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| Author | Topic: Piano-Percussion, String, or both? |
Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
141.152.226.x
| posted: 9/14/2003 at 9:23:23 AM ET
Can someone help explain why a piano is both a percussion instrument and string instrument? Thanks very much!
|  Taciturn
Registered User
Registered:
8/3/2003 | posted: 9/14/2003 at 3:42:47 PM ET
Well, the sound is made by a hammer thing striking the strings. It can be considered a string instrument because it has strings. But it's more widely classified as percussion because of the striking. Percussion is classified as anything being striken. So, that's why it can be both.
| von_runkel
Registered User
Registered:
7/23/2007 | posted: 7/24/2007 at 12:25:51 AM ET
von_runkel:
Last night we had an (silly) argument about this two-side nature of the piano (grand or whatever), the techniques to make the srings vibrate - is it a percussion instrument or is it a string instrument?
In my opinion it is definevily a percussion instrument. Remember where the grand piano is placed during a "non piano solo concert" (if you see what I mean.)Isn't the piano placed rather closed to the rythm section?,
I have never seen a comp-pianist during a serious concert sitting in the lap of the strings (either at the bass, violins, cellos or violas.
Only because it is wired with steel? string it doues's make it as a candidate for beeing a string instrumment. Its the hammer thar sets the string in vibration, and the hammer in the percussionivist part of the sound.
If you take, for example, a marimba.Is it a percussion instrument. Yes, we say, but what happens when the marinba woodblocks eventually worn out and you replace them with heavy duty steel (to get the correct sound and tension. Sooner or later we end up with a steel marimba, which works like a piano but instead of pushing buttons, you hit the steelgrid with your padded sticks.
What's the difference, is a grand piano considered as a percussive or string instrument?
Well I can agree with you here somewhat:
ell, the sound is made by a hammer thing striking the strings. It can be considered a string instrument because it has strings. But it's more widely classified as percussion because of the striking. Percussion is classified as anything being striken.
>So, that's why it can be both.
Sorry I disagree, cause if an instrument have strings on (in) it - is it per automatic an string instrument??
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
72.160.241.x
| posted: 8/9/2007 at 9:49:05 PM ET
Keyboard along with organ, harpsichord, etc.
I suppose an argument could be made for the "percussion" classification, but consider this.
A percussionist is expected to cover percussion parts in wind ensemble, chamber, and orchestral music, right? Do percussionsts or pianists move to play the piano parts in peices like Gillingham's "The Echo never Fades", Copland's "Appalachian Suite", or Bartok's "Sonata for two Pianos and percussion"?
Pianists do, because we percussionsts have enough instruments to worry about playing well without having to study the immense repertoire required of pianists. Thank you!
Even the title of the Bartok, Two pianists and percussion indicates that piano should be considered a seperate section. Otherwise it would need to be retitled - For Four percussionsts (which is already taken by Ronald Keezer)
Percussion is anything struck, scraped, or shaken, so I guess piano is technically a percussion instrument, but realistically it's more of a keyboard instrument.
Two exceptions I can think of is Varese's Ionization and Some of John Cage's music which uses piano in a very percussive manner
| Anonymous
Anonymous Poster
From Internet Network:
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| posted: 6/9/2010 at 9:34:07 PM ET
Definitely percussion; you strike it to produce the sound. The ideal percussionist plays piano (pitched percussion instrument) as well as traditionally recognized pitched and non-pitched percussion instruments.
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