弹钢琴(tán gāng qín) - to play the piano in Mandarin

弹钢琴 (tán gāng qín) means to play the piano, built from 弹 (tán, to pluck or play a stringed or keyed instrument), 钢 (gāng, steel) and 琴 (qín, a general word for stringed or keyboard instruments). 钢琴 (gāng qín) together means "piano", literally the "steel instrument", a reminder that the piano only reached China as an import.

弹 (tán) is the verb used for instruments played by plucking or pressing keys: guitar, piano and violin all take 弹 (tán) or a close cousin, while wind instruments use 吹 (chuī), to blow, instead. So 弹钢琴 (tán gāng qín) and 吹笛子 (chuī dí zi), to play the flute, are built on different verbs even though English uses "play" for both.

As with other hobby compounds, 弹钢琴 (tán gāng qín) splits around 得 (de) for detail: 他弹钢琴弹得很好 (tā tán gāng qín tán dé hěn hǎo), "he plays the piano very well", repeats 弹 (tán) rather than the whole phrase.