'I thought I couldn’t do it': Sask. woman plays piano despite missing fingers

SASKATOON -

A Saskatoon woman is changing the tune around disabilities and music.

Louise Gurski was born with just one finger on her left hand.

“I’ve always wanted to play piano, ever since I was a kid, but because of my disability, I thought I couldn’t do it,” she tells CTV News.

But now, she’s proving herself, and others, wrong.

“I want to play for me, to do something that makes me happy,” Gurski says, sitting beside her piano.

She uses her right hand to play chords and her left finger to hit notes.

Gurski learned the technique virtually from teacher Mark Miller, based in Chicago.

“She’s getting quite good and is a pleasure to teach,” Miller says.

Miller crafts the music, specifically to Gurski’s abilities.

“He is so patient with me,” Gurski says, laughing.

They have lessons over Skype.

“Music is so powerful. To be able to bring music to people’s lives that would not ordinarily think they could play, it’s so rewarding,” the teacher says.

Miller teaches students all over the world with varying physical challenges, including students who are blind.

Miller says Gurski is proof that physical challenges aren’t a barrier to playing an instrument.

“If you want to play, just do it. Who cares what everyone else thinks,” she says.