Homeless Vancouver Man Plays Piano Flawlessly Without Formal Musical Training

In a heartwarming story that proves that natural talent can be found just about anywhere, a homeless man in Vancouver plays a tear jerking classical sounding piece on an old keyboard in a secondhand store. David Allen Welsh, a 50-year-old dispossessed man, claims that he cannot read notes and has had no formal training but can play the piano so beautifully that it moves many to tears.

Second Hand Solutions, a thrift store and coffee shop run locally by Open House Ministries, is where this incredible story of a man with absolutely nothing to his name takes place. Homeless since he was six, Welsh's frostbitten fingers have only ever played on borrowed keyboards and pianos from different stores and homeless shelters through the Pacific Northwest.

Welsh says that when he plays, he has no control over the music and can only do what feels naturally to him. The thrift shop's store manager, Rebecca Gore, talked to KATU and revealed that a local piano teacher watched a video of the man's amazing talent and was astounded as well. "I showed a video of him playing to a piano teacher and she pointed out immediately that he's using his left hand as a primary and his right hand to play the melody," Gore reported.

Gore also said that while many people have gone in to tickle the ivories of their piano, nobody has ever played like Welsh. She also adds that the piano virtuoso's fingers are obviously frostbitten and damaged by the years he has spent living in the harsh elements.

Another thing that is also noticeable when Welsh plays the piano is that he does so with closed eyes. For him, there is no need to keep them open as he does not know how to read notes, he only lets the music flow through him. "I don't know how to play music, but I like what I hear in my head. Sometimes I don't even know what key I'm pushing. My eyes aren't even open. I'm just letting the music play the music," he says to KATU.

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