Piano

The piano (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpjaːno]; an abbreviation of pianoforte [pjanoˈfɔrte]) is a musical instrument played using a keyboard. It is widely employed in classical, jazz, traditional and popular music for solo and ensemble performances, accompaniment, and for composing and rehearsal. Although the piano is not portable and often expensive, its versatility and ubiquity have made it one of the world's most familiar musical instruments.

An acoustic piano usually has a protective wooden case surrounding the soundboard and metal strings, and a row of 88 black and white keys (52 white, 36 black). The strings are sounded when the keys are pressed, and silenced when the keys are released. The note can be sustained, even when the keys are released, by the use of pedals.

Pressing a key on the piano's keyboard causes a padded (often with felt) hammer to strike strings. The hammer rebounds, and the strings continue to vibrate at their resonant frequency. These vibrations are transmitted through a bridge to a soundboard that amplifies by more efficiently coupling the acoustic energy to the air. When the key is released, a damper stops the strings' vibration, ending the sound. Although an acoustic piano has strings, it is usually classified as a percussion instrument because the strings are struck rather than plucked (as with a harpsichord or spinet); in the Hornbostel-Sachs system of instrument classification, pianos are considered chordophones. With technological advances, electric, electronic, and digital pianos have also been developed.

Pianos (club)

Pianos is a two-story bar/restaurant/live music venue in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan at 158 Ludlow Street. Its stage attracts local and national alternative rock groups as well as DJs, though a more typical performance consists of smaller name local and touring acts.

Pianos follows the example of Arlene's Grocery by keeping the "Pianos" name and sign from the store that previously existed there when it was conceivable that a piano store might make it on the Lower East Side. Pianos has two stages: one that has upstairs in a funky loungelike setting, and one in a back room off the main floor.

Seth Kugel of The New York Times praised Pianos' menu as "surprisingly respectable", likening it to bar food that has been subjected to a transformation on Extreme Makeover. Kugel singled out the red wine burger encrusted in black pepper, and fried mozzarella served with roasted basil tomato.

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