Character shows off a skill that doesn't seem like anything special to the layman but is unbelievably impressive to those who know the craft.

[u/SpookieSkelly]

1. Giotto of Florence from real life. The pope wanted to commission a painter and sent a messenger to collect works from a bunch of artists so that he may examine their skill. When the messenger got to Giotto, Giotto simply freehand drew a perfect circle on a sheet of paper in front of the messenger. The messenger was confused, but Giotto told him that it'll make sense once he tells the pope how he drew the circle. Sure enough, the pope recognised the skill it takes to draw a perfect circle freehand without a compass and gave Giotto the commission.
2. Johnny from The Devil Came Down to Georgia. While the Devil's solo sounds cooler on the surface, Johnny's solo is actually more difficult to play and showcases more advanced technical skill.

[u/Citizen_Kong]

Salieri being absolutely stunned in the movie "Amadeus" that Mozart is simply writing down his compositions from memory.

[u/NEBanshee → u/Citizen_Kong]

There was a languages professor at my uni who was a Mozart scholar. I asked him once if it were true that no sheet music of his has ever been found with a correction or change, and at that point, it was (prolly still is, barring the old "found this in the wall/attic/basement during reno" thing that happens). He speculated that it was because Mozart wrote and re-wrote everything in his head and didn't commit it to sheet until it was perfect. Possibly developed the habit because Mozart's dad was a kinda harsh disciplinarian around wee Wolfie's music when he was a kid; he likely learned to keep any mistakes out of his father's notice.

[u/fuckyourcanoes → u/NEBanshee]

Interestingly, this is how my husband designs electronic circuits. He works and reworks them in his head and when he commits them to the circuit testing software they're perfect 99% of the time.

He's designing audio gear, so not really basic stuff.

I'm incredibly envious of his ability to think things through. I have ADHD, and I'm a quick, intuitive thinker. But faced with complexity I completely fall apart. (Except in the kitchen. My brain understands food.)

But my husband is a very, very smart, impressive guy. Who also got suckered into Amway at one point and had a near miss with Scientology. Nobody's perfect.

[u/ITinnedUrMumLastNigh → u/fuckyourcanoes]

Impressive, I wish I was actually able to design a circuit in my mind but right now I'm only able to think of general concepts of the design

[u/fuckyourcanoes → u/ITinnedUrMumLastNigh]

He's autistic AF, but my god, when he does a thing, he always gets it right the first time. It's so amazing.

If something isn't immediately obvious to me, I'm fucking lost. But a lot of things are very obvious to me.

I feel so lucky. We balance each other out really well. Between the two of us, we're a well-oiled machine. And we're as comfortable together as a pair of old boots.

Don't knock it till you've tried it.

[u/Wolfman1099 → u/fuckyourcanoes]

Can you make mental pictures? I am a quick intuitive thinker with ADHD but I assume part of the intuitive thinking is because I can’t make mental pictures and don’t have an internal monologue. Elaborate planning is difficult without those things

[u/fuckyourcanoes → u/Wolfman1099]

I can make mental pictures, bit I get distracted really easily.

[u/reapy54 → u/NEBanshee]

Do you think there was a cost and availability issue with parchment and quill/ink at the time that he just developed the skill out of necessity?

[u/NEBanshee → u/reapy54]

Certainly there were times both as a kid and adult, when family income was erratic, but Dad was a music teacher, so it seems like materials would not be wanting. That said, perfectly reasonable to presume EVERYBODY who wasn't uber-wealthy was conservative with paper of any kind (eg, even among aristocracy at the time, it was common to write letters on previously used paper & use even both sides of the envelope to write on.)

At no point was he actually a pauper by the standards of his time (the movie/play exaggerates on this point, and others). He always had social connections &/or patrons. And he did create "sketches" for his works - the equivalent of storyboarding. But none of his sketches would include the piano - he appears to have performed freestyle, when playing his pieces, and his personal "autographs" - the composer's version of the score were minimal to an extreme.

It seems like it was more his way of working; do it in his head, when he had what he thought he wanted, he'd play it to see how it sounded, then would come a sketch or two, then a score.

Or at least, this was Prof's hypothesis. I'm sure other scholars, musicologists, biographers have others!

[u/Literati_drake → u/Citizen_Kong]

The composer Gregorio Allegri wrote "Miserere Mei, Deus"; it's very beautiful, fiendishly complex and it was only preformed in the Sistine Chapel during Holy Week. Meaning it was preformed maybe a dozen times over the course of 7 days once a year. For about 150 years.

No one was allowed to copy the music sheets for use outside the chapel. None of the former choirboys could perform it outside the Chapel on threat of ex-communication.

Mozart, rock star that he was, attended a single performance.

Then proceeded to go back to his rooms and transcribe the entire piece.