the piano is a percussion instrument
…so why not use it to make the rhythm backing track?🧐
Factoids
#1 although (obviously) the instrument uses strings to produce the 88 tuned notes (on most pianos), in orchestral scores the piano is grouped with the percussion section because the keys are struck, it provides rhythmic emphasis, and it cannot sustain or swell a note like a bowed string instrument
#2 some pianists have developed this feature of the piano, using the wooden case, fittings and mechanisms to create percussion effects during performance. Hungarian composer /maestro Peter Bence shows how he does this in his arrangement +recording of Michael Jackson’s ‘Human Nature’, using ‘looping & layering’ of the recorded percussion sounds in the mixer desk to create the rhythm backing track to his keyboard performance