Although there were various crude earlier attempts to make stringed keyboard instruments with struck strings,[1] it is widely considered that the piano was invented by a single individual: Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua, Italy. It is not known exactly when Cristofori first built a piano, but an inventory made by his employers, the Medici family, indicates the existence of a piano by the year 1700. The three Cristofori pianos that survive today date from the 1720s.
Upright pianos, also called vertical pianos, are more compact because the frame and strings are placed vertically, extending in both directions from the keyboard and hammers. It is considered harder to produce a sensitive piano action when the hammers move horizontally, rather than upward against gravity as in a grand piano; however, the very best upright pianos now approach the level of grand pianos of the same size in tone quality and responsiveness. However, one feature of the grand piano action always makes it superior to the vertical piano. All grand pianos have a special repetition lever in the playing action that is absent in all verticals. This repetition lever, a separate one for every key, catches the hammer close to the strings as long as the key remains depressed. In this position, with the hammer resting on the lever, a pianist can play repeated notes, staccato, and trills with much more speed and control than they could on a vertical piano. The action design of a vertical prevents it from having a repetition lever. Because of this, piano manufacturers claim that a skilled piano player can play as many as 14 trill notes per second on grands but only seven on uprights.
Almost every modern piano has 88 keys (seven octaves plus a minor third, from A0 to C8). Many older pianos only have 85 keys (seven octaves from A0 to A7), while some manufacturers extend the range further in one or both directions. The most notable example of an extended range can be found on Bösendorfer pianos, one model which extends the normal range downwards to F0, with one other model going as far as a bottom C0, making a full eight octave range. Sometimes, these extra keys are hidden under a small hinged lid, which can be flipped down to cover the keys and avoid visual disorientation in a pianist unfamiliar with the extended keyboard; on others, the colours of the extra white keys are reversed (black instead of white). The extra keys are added primarily for increased resonance from the associated strings; that is, they vibrate sympathetically with other strings whenever the damper pedal is depressed and thus give a fuller tone. Only a very small number of works composed for piano actually use these notes. More recently, the Stuart and Sons company has also manufactured extended-range pianos. On their instruments, the range is extended both down the bass to F0 and up the treble to F8 for a full eight octaves. The extra keys are the same as the other keys in appearance.
History Of The Piano - Video
organizations, and a thriving oral history program, all provide documentation on Go to Checklist of the Exhibition.Go to the PIANO 300 Homepage
Piano History: History of the Piano Makers History OnlyPiano.com
Piano History . experiments did not lead to the improvement of the piano. The first piano in America was made by John Brent of Philadelphia in 1774
Virtual Piano Museum - A Visual History of the Piano
We are one of the largest piano sites devoted to piano history, we have an active history forum were you can ask about the history and age of your piano.
Piano & Pianos
Over the course history of the piano, there have been some bright spots, some high points of popularity for the boxy instrument with its checkerboard keys.
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Contents. The Author. INTRODUCTION. CLASSIFICATION of the PIANO. ANCESTORY of the PIANO. PARENTAGE of the PIANO. CRISTOFORI, INVENTOR OF THE PIANO. TECHNICAL HISTORY of the PIANO
