A Blind Boy Holds A Guitar In An Unconventional Manner, But His Blues Performance Is Soul-Touching

Being blind doesn’t mean that the person is any less functional, let alone talented. All of 10 years old, this Canadian boy proved that you do not need the power of sight to understand music.

Understanding and appreciating music is one thing, but playing it well is an entirely different matter. Ten-year-old Felix De St-Hilaire from Quebec sings and plays blues guitar, making music in the style of B.B. King, Charley Patton, and Robert Johnson. But the astonishing part is he is able to play the music solely by listening to it once.

Felix got his first taste of deep public appreciation when he took to the stage for an impromptu performance at a summer camp, reported The Huffington Post. A video of his playing soulful blue has gone viral on the internet. Appearing in cute white pajamas, Felix is seen and heard singing “Every Day I Have the Blues” by B.B. King. The video, shot and uploaded by the camp director, said while his friends and family were deeply moved by the performance of a 10-year-old blind boy, he didn’t imagine it would go beyond that.

Having crossed 100,000 shares on Facebook, Felix has indeed proven the camp director wrong. What makes it even more interesting is the way Felix holds the guitar while playing blues music. Typically a guitar is slung over the neck and played when the instrument is touching the belly and the heart.

Musicians across the globe have accepted this way of holding and playing the guitar as a standard practice. Even music schools across the world, teach in the same manner. In fact, the first class is dedicated to exhibit how to hold the guitar correctly. But, Felix has been blind since birth owing to a premature pregnancy. As he grew up, he never saw how a guitar is held and holds it the way he finds most comfortable.

Felix was in so much hurry to experience the world; he had to be delivered only six months post his conception, reported The Telegraph. As soon as Felix managed to decipher the world around him, he exhibited a strong fascination towards music, “Felix used to play with drums in his high chair as a baby,” said his proud mother.

As for the guitar, he received an entry-level one when he turned six and, astonishingly, the little guy has taught himself and manages to play any song that he hears and likes, with no formal training.

[Image Credit | Youth United Press]