10-Year-Old With No Arms Plays Trumpet With Only His Feet

We've grown so accustomed to seeing Stevie Wonder perform like he did last night at the Grammys that sometimes we might take for granted not just his talent, but also the obstacles he overcame to learn those skills.

Jahmir Wallace, who says Wonder is his inspiration, is not one of those people.

The 10-year-old student at Green Street Elementary School in Phillipsburg, N.J., was born without arms. His older sister used to play piano, and that piqued Wallace's musical curiosity. Undeterred by his disability, the fifth-grader learned the trumpet, playing it with his feet.

"I kind of felt excited," Wallace recalled to WFMZ-TV in Allentown, Pa., after playing his first note, about four months ago. "I kind of felt like, 'Oh, man, this is kind of comfortable,' and it kind of felt like this might be the one for me."

A custom trumpet stand constructed by a local music store helped Wallace feel at ease with the instrument.

"Everybody who knew him said, 'If Jahmir wants to play the trumpet, we want him to play the trumpet,'" music teacher Desiree Kratzer told the TV station. She is one of many faculty and administrators at the school supporting Wallace.

"To see how he moves his toes like we move our fingers, it's amazing," said school principal Raffaele LaForgia.

But while adults marvel at Wallace's resilience, the student actually credits Kratzer, saying that "if it wasn't for her, I would never know what the trumpet was."

Wallace also believes that his story can inspire others.

"Anybody out there that would like to try an instrument, go ahead and try it," he said. "You never know: If you like it, you like it; if you don't, you don't. Keep on trying."

It's a great piece of advice from a young musician who might just end up with his own Grammy moment one day.