Bel Canto is a term used to describe a style of singing during the 18th and early 19th centuries that emphasized beauty of tone, legato phrasing and skill in executing highly florid passages, a style Frédéric Chopin often sought to capture in his works for solo piano. This talk looks at how a piano--a percussion instrument--can be made to imitate this vocal style, with a particular emphasis on Chopin's famous nocturnes.