Organ or Piano?

Have you ever considered some of the differences between a piano and an organ?

The piano is a tuned percussion instrument. While I can play melodies and harmonies on the piano, the instrument produces sound by percussion; that is, the hammers strike the strings to set them vibrating. With 188 keys, this is a variation on the kettle or steel drums. The idea is the same: produce sound by striking something. Percussion instruments are those that are played by being struck by an object or the hand.

The organ, on the other hand, produces tones by blowing air across a pipe, similar to the way that you make sound blowing across the top of a CokeĀ® bottle, except that in an organ the air crosses the bottom of the pipe rather than the top of the bottle. It is a completely different method of producing sound from the piano, and the two instruments Continue reading “Organ or Piano?”