stevenpiziks | Aran and Notation

Sometimes Aran's musical ability and memory fight with his autism and his learning pace. Here's the situation:

1. He hasn't quite mastered musical notation.

2. His phenomenal memory allows him to memorize songs quickly. After he plays a song once or twice, he has it memorized.

3. He keeps the music on the piano in front of him and looks at it while he plays, even after he's memorized the song.

4. His autism does not allow for changes in music.

The main disconnect comes between 1 and 4. He plays the song perfectly on the keys but makes mistakes when he reads the music. Get it? He knows the note should be an F and he plays an F. But he misreads the music and thinks the notes are telling him to play, say, an A. This freaks him out.

"It's an F, not an A!" he wails. At which point, Kala or his teacher or I have to tell him he was simply playing it right and reading it wrong.

This is the reverse of most musicians, who read it right and play it wrong. Aran hardly ever makes mistakes when he plays a song, but he makes plenty of mistakes when he reads music. It's weird.