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Old 09-13-2004, 08:11 PM
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David David is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by heyjupiter678
How do you know she hasn't? I don't believe we've heard enough of Stevie playing instruments to accurately judge her progress (or lack thereof) over the past 40+ years.
In Stevie's case, I think I have -- certainly for the piano, at least. I have a lot of recordings of Stevie playing the piano & singing from the 1970s & 1980s -- you've probably heard all that stuff, too -- & I have quite a few more recent recordings of Stevie playing from the past ten years, including a bunch of radio shows on which she plays "Rhiannon," "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You," "Silent Night" & others. I really feel I've got a very good grasp of her ability at the keyboard. I hear no advance in her playing from six or eight years ago compared with twenty or twenty-five years ago. All in all, I just don't think it's her strength. I teach piano; I've worked with dozens of kids & some adults over the years, & I've never encountered anyone else who didn't improve -- at least somewhat -- in all that time, except my grand old dad, who has played piano at the Stevie Nicks level for roughly twenty years.

People always remind me that she played piano on "Sara" & electric piano on "Love Changes," but those are beginner-level performances. They match up exactly with the level of ability one hears on Stevie's demos. There's just been no movement toward the intermediate level in Stevie's playing, & it's been a looooooong time.
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