This is a post I did in another "room." I thought I'd also introduce it here. One of the members posted this Youtube video:

Amazing: 4-Year-Old Boy Plays The Piano Better Than Most Professionals!

(start of my post)

I’m really surprised no one commented on this video that Susan pointed us to! I watched it ½ dozen times and got more out of it each time than sheer entertainment and novelty.

My main thought was simply.....”how is this possible?” That this boy, who was obviously limited to not more than 4 years of music, "plays better than most adults do?"

I’m a strong proponent in "power of the mind" principles. And so, I wondered, what are we all capable of if we could tap into what this young child managed to "tap into".....the "power of the mind!"

In the world of music and playing an instrument, It’s been my belief for the longest time that we limit ourselves by our current thinking.....example: "I’ll never be able to reach an advanced level"....."that piece of music is too hard for me to ever conquer"........"I could never play jazz, Classical, etc, I don‘t think I have it in me"......."I‘m too old to take up an instrument now"....."I started playing the piano too late in life," etc.

I continued my train of thought. When I was studying singing, my teacher said to me that babies sing naturally because they haven’t yet learned to form "blockages" in their thinking processes. But very soon after we are born, we begin turning off "switch” after “switch" in our brains, reacting to our environment and the negativity in our surroundings, and particularly our parents: example: "you’re a bad boy for doing this, for doing that"....."your grades are not satisfactory, why are you so stupid?"....."get your act together or you’re going to end up somewhere as a stable boy"....."what do you mean you want to play music, that’s for sissies, boys play football, not music!"

Apparently, this 4 year old either didn’t live long enough to have been bombarded with such negativity or had particularly emotionally healthy parents who encouraged him to do and be whatever he wanted. His mind was free to express itself and the abilities that the mind is capable of.

What if we were to grow up under controlled and absolutely ideal, positive conditions where no negative comments were allowed to reach our heads? Could we then accomplish anything we wanted? Would our minds then "power" and give fruition to our natural tendencies? What capabilities are locked up in there before we, one by one, "shut down the switches” on them? Could we “tap into” what this 4 year old managed to do.....despite all the mental and emotional baggage we’ve acquired since birth? Are we capable of playing the piano as well as this in a fraction of the time that our "distorted thinking" minds have us believing now? Does the brain really react to whatever you tell it, both positive and negative, as in Rhonda Byrne’s book "The Secret?"

Could Colin start a new career as a professional singer at 72?

I say "yes" to all of it!

Mark

We spend the first two years of our lives learning to see, hear, smell, touch, taste, talk and then walk. After that our minds are free and open to learn anything and most important as you point out, "ready" to learn, but this youngster was exposed to the genre before he was born and even after birth, so he had this exposure at an optimum time to learn what he now has mastered.

This learning prime time has been known and exploited in Asia for centuries. And yet, everyone marvels and wonders why are Asian children always honor students and at the top of their class in American class rooms.

This 4 year old will undoubtedly loose or not progress further once he is exposed to TV, the games that follow and the dumb ed down teaching now found in our schools. Music was the first thing removed from the curriculum in Alabama when money got tight, but you can bet football will be the last thing to go.

I believe the lack of teaching music and the other arts in schools is part of the reason so many kids fall into gangs and other poor social habits. They have nothing to provide for self gratification and release of emotions gained from accomplishment of worthwhile en-devours.

Bill G

Yes, it has been long noted that young children can absorb more and learn things at a very young age, before their minds are filled with 'stuff' ... some children learn a second language before they start grade school ... look at how young children 4 - 5 yrs old and younger take to electronic devices ...
We do not know the "power of the mind" ...
And PERHAPS this child will lose interest in music, but we do not KNOW that ... only time will tell ...