14-Year-Old Pianist

This was referenced on the Freakonomics blog, but you have to see this video; it’s a 14 year old (at the time) girl pianist playing this amazing stuff. At 16:40, she starts doing an improvisation based on 5 notes picked at random by (of all people) Goldie Hawn. I almost wept at that part. I’m a little less impressed by the musical structure of the improv, it’s just straightforward George Winston-esque stuff, but I couldn’t believe the emotional maturity of the playing coming out of a 14 year old kid.

What’s it like to be that good at something? I’m kind of haphazardly working on Rhapsody in Blue (in my opinion, the finest piece of American music ever produced) and it may take the bulk of my lifetime to get to a point where it’s even decent. And though it’s not easy, it’s just scratching the surface of the stuff she’s playing. At 14 years old. That’s crazy.