A while back, I asked my good friend who attends the San Francisco Conservatory of Music what her school is like. She said only one thing to me, but I never forgot it. All she said was, “Playing the piano is really hard.” That has been my philosophy about pianos ever since.

When I was given Carly Comando’s One Take, a compilation of instrumental piano compositions, I was taken aback for two reasons. The first was that each number is made up of layers of seemingly simple notes. The second reason was that each composition is startlingly, chillingly moving and spine-tingling – but in a tender, loving way. In as much as every song evokes a piece of powerful imagery and is titled as such (“Bear,” “Fall,” “Fairy Princess,” “Peaceful,” etc.).

One Take is a mood, composed and completed in just that — a single take. Comando used an improvisational method while recording the album, and what you hear is exactly what you get: a snapshot of an emotion. In being a snapshot, the songs do not just come together to tell a specific story, but are instead, moments, given to the listener to interpret them into personal feelings.

Carly Comando is no unknown, despite One Take being her debut album. Her composition, “Everyday,” has been featured as the score to the short video, “Noah Takes a Photo of Himself Every Day for 6 Years,” which has gained a cult following on the web. The song is also an Amnesty International anthem, an NBA commercial, as well as various other TV and film soundtracks.

Comando’s One Take is truly an inspired endeavor. Even for those with only a little appreciation for piano music, this album is enough to reconsider that view and understand that “playing the piano is really hard.”

(Deep Elm Records, 210 N. Church Street, Suite 2502, Charlotte, NC 28202-2385)