Piano

For some, the piano belongs to the Keyboard family of musical instruments, for obvious reasons. Others say pianos are from the String family, because they have strings (or classify it as a chordophone... I'm not sure what that is). And for some, they are a part of the Percussion family, because sound is made with a striking action of little felt hammers (or spoons, in Manny's case).

What a magnificent instrument! "Piano" is actually an abbreviation of "Pianoforte" (literally, "slowly-strongly"), named for its capacity for a wide range of volumes and timbres. The piano crosses many genres of music, over many eras. It plays well with other instruments or hold the stage all on its own. It can lead or accompany. And it's great fun to play with its harmonics, lid up! The piano the instrument you'd turn to if you were to reduce an orchestral score to be playable for one. It's the best teaching tool for music theory and it's great in composition. But you can't play it around a bonfire.