a gap between my head and the piano

April 24, 2017 10:39 AM

"I could play fluently. Then I struggled to play the song. Then I struggled to remember that I used to play the song. Then I struggled to remember I was the person who wrote the song." A story about Alzheimer's and music, from the Oregonian.
posted by Stacey (6 comments total)

If your heart is insufficielntly broken after that, try Glen Campbell.
posted by thelonius at 10:48 AM on April 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

What a nice story and project. Very tear-jerky, but I don't think there's another compassionate way to tell the story, it's just sweet and sad. My favorite part is how a coincidental friendship lead to LaViolette transcribing these songs. As someone who isn't very good at purposely making friends, a lot of my friendships feel very coincidental so I dig stories like that.
posted by Secretariat at 11:13 AM on April 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

That was lovely. When my grandfather was on the Alzheimer's ward in his nursing home there was a piano available. Some of the residents could still play a bit, others would sing or hum along. It was one of the tools that could calm people when they were agitated.
posted by Cuke at 2:07 PM on April 24, 2017 [2 favorites]

A really beautiful story.

My maternal grandmother, who was a painter, developed Alzeheimer's in her mid-80s. Her paintings were the very last thing she forgot, long after she had ceased to remember her family or anything else about her life.
posted by thomas j wise at 3:54 PM on April 24, 2017 [1 favorite]

.
posted by brambleboy at 5:22 PM on April 24, 2017

My grandfather played the piano accordion all his life. Even after he couldn't have a conversation any more, and had been living on the dementia ward for a couple of years, he could still play and the other residents loved him for it.
posted by lollusc at 7:49 PM on April 24, 2017 [2 favorites]