The most portable piano in the world.

Ainan, my 13 year old son, owns the most portable piano in the world. It is in his head. I shall explain.

Ainan has the habit of playing an imaginary piano with his fingers, whilst he sits at the dinner table, or even stands up in mid conversation. His fingers tap out “tunes” in the air, not aimlessly, but with perfect, most careful choice of movement and depression of finger. He has been doing this for some time, now.

Today, I asked him: “Ainan: do you hear the music when you do that?”

“Yes.” He said and carried on playing on his invisible piano.

He had confirmed what I had come to intuit: Ainan actually hears the music he plays on his imaginary piano. For him, the music is as real as if he had played it on an actual piano. So, it is, in this way, that Ainan composes music, even when a piano is not near: he will simply tap out the music to himself, on his inner piano. For him, that is enough, to allow him to appreciate it. Most often, later, he will play it on a real piano and, of course, record it – but the first creation is often of him simply tapping the music out on the table or in the air.

For Ainan, musical composition has become very much an instinct and a reflex. Ainan is often seen to be tapping out music on his imaginary piano, whilst holding a conversation. He particularly likes to do this in the kitchen. Either his brothers, or his parents, will be talking to him – and he will be responding – but throughout the conversation, he will quite clearly be seen to be composing music, on his invisible piano. He is so used to composing, now, that not even the distraction of a conversation can stop him from doing so...it just carries on in the background, bubbling up from within him.

It is quietly pleasing to see how much this creative activity has become a part of Ainan since the beginning of his 12^th year, when he resumed composition, after a six year break (he had started to do so as a six year old, before being put off music for a long time). I do hope that he continues with this momentum and grows musically by the day, week, month, year. Already, of course, he is a very accomplished composer, producing new works all the time. I look forward to all the music, yet to be heard in this house, to come. I hope he plays more of it on the piano in the corner of the house, rather than on the one in the corner of his mind – for only he can hear that one!

Happy composing Ainan – piano or not.

Posted by Valentine Cawley

(If you would like to support my continued writing of this blog and my ongoing campaign to raise awareness about giftedness and all issues pertaining to it, please donate, by clicking on the gold button to the left of the page.

To read about my fundraising campaign, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-in-support-of-my.html and here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/01/fundraising-drive-first-donation.html

If you would like to read any of our scientific research papers, there are links to some of them, here: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2011/02/research-papers-by-valentine-cawley-and.html

If you would like to see an online summary of my academic achievements to date, please go here: http://www.getcited.org/mbrz/11136175To learn more of Ainan Celeste Cawley, 10, or his gifted brothers, Fintan, 7 and Tiarnan, 5, please go to: http://scientific-child-prodigy.blogspot.com/2006/10/scientific-child-prodigy-guide.html

I also write of gifted education, child prodigy, child genius, adult genius, savant, megasavant, HELP University College, the Irish, the Malays, Singapore, Malaysia, IQ, intelligence and creativity.

There is a review of my blog, on the respected The Kindle Report here:http://thekindlereport.blogspot.com/2010/09/boy-who-knew-too-much-child-prodigy.html

Please have a read, if you would like a critic's view of this blog. Thanks.

You can get my blog on your Kindle, for easy reading, wherever you are, by going to: http://www.amazon.com/Boy-Who-Knew-Too-Much/dp/B0042P5LEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2&s=digital-text&qid=1284603792&sr=8-1

Please let all your fellow Kindlers know about my blog availability - and if you know my blog well enough, please be so kind as to write a thoughtful review of what you like about it. Thanks.

My Internet Movie Database listing is at:http://imdb.com/name/nm3438598/

Ainan's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3305973/

Syahidah's IMDB listing is at http://imdb.com/name/nm3463926/

Our editing, proofreading and copywriting company, Genghis Can, is athttp://www.genghiscan.com/This blog is copyright Valentine Cawley. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited. Use only with permission. Thank you.)