Other than drums ....

No, it uses strings, so it is actually a stringed instrument I believe.

I too like the piano a lot.

"Technically" it is a percussion instrument because the hammers strike the strings.
 
A piano is a percussion instrument since the hammers hit the strings. They are not bowed, plucked, or strummed.
 
Not only is the piano a percussion instrument, you tend to approach it the same way we approach playing a set of drums. You have two hands doing (sometimes) opposite things. Your brain has to get used to reading two different music lines and in TWO clefs, no less! You have to learn how to read keys, chord symbols, notes.... Your feet are adding to the expression, and if you decide you want to start singing, that's only 5 or 6 different things going on at any one time.

And, it has the added advantage of being able to get more work! Every church, every choir, every piano bar, has a piano player. Students are encouraged to learn either piano or guitar at a young age, so piano teachers are in demand. By playing the piano, you're getting a full working knowledge of music theory, throw in some transposition skill and you can arrange music for others (you don't have to be a great player for that, but you'll know). And you notice, the piano player, unlike us drummers, never brings along his own piano? Those are always provided! Something's not fair here....
 
i'm curious here since it's being brought up. how exactly do you define a piano as a percussion instrument? if it's only the fact the the hammer is striking the strings, that would also make a fair amount of lap guitars a percussion instrument. and hammer notes on a standard guitar would also turn that into a percussion instrument as well. now consider not all pianos use a hammer , some use a quill that plucks the string, granted their all very old models but they are still pianos none the less, and the piano itself is classified as a type of harpsichord. then you come to the electric piano, no hammer, no strings, is it still a percussion instrument or string instrument?

so really where does a piano fall? kinda seems to fall in between classifications to me....
 
i'm curious here since it's being brought up. how exactly do you define a piano as a percussion instrument? if it's only the fact the the hammer is striking the strings, that would also make a fair amount of lap guitars a percussion instrument. and hammer notes on a standard guitar would also turn that into a percussion instrument as well. now consider not all pianos use a hammer , some use a quill that plucks the string, granted their all very old models but they are still pianos none the less, and the piano itself is classified as a type of harpsichord. then you come to the electric piano, no hammer, no strings, is it still a percussion instrument or string instrument?

so really where does a piano fall? kinda seems to fall in between classifications to me....


Yeah, it really does fall in between classifications. I have seen it considered a string instrument as well as a percussion instrument (and it's really both). Currently, most consider it a part of the specialized "keyboard" family. This takes away debate over the classification and allows the inclusion of old keyboard instruments as well as key-controlled synthesizers. So, I would just call it a part of the keyboard family.
 
ok i got really curious and looked it up in depth. a piano falls under the category of chordophone.

definition time:

a stringed instrument is any musical instrument in which sound is produced by the vibration of a string across a soundboard or soundbox

A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement, shaken, rubbed, scraped, or by any other action which sets the object into vibration.

A chordophone is any musical instrument which makes sound by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points.

but most definitions of chordophone also state something to this effect:

Instruments known as "chordophones" are defined as string instruments, but some such as these examples are percussion instruments also. then goes on to list 20 or so examples...

ummm i just confused myself even more. ok, so, a piano is a chordophone which is a stringed instrument based on the general way the instrument makes it sounds (having strings vibrating as it's primary source of sound) but is also classified as a percussion instrument because of how the strings are excited. so i'm gong with " a piano is a stringed instrument that is played percussively".
 
A piano is a percussion instrument since the hammers hit the strings. They are not bowed, plucked, or strummed.


Really? I was always under the impression it was a stringed instrument. Learned something new today. :)
 
I used to think saxophone was the instrument I cared most for. But really it was the guys playing it I liked. This may sound pretentious, and I don't mean it to, but anything played well. I think the musician is more important than the instrument. A vocal by Ella sounds better than a vocal by Paully Shore.
 
I absolutly love the sound of a string orchestra with a piano, if done right its one of the few things that can bring tears to my eyes.

But if i had to choose one, definitly the violin, when played by a master ive never heard anything sound so powerful and heartwrenchingly beautiful at the same time.
 
Violin, or grand piano, I am equally in love with both.

Despite the fact I was a brass musician for many years I don't particularly like the timbre of brass/woodwind, not compared to say a brilliant electric guitar, it is no where near as versatile.
 
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LOL, I think it's favorite instrument...

Mine would be Electric Guitar hands down..some guitar riffs are more moving than a alot of drum grooves to me

The electric guitar is insanely versatile, from detuned E# rhythmic chuggery to dissonant C standard overtones... Then you have Open G slide guitar, over-driven blues, finger picked fretless... it goes on and on in a way that makes me envious as someone that used to play brass.
 
i'm curious here since it's being brought up. how exactly do you define a piano as a percussion instrument? if it's only the fact the the hammer is striking the strings, that would also make a fair amount of lap guitars a percussion instrument. and hammer notes on a standard guitar would also turn that into a percussion instrument as well. now consider not all pianos use a hammer , some use a quill that plucks the string, granted their all very old models but they are still pianos none the less, and the piano itself is classified as a type of harpsichord. then you come to the electric piano, no hammer, no strings, is it still a percussion instrument or string instrument?

so really where does a piano fall? kinda seems to fall in between classifications to me....

Those 'old pianos' aren't pianos at all. They're Harpsichords. You seem to be getting them mixed up. The Harpsichord has the quill pluck.

My older brother is a virtuoso pianist and used to get invited to play recitals at a piano museum near me (it's called Finchcocks and it's near Hastings on the South Coast of England) they have a massive collection of all kinds of keyboard instruments ranging from a 17th Century barrel organ and chamber organ (in original D/F sharp tuning) a range of pianofortes and fortepianos (they are different instruments too). The best part? They let you sit down and play them. Even better? They're all in their historical tunings.

The great advancement of the modern piano (and the fortepiano as well) was that it allowed real dynamics on a keyboard instrument. Harpsichords lack direct dynamic control on the keyboard as do organs, the piano allows this to occur. Hence the name 'pianoforte' meaning 'soft loud' in Italian.

The Harpsichord is NOT a piano. I've played a few, I know the difference!
 
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