I’ve heard that, and said that, but usually it is more specific (toca quitarra=plays the guitar, toca piano= plays the piano). I’ve used it more when I put a CD or have my radio turn on and people ask me what I’m doing, although I’m more likely to say “poner musica” “to put music on”.
If you’re making music with your voice, wouldn’t that be “to sing”? (cantar)
Finnish:
music: soittaa (the verb musisoida is also available but not very widely used). Soittaa pianoa, soittaa huilua, soittaa kitaraa, soittaa banjoa.
games: pelata
what children do: leikkiä
Soittaa is also the one you use when calling someone on the phone. There’s also a term, “soittaa suutaan”, to play one’s mouth, which means to speak harshly or provocatively. Normally, to sing is “laulaa”.
This one must be a double entendre for the filthy-minded 
Why am I not surprised?
Interesting the Spanish… here in Mexico I’ve never heard “tocar palmas” (I read the end of that sentence anxiously waiting to see what instrument “palmas” was!). I’ve only ever heard “aplaudir,” which translation should be apparent in English.
In case anyone is curious, this is not the same as the verb 遊ぶ (asobu), which is to play in the sense of having an enjoyable time.
奏でる (kanaderu) is another verb for to play (an instrument).
In Russian, while the same verb is used for “to play a game” and “to play an instrument,” the inflection of the following word will differ. So you play football or you play hockey, but you play on the piano or you play on the violin.
It is. Somehow, I imagine it being said with the article dropped out.
Balthisar, same here in Puerto Rico, Caribbean, and as far as I know rest of Latin America.
More like a triple entendre. It’s got that meaning you thought of but also, from one of Aesop’s fables IIRC, “tocar la flauta por casualidad” (to play a flute without meaning to) means to have a very long shot pay up.
Like in Swedish, modern Norwegian has “spille” for music, sports and board-/computer-/RP-games, while what children do in the playground is “leke”, you also “leker” hide-and-go-seek, and to play fight is “lekeslåss”.
We differ in some old fashioned use of “lek” though, the Swedes speak of the Olympic Games as “Olympiska spelen (OS)” while in Norwegian it’s “Olympiske leker (OL)”.
My dictionary tells me “lek” is the old Norse word, while “spill” is a later import from German.
But, you know, they have their special approach…
As stated before, in Germany we play (spielen) an instrument, but we make (machen) music.
Yes, that is correct.
So, what you are saying is that, for once, the only language that makes any sense is Japanese.
Well, now I’ve heard it all.
Psh, Japanese makes plenty of sense! How many other languages do you know that have only **two **irregular verbs?
Slight hijack: In theatre nobody “plays” a role. The word professionals use is “do,” as in "I did Rumpleteaser in CATS, and that lead to me doing Raoul in Phantom.
Using “play” would be misleading and sacriledge. Live performing is hard work, when one becomes the character.
You can do a lot worse in Spanish.
Tocar bajo en La menor.
and a lot more along those lines.
FWIW, it sounds like the person quoted in the OP was riffing on the Willie Stargell* quote,
I’m sorry, in Canada, someone could say “Colm Feore is playing Cyrano”, and it wouldn’t raise an eyebrow. Spoken as a professional singer. Not to say you couldn’t say “I did”, “I sang”, “I danced”, “I was” - they’d all make sense. Yours is the first indication I’ve ever had that it was not in common usage elsewhere; it certainly is here.
From Colm Feore’s bio in Tribute magazine
Someone help with Chinese, please? I’ve been trying to find this forever.
Two? Bah! In Finnish we only have one.