The Hat

When you begin playing the piano for video you learn at once why pianists always wear hats. In addition to its primary function of masking baldness, the hat serves a myriad of purposes: lending a jaunty air; casting a shadow of mystery; mitigating shortness of stature; providing variation from the naturally dull shape of the head; to name but a few. If you want to get ahead, get a hat. That’s what they say.

Before we started making the videos for Walt that show me playing the piano, I never wore hats at all, but allowed my scalp to luxuriate healthfully in the open air. I therefore don’t know hats and can’t tell you anything of substance about my own, but apparently it’s what you call a stingy brim fedora, which I must say suits Walt perfectly.