Since I’ve played a bit of guitar since my youth, I’ve always cast a longing glance at other instruments. The piano – or the keyboard – and the people who can play them make a huge impression on me.

“How do you manage to memorize all those keys and where the notes are? They’re all white and look exactly the same,” I actually asked a keyboard player once.

He replied that they weren’t all the same and that he used the black keys for orientation.

So, I suggested painting the black keys white to see if he could still manage.

He said, “Sure, that wouldn’t be a problem.”

I retorted, “Well, things have certainly gotten easier with key-instruments; back in the day, there were no keys – pianos and keyboards used rotary dials, and it took ages to dial your way to the right note.“

Strangely enough, he didn’t laugh.

As I said: I admire people who can handle keyboard instruments – I just don’t think they have any sense of humor.