Thank you recommendations, I will give them a listen. You sound like an excellent teacher, and you're of course spot-on about how powerful piano is for composi

Thank you recommendations, I will give them a listen. You sound like an excellent teacher, and you're of course spot-on about how powerful piano is for composing. I always felt that when I tried to compose from string instruments (banjo or guitar mostly) there were just certain left-hand positions that were so awkward to transition between or hold for long periods, that they weren't worth exploring, even if I liked the sound. It's been really fun to sort of be able to run wild with the keyboard, it feels like experimenting is easier so I get more experiments in. There was one other big thing that surprised me, as someone who was formerly turned off by experiencing the whole "room full of 8-year olds with the cheapest casios learning from one teacher and a workbook"-style of piano instruction. I grew up with one of those cheap digital keyboards with the light up keys and gazillion sounds, and it was never more than a novelty. It wasn't until I went to a friend's house last year and they showed me their piano (a big old yamaha upright they got second-hand) when I realized that the tactile feel from properly weighted keys is amazing. I ended up getting an alesis with weighted keys, 16 voices, and pretty much no bells and whistles - but the experience of playing it is just night and day compared to the stuff I had been exposed to before that.