The Mysterious Gift Of Musical Savants

Lesley Stahl Checks In On A Boy With An Extraordinary Musical Talent

(CBS) 
It may be a gift common to all musical savants; Rachel Flowers can hear a piece of music once, and then play every instrument’s part.

"She heard 'Maiden Voyage' by Herbie Hancock once on a CD. And she came to me the next week and she said, 'Well, I love it.' And I said, 'Well, you wanna sequence it?' That means actually lay it down, track, by track, by track. And what she did was she laid down the piano to 'Maiden Voyage,'" David Pinto recalled.

Using the synthesizer’s keyboard, Rachel played the drum line to add onto the piano she had already recorded; next she switched to trumpets, performing the trumpet solo from the Hancock piece.

"She did all the parts herself?" Stahl asked.

"Oh yeah. Yeah, she did all the parts herself," Pinto replied.

Asked if they were what she had heard or whether is was pure improvisation, Pinto said, "They were exactly what she heard, except for the trumpet solo … which was the most amazing, hip solo."

Does Ockelford think people will ever understand how these remarkable musicians do it? “No. I don't think so. We don't understand how, how any of us enjoys music or can play, let alone a Derek or a Rex who have such outstanding abilities,” he says.

Just imagine what Rex’s life would be without music. This little boy was flown with his mother halfway around the world to Tokyo last year for his first paid concert before an international audience of 3,000 people.

If Rex keeps at it the way Derek has, with lessons and practicing every day, though he may never be a virtuoso classical soloist, he may well be headed toward a career in music that will outlive the childish charm.

"People can sense a sweetness from the stage don't they?" Stahl asked Pinto. "Oh yes. Later on, though, aside from his disability, aside from that he's an adorable kid. When he's a grown-up, can he compete in the world of music? I think so," he replied.