Peter Torpey

PLAYING BLIND: THE PETER TORPEY TRIO

My earliest musical memories go back to when I was in second grade learning to play "The Anniversary Waltz" with the hands of my blind piano teacher resting over mine checking hand position. As my interest in playing piano continued, and after being convinced that I really would practice, my parents purchased a piano for me and I continued lessons with a variety of teachers as my skills improved.

Since my vision at the time was good enough to read printed material held only several inches from my face, I learned music by reading it a measure at a time and memorizing all of my music. This was a tedious task since, as the music became more complex, by the time I had memorized a piece I was often tired of playing it. But, as any serious musician knows, just being able to play the piece mechanically is only the start of learning to "play" a piece artistically and with the feeling intended by the composer.

In high school I attended the Manhattan School of Music on Saturdays to learn music theory, how to sight read music, and, of course, take more piano lessons! After several years of this, I decided that I was spending too many hours per day preparing for each week’s classes and lessons and just wanted to "be a kid" again. So, despite a lot of pressure from my parents, teachers, and other adults, I quit music "cold turkey" and dropped all lessons and classes.

As a physics major in college and graduate school, I picked up the guitar and flute “just for fun”. The guitar was often a relaxing companion after long days of study and research. My interest in studying music more seriously again was rekindled in graduate school when a friend introduced me to jazz. Up to that point I was always discouraged from studying and playing anything but classical music.

When it came time to look for a job, I applied to Xerox even though I wasn’t sure if they had a use for scientists. Xerox was in Rochester, New York, and that is the home of the Eastman School of Music and many other musical resources. From my first days in Rochester I’ve availed myself of a variety of courses at the Eastman School, taken lessons from a number of Eastman graduate students and professional pianists, and regularly attended popular venues around town for enjoying great jazz.

Now that I’m retired a group of friends and I with whom I’ve been playing for several decades have decided to take our music from our living rooms to the outside world and share it with others. According to our web site, "The Peter Torpey Trio" features Peter Torpey on piano, accompanied by a guitar and bass. "We play those good old jazz standards that everyone loves!"

Interestingly, until I started writing this, I hadn’t realized what a large factor music has always played in my life. Asked what I do for fun, I’ve been heard to say, "Well, I play a little piano for fun." Actually, "little" is the wrong adjective. When my wife Nancy and I designed our current house we had to make sure that the living room would comfortably fit my six and a half foot Yamaha grand piano! I guess music really is an important part of my life.

Over the years, my vision has slowly degraded to a point where I have effectively had no vision for many years now. It was a real chore for me to memorize music one measure at a time when I did have more vision and was playing classical music. With most jazz, there is far less memorization since a strict adherence to a particular sequence of notes and timing is not required. Rather, the jazz musician is afforded the opportunity to create his or her own arrangement within a rather loosely defined structure of harmony and melody.

Like anything else, however, this “creative opportunity” comes with a cost. Developing pleasing chord voicings and transitions, interesting rhythmic patterns, and melodic improvisations usually only comes after years of experience and having a solid background in music theory. In addition, one must be technically proficient at one’s instrument. Not surprisingly these were all of the skills I had learned as part of my classical training.

These days, I use the program Band-In-A-Box for learning new jazz tunes and sharing lead sheets with the other members of my trio. Using the JAWS scripts I developed to make Band-In-A-Box more accessible, I can read the chord names and listen to the melody notes as a song plays. I’ve also been known to write a song or two once in a while, including the theme music used in "Eyes On Success," the radio show that I do with my wife Nancy. "Riding High," (which you can listen to by clicking here) is another of my compositions that is more in the style of a standard jazz tune. That's me playing the piano. The backing tracks consisting of bass and drums were generated by Band-In-A-Box.

We featured Band-In-A-Box in a previous episode of Eyes On Success (when the show was called ViewPoints): 1115 "Music"(Apr. 13, 2011) and in early March will be featuring Band-in-a-Box and some new scripts I developed for the 2014 version. ( 1411 "Using Band-in-a-Box with JAWS"). Towards the end of another show – 1404 "Life as the Partner of a Blind Person" (Jan. 22, 2014) – you can also hear what the other members of my trio have to say about playing with a blind musician. As they say, as long as we all have the same general idea of what we’ll be doing for each tune, the rest just comes down to using your ears!

Also in this issue of Wordgathering, read an interview with Nancy and Peter Torpey about their radio program, Eyes on Success, a show oriented towards the interests of people with visual disabilities.