January 20 2016, 23:45

Learning to play the piano is like learning a new language. The skills are the same. There is an alphabet – the notes. There are “phrases”. There is a coherent “grammar”. There is a specific “accent” unique to each person-instrument pair. There are various dialects – styles. There is a simplified language, and there is the “literary” one. The “language” itself changes over time and this is distinctly audible. There are its own “Pushkins” and “Shakespeares”. There is a “written language”, and there is a “spoken” one, and knowing one does not mean knowing the other.

I’ll go play something.