Nice thread, M-Tom. It's good to see some good music threads here.

I agree about music being apprehended in more than just aural ways, especially when you play it yourself. That's part of the power and magic of it. It's not just mathematics (though many also find that subject beautiful) applied to sound frequencies. I always "see" the music with an inner eye as well: the peaks and valleys, the bright and more subdued tones, shapes of musical phrases... they all create a picture in my mind. Not a painting because it isn't static nor unevolving.

A similar idea was touched on in this recent thread started by Jerry R.