Spencer Hua, 7, is just minutes into his piano lesson when his mind begins to wander. He closes his eyes and rests his head on the keys. It’s normal for a child with autism to get distracted this way, ...

ROCHESTER — “A piano is just a piano,” says James Baldwin’s narrator in his short story “Sonny’s Blues.” Almost in the same breath, the narrator urges the musician “to try and make it do everything.” ...

Six months of piano lessons can heighten kindergartners' brain responses to different pitches, and improve their ability to tell apart two similar-sounding words. Christopher Intagliata reports.