Gradually the keyboard became longer until it had the 88 notes (7 octaves plus three notes) of the modern piano.Īt first the instrument was called the “fortepiano”. The early keyboarded instruments, such as the clavichords, harpsichords and organs that were used at that time, had a much shorter keyboard than they do today. ![]() In the piano the strings are hit by a block of wood called a hammer. It developed from the clavichord which looks like a piano but the strings of a clavichord are hit by a small blade of metal called a “tangent”. The piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristoffori of Padua, Italy. The piano has been an extremely popular instrument in Western classical music since the late 18th century. A person who plays the piano is called a pianist. The strings were crossed diagonally close in the center of the soundboard.Ī piano (also called a pianoforte) is a musical instrument classified as a percussion instrument that is played by pressing keys on a keyboard. Another advance invented by Steinways was the method called over stringing. ![]() ![]() Iron frame but the real development came by Steinways in 1855 and since then they became one of the landmarks in the history of the art of piano making. One of the most enduringly popular sizes of a piano has been one endearingly called the ‘baby’ grand.It is such a winner Billy Joel even wrote a song about it on his 1986 album called “The Bridge”.
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