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The History of the Piano Essay

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The piano, created by Bartolomeo Christofori in 1709, has impacted our society by becoming a popular instrument and a popular medium for musicians to create musical masterpieces. Also called the pianoforte, the piano is one of the most beautiful sounding instruments that can range in sound from as low as a gust of wind, to as high as the shrill sound of a bird. It has evolved over time and become an amazing instrument. The piano was accepted very well in history and it has generated many changes in the music industry. The piano was also used a lot in society and has had many applications grow from it. Without it, many classical masterpieces as well as modern songs wouldn’t have been possible. There were many instruments that led to the …show more content…

They weren’t added to keyboards until the thirteenth century. Another instrument that was a prelude to the piano was the pantaleon. It was created by Hebenstreit, a famous dulcimer player. It had 180 strings, was 9 feet long, had an extra soundboard, and had double-faced hammers. It was extremely hard to master. It was short-lived, but was an important influence for the pianoforte. It also created an important link between keyed and non-keyed string instruments (Crombie 5-7).
In the fifteenth century, a keyed polychord was made called the clavichord. It was the first keyboard in which the harder a note was struck, the louder a note would ring. It was fairly cheap and it was very popular in central Europe, especially in Germany. Although people liked it, it was not very loud. Since this was the case, the harpsichord was created. It was a much larger clavichord creating a louder sound (Crombie 7-9). At last, the pianoforte was born. The pianoforte means soft and loud. The name describes the sound of the instrument. It can be soft- piano or loud- forte depending on how hard you hit the keys. Bartolomeo Cristofori created it in 1709. When he became angry and was playing the harpsichord harder, he realized that the instrument didn’t respond and become louder. Since he wanted something that could do this, he invented the pianoforte, which is now just

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