After two blows to the head, 17-year-old Lachlan Connors is now a virtuoso.
My mom had been trying to get me to learn piano for a while, but I could barely play simple songs like "Für Elise." Then one morning in 2008—a couple of months after I was hospitalized for seizures I'd had after two sports-related concussions—I sat down at the piano and from nowhere played "Moonlight Sonata." By ear. It was baffling. I just went through each note, deciding what sounded right. Now I can figure out some songs in only five or ten minutes and play14 instruments by ear:
Piano
Guitar
Mandolin
Ukulele
Banjo
Accordion
Karimba
Bass
Bagpipes
Harmonica
Button box
Melodica
Organ
Appalachian
Dulcimer
My doctors still aren't exactly sure how this happened. I had symptoms that resembled the epilepsy that some researchers think Chopin had. When I hear a song for the first time, I think, "Hmm, that's an interesting sound." Then I develop an intense hunger to re-create it. I feel a connection to each instrument, like my mind syncs with the sounds it makes.
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