Yep – I’m serious. I know its crazy – think like this, percussion is when you hit an instrument with something other than your hands. Of course the widest known example of this is the drums. But this is also the case with Piano. You see, you’re hands are holding a stick which then attacks the drum – but when you play piano, your hands don’t play the note, they simply strike a wooden piece which then plays the note for you. Look at the Picture below:

When I play a key on the piano, I’m simply using it as a ‘trigger’ that strikes the strings. If you’ve ever lifted the top of a piano in order to see its insides, then now you know what’s going on.

So now you’re probably thinking about the pedals at the bottom of the piano (near your feet).

What’s the purpose of The Piano Pedal?

These pedals are connected to the white dampers that sit on the strings inside the piano. When I step on one of these pedals, then it allows the strings to sustain. Sustain in music is simply holding out a note on the piano.

So when the Damper inside gets lifted, it no longer sits on top of the strings, which then allows it to ring out. With this invention, I now have the option for a note be short or long. In addition, I can now do much more harmonic possibilities in my performances. I can now lift the dampers, play a chord, and then allow it to ring out while my hands go play another part of the piano. Think of it as having a free set of hands!

While the dampers are a fantastic addition to the instrument, there have also been other things that have excelled this beautiful instrument. One of those is the addition of more octave ranges.

So here’s a video of Peter Nero of the Philadelphia Pops playing Piano. Notice how he uses his feet in order to create Sustain, Staccato, and more:

In your pieces of music, you want that human quality. We, as humans, are constantly fluctuating the pitch of our voice, the timbre, length, speed, etc. So try to use these occurrences in your music, too. Have loud parts, quiet parts, fast parts, slow parts.

People very commonly categorize the piano as a string instrument, but it is in fact a percussion instrument. Some examples of other percussion instruments are Vibraphone, Glockenspiel, Timpani, Celesta, and Steel Drums. Here’s pictures of the Steel Drums and Vibraphone, respectively.

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