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Almost beyond belief - I don't think this can be beaten

#42
Well - If I remember correctly - Esperanza Spalding taught herself violin at 4 and played with the Oregon State symphony at 6. When there is REAL talent is shows early.

ALSO - those poor people in North Korea are extremely malnourished. This little girl could be much older than she looks and is made up to be.
 
#45
I think this is fake. In one of the opening parts that goes 123 123 1 2, 123 123 1 2, that "123" part should clearly take up 4 frets - she rarely moves her hand over more than 3 for the whole song.

Maybe I'm missing something?
 
#46
She is playing 0 2 3, the first finger is not being used. I think it's real, I just don't think it's healthy.

And by the way, this is not in the realm of a real prodigy in my book. It's good, but it's not Mozart. This looks like the product of a culture that buries individuality and childhood in favor of grindingly hard rote technical learning. Works well initially, but I don't believe a real creative voice will come out of most people put through this kind of a wringer.
 
#49
I know it for a fact that North Koreans, as suppressed as their lives are, are extraordinarily disciplined.

On a related note, watch this and be amazed:



And remember what appears as a display in stadium background is actually a coordinated performance of thousands of card turners.

I've never seen a more meticulous card turning performance in my life.
 
#50
champbassist said:
And remember what appears as a display in stadium background is actually a coordinated performance of thousands of card turners.

I've never seen a more meticulous card turning performance in my life.
Click to expand...

In North Korea, cards turn YOU ! Seriously, I just watched the OP vid. Gotta agree with him - that`s pretty amazing. I don`t think it looks fake at all, other than it`s a freaking 5 year old playing like that. And I thought she showed a good feel, not as robotic as some suggested. Loved the canned applause at the end lol. But children that can perform like that disturb me; what did it take for her to be able to do that ? How much normal-kid stuff does she miss out on? Is she allowed to play outside or not, for others`fear of her injuring her hands ? Is she saddled with making a living for her parents ? Someone standing over her screaming (or worse) if she misses a note ?
 
#51
pnut166 said:
In North Korea, cards turn YOU! Seriously, I just watched the OP vid. Gotta agree with him - that`s pretty amazing. I don`t think it looks fake at all, other than it`s a freaking 5 year old playing like that. And I thought she showed a good feel, not as robotic as some suggested. Loved the canned applause at the end lol. But children that can perform like that disturb me; what did it take for her to be able to do that ? How much normal-kid stuff does she miss out on? Is she allowed to play outside or not, for others`fear of her injuring her hands ? Is she saddled with making a living for her parents ? Someone standing over her screaming (or worse) if she misses a note ?
Click to expand...

If these vids were from a "developed" or "normal" place, I'd share those feelings.

But I can't help but notice where these kids come from: I find the creepiness of these vids overwhelming all other feelings. They're bizarre in a distinctly North Korean sort of way.

I recommend watching the North Korea episode of Don't Tell My Mother to those who want to take a glimpse into this, well, creepy place. NK's got a really unnatural vibe: you can feel it even through the visuals on the TV screen and through YT videos; that behind the scenes lurks a darker, more sinister truth than what you see.
 
#56
As amazing as this appears, it is likely the product of severe training under the threat of her parents lives by the government. I don't think she is so much a prodigy as a product of intense, unrelenting behavioral training by a merciless master. Very sad. Amazing that it can be done, though. But tragic.
 
#57
THORRR said:
As amazing as this appears, it is likely the product of severe training under the threat of her parents lives by the government. I don't think she is so much a prodigy as a product of intense, unrelenting behavioral training by a merciless master. Very sad. Amazing that it can be done, though. But tragic.
Click to expand...

Minus the government threatening to kill her parents, I agree.

In my past life, I was a classical concert pianist, on track to make it a career. I was good, I practiced every day for 3 hours for many years...started playing when I was 6.

My junior year of high school I entered an international competition in South Dakota, playing the 1st mvmt of Beethoven's "Pathetique" Sonata. I played well, but didn't make the final cut. My mother and I went to watch the final round of musicians competing for placement, and up on stage walks little 8 year old Asian boy, using a special bench that helped him reach the pedals. He played none other than THE SAME PIECE as me, and performed it FLAWLESSLY.

I looked at my mom and said "Why do I even try?", couldn't bring myself to watch any more, and walked out. Everything that I had spent the past 11 years working for was shot down in a mere 6-8 minutes.

I feel bad for these kids, because I can infer that they have this crap shoved down their throats for hours upon hours a day, every day of their childhood. The same thing happened to Michael Jackson; in a way he was forced into stardom.

I quickly discovered that my niche was not among prodigal concert pianists, but playing bass in a pool of cool cats playing cool music (rock, blues, jazz, funk, metal, EVERYTHING) in addition to performing in orchestra and studying classical double bass in college.
 

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