Piano, just like any instrument that people can get their hands on, is a well-suited instrument for Western folk and traditional music. There's no accounting for taste, and no accounting for others' bad taste, and taste is subjective and individual. Any instrument, played well and in the right hands, can add to a style of music (all kinds of traditional music, folk, blues, jazz, gospel et al.), and sound appealing to many. Likewise, any instrument, played badly and in the wrong hands, can compromise a style of music, and turn off a lot of folks.

Many have said this about traditional music: that good musicians make a style or sub-style of music sound good, and bad players can make a style of music sound, well, not-so-good. It's not the style of music, or the instrument; it comes down to the skills and musicality of the player. Music is listening, and good musicians listen to what's going on and try to play in context. When in doubt, lay out, and all that.

The piano works in any key, and is one of the most versatile instruments found in Western music, including traditional music. Why wouldn't it work in "folk/trad music" (a nebulous term), considering that it's got all the notes under one's fingertips and such a great range? Okay, I've heard it not work on many occasions, but it's always the player, not the instrument. When it works, it's majestic.

The piano is such a universal instrument (even used in some non-Western traditional music) and has long been a highly valued instrument in Western traditional and folk music -- one of the first instruments that children ever bang on, as I recall.

It works for me, except when it doesn't. An out-of-tune piano, or possibly worse, a selfish or insensitive player is a nightmare, and so it is with a banjo. (There's a lot to playing a banjo well.) I have a high regard for good piano players for any style of music. And the piano is a real grounding instrument, a true companion.

Best ~ Banjo Tom };^D>