Twisted talent: backwards piano

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - A rare 'syndrome' went viral in a good way for a local student leaving hundreds of thousands of people stunned and stretching for answers about his unique musical talent.

Evan Petrone, 19, started playing piano when he could barely reach the keys and his mom tells us that is also when he became a bit of a stretch at family parties.

“We noticed little antics,’” Laurie Petrone tells us in this week’s Street Story.

We tried to match his rubber band contortions that include the flexibility to reach one arm all the way over his head to touch the ear on the opposite side. He can also crush an aluminum can between his shoulder blades.

“I discovered it just fooling around with my friends. That's when I knew I was more flexible than other people.”

Ehlers Danlos Syndrome is what makes him so flexible but Petrone tells us that disorder sounds far worse than it is. It was one day in band at North Kingstown High School when he was coaxed into aiming those rubbery limbs at a keyboard.

He practiced facing the piano with his hands crossed. Then, once he learned a song, he cranked his elbows and wrenched his fingers the other way.

“And it's not only that. It's playing the opposite direction. So, in my head, the way it goes in my brain, it feels like my hands are playing into each other.”

That is a slightly gnarled explanation for this contorted ability but the real twist is he can tickle only two octaves at time. Right now, that limits him to one melody.

“Because most songs move all over the place,” he explains.

A video he put on You Tube last Spring is what brought his unique talent to the world. Almost right away, Petrone noticed about 400 hits that he believes were mostly from friends but then in September it took off.

“By the end of one day I had a hundred thousand views from Japan alone.”

Now, the video is approaching 700,000 hits which led to appearances on two national talk shows and offers to do two more. For now, at least, the American University student will focus on his studies and learning a second song.