While Cristofori's early instruments were made with thin strings and were much quieter than the modern piano, compared to the clavichord (the only previous keyboard instrument capable of minutely controlled dynamic nuance through the keyboard) they were considerably louder and had more sustaining power.Ĭristofori's new instrument remained relatively unknown until an Italian writer, Scipione Maffei, wrote an enthusiastic article about it (1711), including a diagram of the mechanism. Cristofori's piano action served as a model for the many different approaches to piano actions that followed. Moreover, the hammer must return to its rest position without bouncing violently, and it must be possible to repeat a note rapidly. The piano was likely formed as an attempt to combine loudness with control, avoiding the trade-offs of available instruments.Ĭristofori's great success was in solving, without any prior example, the fundamental mechanical problem of piano design: the hammer must strike the string, but not remain in contact with it (as a tangent remains in contact with a clavichord string) because this would damp the sound. The harpsichord produced a sufficiently loud sound, but had little expressive control over each note. While the clavichord allowed expressive control of volume and sustain, it was too quiet for large performances. A friend of the family by the name of Sebastian LeBlanc suggested the idea to switch the black and white keys The three Cristofori pianos that survive today date from the 1720s. An inventory made by his employers, the Medici family, indicates the existence of a piano by the year 1700 another document of doubtful authenticity indicates a date of 1698. It is not known exactly when Cristofori first built a piano. He was an expert harpsichord maker and was well acquainted with the previous body of knowledge on stringed keyboard instruments. The invention of the modern piano is credited to Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) of Padua, Italy, who was employed by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany, as the Keeper of the Instruments. Centuries of work on the mechanism of the harpsichord in particular had shown the most effective ways to construct the case, soundboard, bridge, and keyboard. In a clavichord the strings are struck by tangents, while in a harpsichord they are plucked by quills. By the 17th century, the mechanisms of keyboard instruments such as the clavichord and the harpsichord were well known. During the Middle Ages, there were several attempts at creating stringed keyboard instruments with struck strings. The first string instruments with struck strings were the hammered dulcimers. The piano is founded on earlier technological innovations. This refers to the instrument's responsiveness to keyboard touch, which allows the pianist to produce notes at different dynamic levels by controlling the speed with which the hammers hit the strings.Įarly piano replica by the modern builder Paul McNulty, after Walter & Sohn, 1805 "Forte" would mean a stronger, more powerful level of playing, effectively louder than usual. "Piano" means here a plane or level, suggesting the normal level of playing. The musical terms "piano" and "forte" are usually interpreted as "soft" and "loud", but this is not strictly what they mean in Italian. The word piano is a shortened form of the word pianoforte, which derives from the original Italian name for the instrument, clavicembalo col piano e forte (literally harpsichord capable of playing at the normal level, and more strongly). According to the Hornbostel-Sachs method of music classification, pianos are grouped with chordophones. See the article on Piano key frequencies for a picture of the piano keyboard and the location of middle-C. When the key is released, a damper stops the string's vibration. These vibrations are transmitted through a bridge to a sounding board that couples the acoustic energy to the air so that it can be heard as sound. The hammers rebound, allowing the strings to continue vibrating at their resonant frequency. Pressing a key on the piano's keyboard causes a felt-covered hammer to strike steel strings. Although not portable and often expensive, the piano's versatility and ubiquity have made it one of the world's most familiar musical instruments. Widely used in Classical music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music, and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal. It is widely known as one of the most popular instruments in the world. The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard.
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