As an instrument the piano truly is a work of genius. Its really the only one where a good musician can play it solo for an hour and the listener won't be desperately wishing that another instrument would join in. Its self-sufficient!

That also means that its the best instrument for messing around with on your own, its got the rhythm, harmony and melody sections all rolled into one (bit of geek knowledge, its a percussion and a string instrument) and its so visual that you don't need to know any fancy chord shapes or finger-stop combinations, you just look at where the note is and hit it. Brilliant!

Having said all of that, I'm not entirely sure about the merits of the piano as a band instrument. In fact, playing in a band on the piano is almost an insult to its very nature as the parts have to be simplified so much just to fit in with the boring old guitar as it goes strum strum strum.