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[video:youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=omuYi2Vhgjo[/video]

This is simply amazing. There is no way to teach a 4 year old to do this. The kid is a savant. His parents ought to be really proud.

The fact that this 4-year-old boy can comprehend this music and have the technique to play like this is mind-boggling. Total prodigy! I'd bet he has a very high general intelligence too.

About 3:10, there is a view from under the keybed, which looks like there is a player mechanism. So he may have learned by watching the keys go down and using that as a guide. That is a time-honored way of learning to play piano. Both Fats Waller and Duke Ellington were introduced to jazz following along to James P. Johnson's roll of Carolina Shout.

What pieces is he playing?

His enthusiasm and delight is wonderful to watch. Of course, many of the great young pianists today were even more advanced at a similar age, e.g.

Haochen Zhang gave his debut recital at the Shanghai Music Hall at the age of five, performing all of Bach’s two-part inventions, as well as sonatas by Haydn and Mozart. His orchestral debut was made at the age of six and he was awarded first prize at the Shanghai Piano Competition at the age of seven and nine. Following this success, at the age of eleven, he gave tours in all the major cities in China performing the complete Chopin Etudes op.10, Beethoven and Mozart Sonatas.

It was only a matter of time. I'm waiting for someone to organize the first In-Utero Competition.

The piece he played is Thiman Water Pieces No.5 Flood-Time.

Of course. But it is still amazing.

All three pieces ?

I've read many times that you can perfectly develop your technique while you're adolescent. I remember reading from either Hough or Gibbons that he really developed when he was 17. There are certainly plenty of other examples.

What is best for a (very) young musician ? To focus on obtaining a transcendental virtuoso technique the earlier possible or to have a well rounded musical and non-musical education ? (this isn't a rhetorical question)


Otherwise, the video was great.

I don't think it's a choice between one or the other. All good teachers of the most young pianists will be focusing on technique and musicianship. It's just that great technique is probably doable in a shorter amount of time than great musicianship which I think is more of a life long learning process. I'd estimate the best pianists mostly have a great technique by the time they graduate from a conservatory... after 10-15 years practice.

I agree with pianoloverus that both are important but IMO, of paramount importance is allowing the child to have a healthy childhood. Sometimes overly ambitious parents live vicariously through the success of their child prodigy, putting tremendous pressure on the child to perform, compete and win. Sometimes child prodigies are self driven and miss out on their own childhoods. A healthy balance must be found between musical training and guiding the prodigy to have as normal a childhood as possible. Long term personal happiness is, IMO, more important than developing even the most exceptional talent. I don't envy the parents of these little stars.

+1

I hope he has a lot of toy cars on the floor of his room. Maybe a soccer ball in the back yard....

What are the 2nd and 3rd pieces he plays?

This child has a remarkable talent. He is not a virtuoso nor does he play better than any master. I think this kind of hyperbole does young musicians a disservice.

The kid seems to be having a ball playing the piano. He's certainly demonstrating more joy than most piano students at lessons and recitals.

And he's much better than some of the crud put on youtube by idiotic, clueless parents.

I agree. I see nothing in this video to indicate his parents are pushing him too hard at the expense of playing and being a kid. I'll bet his parents are just as surprised and delighted about his talent as we are. The real test will come in future years when some parents might be tempted to capitalize on this talent.

I also agree with the earlier comment that it is likely he learned to play from the piano player system. But how did he learn the fingering?! Children this age absorb and learn about the world very differently than adults do, and this is an interesting case study.