Music has had a positive impact on me. I can’t really articulate the emotions that I feel about when I’m really into a song. My voice gets louder and I guess my emotions would be like passion. And like if the song has really powerful lyrics, yeah. I can connect with them.
Sunny Cefaratti
Jennifer:
Hi everybody, I would like to introduce you to Sunny, who I met years ago. I remember I was at a conference, an autism conference, and I heard this beautiful piano playing. And I was like, where is that coming from? And I found my way to the piano and there you were playing away. And that was the first day we met and became friends. You remember that?
Sunny:
I do. Yes.
Jennifer:
And so we’ve been friends ever since. And lately we’ve been talking a lot more because we’ve been in Troupe together, OG Troupe, and I know what I learned about you there was that you have perfect pitch.
Sunny:
That is correct. Yes.
Jennifer:
And I have something called relative pitch, which is less rare than perfect pitch, but I thought it would be cool if we talked about our gifts and our process for learning a song, because both of us learn differently than a lot of people learn their music. I thought it would be cool for us to explain what perfect pitch and relative pitch is and to describe our process.
So I’m going to start with you because you have perfect pitch. Now, you obviously know what perfect pitch is Sunny, but for the audience let’s explain. Perfect pitch is where, and correct me if I’m wrong, you can identify any note by just hearing it correct?
Sunny:
Yes. And you usually do not need a reference tone.
Jennifer:
Exactly. Like if I were to play a note, you would just know that’s an A, or a C for example, correct?
Sunny:
Yes.
Jennifer:
And so you don’t need a reference. That’s where the big difference is because I have relative pitch and where sometimes I can tell you the note without reference, it’s not perfect. And obviously that’s the difference because yours is perfect. You don’t miss. Mine is relative where a lot of times I need a reference note. So if somebody plays a note, I’ll try to replicate it. If I get it wrong the first time, then I’ll know where the note is, because I know in my mind, the corresponding distance to the correct note. So that’s relative pitch versus perfect pitch.
Sunny, I was wondering if you could tell us about your process of learning a song. You are also blind, correct?
Sunny:
Yes. Yes. I am.
Jennifer:
So you have another layer to learning music because you can not read sheets, but you have very special skills in learning music. And I would love to hear about when you listen to a song, explain to me, take me through that from when you hear it, what goes on in your mind, what you think, what you feel.
Sunny:
So basically I am a person who plays by ear and I learn music just by hearing it. I could listen to a song on the radio. I could also use YouTube, which is something that has never been accessible to me before 2016. And sometimes I hear the song in my head and I can just sit down at the piano and play it and sing it.
Jennifer:
That’s amazing. So, do you also remember the song after the first time you hear it?
Sunny:
I do. Yes.
Jennifer:
That’s amazing. So when you go to the piano, tell me, I know it’s hard to articulate because it’s hard to articulate for me too, but can you tell me a little deeper what you feel or how, you know, where those notes are? Like, do you use your sense of touch? Do you just have a sense of space? How do you know?
Sunny:
I use my sense of touch.
Jennifer:
Ok. So to play the notes, you just know where the notes are and you’ll just start playing it. And in the right key?
Sunny:
I do. Sometimes I have to transpose the key, if it’s the song is too high [for singing].
Jennifer:
Right. And you can do that as well. You just say, Oh, I want to play this two steps lower and you do?
Sunny:
Yeah. Basically
Jennifer:
Sunny, that’s really awesome. And I really think that it’s a very special gift. I was wondering if you could tell us about any emotions you feel with music, like what music does for you?
Sunny:
Music has had a positive impact on me. I can’t really articulate the emotions that I feel about when I’m really into a song. My voice gets louder and I guess my emotions would be like passion. And like if the song has really powerful lyrics, yeah. I can connect with them.
Jennifer:
That’s beautiful. Sunny, you also have autism, correct?
Sunny:
Yes, I do.
Jennifer:
I know for me, music helps me connect with people in the world a little better because it’s so embedded in me. How do you feel about music and your autism? Do you think there’s a connection?
Sunny:
Yeah, I think so.
Jennifer:
Yeah. me too. I think maybe if I didn’t have autism, I might not have the skills I have. I think we tend to have attention to detail and we are very observant and pick up on the nuances of things. How do you feel about that?
Sunny:
I guess you’re right. Yeah.
Jennifer:
Do you think music has helped you make friends and meet new people?
Sunny:
Yeah. Sometimes.
Jennifer:
Yeah. Like that’s how we met. And then through Troupe of course we meet people. I know before COVID you were doing performances and things. And so that’s what I wanted to ask you next. What are your plans for the future?
Sunny:
Start my music business, then my public speaking business.
Jennifer:
Right. So is there anything you wanted to tell people about that?
Sunny:
So my business idea is Sunshine Music and Speaking. That’s basically when I play concerts for the elderly and I speak on behalf of people with disabilities.
Jennifer:
That’s awesome Sunny. And that’s really great that you have goals to use your music for the future. I’m really happy for you and I know you’re going to do well.
If you’d like to see more about what Sunny does, I’m going to put some links below.
So thank you so much for hanging out with us. Thank you for talking with me Sunny about your skills.
Sunny:
Thank you.
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