By the way, a long time ago I was a child-prodigy concert-pianist-in-training. When I was 12, I spent an entire summer preparing for my application to a music college. I practiced 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. Each day, the entire first two hours was - scales. First, you must master technique - then you may pursue emotion. Otherwise, you're just an amateur.

By the way, squared, that September I was accepted by Peter Serkin to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, at age 12. They suggested I wait a year before starting college. Then I found out that, as a rule, concert pianists don't make much money, and I liked math, and I discovered computers, and the rest is history.

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Renderosity forum reply notifications are wonky. If I read a follow-up in a thread, but I don't myself reply, then notifications no longer happen AT ALL on that thread. So if I seem to be ignoring a question, that's why. (Updated September 23, 2019)