American Icons Final

Pupil of a Blind Pianist

In the beginning of my piano career I was never that good. I couldn’t coordinate my fingers to play the right notes, and I couldn’t play much of any real songs. Even though I wasn’t the greatest at playing the piano the idea of playing it just fascinated me.
I was three the first time I saw a piano; the shine on the glossy black wood and the polished keys showed my reflection back at me. I was drawn to it, intrigued by it, and when my grandmother played it, I fell in love with it. The magnificent sound of chords and scales had me hooked.
The first time I played the piano I was four. I banged on the keys wondered and questioned how to make beautiful sounds like my grandmother made. Years went by and my curiosity appealed to my parents and they signed me up for piano lessons at the age of 7. I tried and worked at it for about a year and decided that it just wasn’t in me to learn how to play it.
On the way home one day my parents and I were listening to the radio when the DJ announced “The best of the oldies, here is Ray Charles….” “Well, I got a woman. Way over town, that’s good to me. OH YEA”. My mom told me that Ray was blind at the age of 7 because a disease called Glaucoma, she told me that he went on to be a great pianist. I still pondered if I should stick with the piano or not. When we got home I sat down to practice, my mother looked me dead in the eyes and said “Marcus, this piano can be your future. Ray never gave up on his dreams and he was blind. I’m not going to make you stick with it but you need to think over your decision about quitting over some more”.
I decided to buy some of his albums and listen, his voice rang in my head as I practiced and got better. “You will never be able to overwhelm an instrument. It can take you as far as you want to go only if you push it to your limits”. That was the quote I played by. It stuck with me for years. I realized his determination, many people told him that he was wasting his time because he was blind but, he never gave up.
As I listened to him play my love for the piano got stronger, my passion grew, and the music started to flow more clearly. Rough days would always come for me though, one day I got really frustrated and stormed into my room, I smacked the power button on my radio. The sound of one of Ray’s piano solos soured out of the radio and filled the room. Again his skills drew me back to the keys. He always changed it up, he mixed different styles of music to make something new, he would mix blues with jazz with gospel music to make something undefinable.
As I grew older so did my skills and I was able to play more advanced pieces. Many people noticed this and were amazed as they saw my fingers fly across the board. Even on my best day I did not have the skill to play one of Ray’s songs, they had more meaning to him than I would ever know. It was if he made these songs especially for only his fingers. Despite this I still tried to attempt one of his songs and in so doing I taught myself how to freestyle and go solo. I wrote a few of his songs down and kept them over the years. Sometimes I’ll pick them up and refine to make them to sound better.
Being handicap for Ray was almost a plus. It made him more determined, it seemed like he couldn’t see failure, or wrong notes. He made his music project into his eyes and soul and back onto the keys to make something all his own.
His dedication and talent is inspired many people but alas all great things must come to an end and his end came June 10, 2004.
Ray is gone but his music still keeps going and his influences won’t ever stop. I don’t hope to become as good as he was but his music and state of mind keeps me going every time I think about quitting. Whenever things just get too hard in my music world I would lie on my bed and listen to his best works and let his soul set me right and take me away.

Bibliography


Robinson, Ray Charles. "Ray "The Greatest" Charles." Interview. Youtube. Youtube. Web. .

Lord, Tom. "Ray Charles." Legends of American Music History. Jazz Discography. Web. .