For me personally, the piano is the most amazing instrument. I am absolutely fascinated by it’s invention (1701 to be exact) and cultural evolution over time. I love the timbre (pronounced ‘tam-ber’ like ‘amber’), which is the musical term for an instrument’s unique tone quality. I also love the percussive aspects of the piano, lending to that visceral experience of executing sweeping dynamics and exciting rhythms. Did you know that the piano is actually a percussion instrument? Despite the strings that are present in an acoustic piano, the instrument belongs to the percussion family. When you depress a piano key, a hammer strikes its corresponding strings to produce the sound, much like a drumstick is needed to strike a snare. If you think about, the piano is basically a drum kit that not only produces a beat but tones simultaneously…what an amazing thing! The piano has historically been used by composers (of many instrumental backgrounds and genres) for its ability to arrange and play polyphonic musical ideas, meaning you can play harmony and melody AND the rhythm section simultaneously. One must also consider the extreme functionality of the keyboard’s linear layout and how user friendly it is. The piano remains the quintessential resource for learning chords and music theory (the language of music and how to ‘speak’ it). Talk about a win!