Meet violinist Adrian Anantawan, who was born without a right hand
There are some stories that are simply inspiring, and testaments to the human will. The life of Canadian violinist Adrian Anantawan is one such story. He was born with no right hand; you can find a lot of information and many videos of his playing at the website I just linked.
Here’s a good introduction, though:
And another slightly longer talk and demo:
When he was born, I doubt his parents thought of Anantawan as a future violinist. And yet I would imagine that, once he made the choice to start the violin and then kept going, it was at least in part due to their encouragement. Then again, he may have been born not only with no right hand but also with a temperament that gave him the determination to persevere and ultimately succeed at something he loved very much.
A personal note: I have a friend with a similar disability, acquired in utero for a similar reason. She had surgery as a child to take off a couple of her toes and fashion them into a few rudimentary fingers. The amazing thing about her is that most people don’t even notice. She has developed various techniques for hiding her hands, and she is very animated in a way that means that people focus mostly on her face. She’s also is able to do most ordinary things with her hands – although she doesn’t play the violin.
OT
Multiple shooters reported at JBSA Lackland military base.
https://youtu.be/Id2iChLFrOc?si=SBkfEZo3OouWzYLw
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/shooters-clash-security-outside-jbsa-lackland-san-19662078.php
Richard: Paywall. I’ll read about it tomorrow. Was in BLM? Or anti-semites?
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Don’t know yet. Expressnews was behind a paywall? I didn’t get that. Here is the fox news report:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/shooter-fires-jbsa-lackland-air-force-base-prompting-exchange-gunfire
Remarkable everything else is crazy
CNN visits Trump Store owned and operated by a Black Woman in Virginia – Video
https://commoncts.blogspot.com/2024/08/cnn-visits-trump-store-owned-and.html
It creates a sense of humility and awe when I see someone who has overcome their physical disabilities.
I roomed in college with a fellow student who had lost his leg below the knee. To see him strap on his prosthesis (Not nearly as advanced and comfortable as they are today.) every morning reminded me of how fortunate I was.
He was a gymnast who managed to letter in the sport for three years in spite of his disability. He had a great sense of humor, which helped him deal with things as they came his way.
I had not heard the saying about making lemonade when life hands you lemons, but it certainly fits those who overcome such disabilities.
Seeing him hold the bow with his right “hand” led me to wonder if some people play the violin bowing with their left hand?
This short essay discusses the pros and cons of that approach:
https://www.connollymusic.com/stringovation/left-handed-violinist-what-you-need-to-know
But I am so used to seeing right handed bowing that the photos of left handed bowing just seems so “wrong”. Of course the air waves and our ears don’t care.
You should also check out the guitarist Django Reinhardt, who had only two functioning fingers on his left hand.
R2L, I think it would be difficult to make that change (playing with the bow in the left hand), since much music has notations for bowing (when to go up and down). Everything would be backwards. I deal with this as a left-handed person in life in general, but I played violin the usual way in school, and I think it would be very difficult to do it backwards.
Kate, but if you had had a left handed violin and learned using your left hand for bowing from the beginning, would it really then be backwards for you?
I gather you did not have a left handed violin available, and with sufficient practice could master all the necessary capabilities even with your “weaker” hand.
But I am confused about bowing notations, as I would think up and down applied to both right and left handed users equally?
I played the clarinet from age 9 to 19, and then abandoned it. But there might have been times when some “breathing notations” in the score would have been helpful. 🙂
I did not know that about dhango
I saw a musician once who was missing the lower part of her left arm. She was playing the guitar right-handed, using open tuning, and barring the chords with her left arm. She had a couple of guitars on stage with her, tuned in different ways.
She was quite good.