Father with dementia can still improvise and compose beautiful music, son's video shows

One man in Great Britain is showing how powerful music really can be.

Paul Harvey, 80, is a former composer who suffers from dementia.

His son Nick says his father used to be able to improvise a piece of music after being given four random notes.

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When Paul struggled to play the piano last Thursday, Nick asked him if he could still improvise a tune and gave him four notes. He then recorded video as Paul began playing. 

What followed was a haunting melody as Paul's fingers gracefully glided across the piano's keys.

"Dad's ability to improvise and compose beautiful melodies on the fly has always amazed me," Nick wrote. "Tonight, I gave him four random notes as a starting point."

He added, "Although his dementia is getting worse, moments like this bring him back to me."

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The video promptly went viral on Twitter, racking up over 1.5 million views as of Monday afternoon.

The day after he posted the video, Nick said he was overwhelmed by the response. 

"I just rang him to tell him that he’s gone viral," Nick said. "He replied, saying that as long as the virus isn’t Covid, he’s happy."