Go piano to celebrate it's inventor's birthday!

This week would mark the 360th birthday of Bartolomeo Cristofori.

You might not know this name, but he is widely credited for inventing an instrument you hear almost every day: the piano.

The piano is quite a unique instrument. Also known as the "king of instruments", it has the largest spectrum, going from below the lowest to above the highest note of any instrument in the orchestra. It's also one of the rare instruments with the ability to produce the accompaniment and the melody at the same time (although some other instruments proved to have the same ability to a lesser extent).

It's also a very popular instrument in the USA with over 10 million pianos in American homes, producing this unique sound thanks to the 7,500 parts used for the action (the apparatus that makes the sound).

If you're like most piano players reading this article and thinking "Uh, I could play some piano right now", we've got your back with about 75,000 Piano Backing Tracks available in the Piano section. Feel free to have a look at this wide range of accompaniment tracks.

Feel like only listening? Here's a selection of classical and modern pieces that showcase the instrument, and also pay great tribute to the inventor.

Published on: 6 May 2015