01 AM, Chris Hofstader <cdh at xxxxx> wrote:
> 
> Jon,
> 
> At a party in LA, I asked Ray Charles how he could have both hands on the keyboard while reading braille music. Without missing a beat, he quipped, “I practice with my pants off!”
> 
> Happy Hacking,
> cdh
>