The Hammered String Family

The Piano

The piano is a keyboard instrument comprised of 88 keys. There are two kinds of instruments in the string family, the first are the “bowed” instruments, like the violin. The second are the plucked, or hammered instruments, like the piano, whose strings are struck by a small hammer which moves when a player pushes down a key. It is the grand piano which is used in an orchestra.

Jennifer Bourdages, Principal piano of the Orchestre Métropolitain

Did you know?

The piano isn’t always used in an orchestra, but when it is, it is usually teamed up with the percussion instruments and the harp.

Musical excerpts

In Pines of Rome, the piano blends in perfectly with the musical tapestry created by the strings, and plays a much more percussive role in the excerpt of Petrushka by Igor Stravinsky.

Igor Stravinski

Petrushka: First Tableau, Russian Dance

Dmitri Chostakovitch

Symphony No. 1: II. Allegro

Ottorino Respighi

Pines of Rome

Discover the favourite symphonic work of Jennifer Bourdages, pianist with the Orchestra Métropolitain.