ABOUT THE PIANO
Piano is a shortened form of the word pianoforte, which comes from the original Italian name for the instrument that was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) around 1700—during the Baroque era of classical music.
Bartolomeo Cristofori and
his pianoforte, ca. 1720
He called his invention a harpsichord with piano and forte (soft and loud). The standard piano keyboard has 88 black and white keys, while Cristofori’s pianofortes had around 76 to 80 keys. Modern replicas of the late 18 -century th instruments are called fortepianos.
The piano was the first keyboard instrument to be able to produce tones at various volumes depending on how hard a key is pressed. (The predecessor of the piano, the harpsichord, could produce tones at only one loudness.) As a key is pressed down, the other end of the key, which is not visible without opening the piano (if not a grand piano), moves felt hammers to strike steel strings and immediately rebound allowing the string to continue vibrating. These vibrations are transmitted through the bridges to the soundboard, which amplifies them (makes them louder).
Cristofori's hammer mechanism was so well designed and made that no other of comparable sensitivity and reliability was devised for another seventy-five years. In fact, the highly complex action of the modern piano may be traced directly to his original conception. This instrument was not widely played until the mid1770s—during the Classical era— when the first true piano
music was being composed. Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) was the most prolific composer of piano solo music during the Romantic era.
The most well known piano is the grand piano which comes in many lengths starting at about five feet to over nine feet. The strings and soundboard of the grand piano lay flat. Other pianos, called uprights, tilt the strings and soundboard upright (thus the name) and come in many heights, some as high as six feet. The shortest upright is called a spinet. The tallest is called a grand upright. Many schools have pianos called studio uprights that are in between the other two in height.
For many years, a new kind of piano has been on the market: the electric piano, also known as the keyboard. A keyboard comes in many sizes with the smallest Bartolomeo Cristofori and his pianoforte, ca. 1720 Frédéric Chopin, 1849
Frédéric Chopin, 1849
