The History of the Piano Essay

4. To start off, a lot of Renaissance instruments have evolved into the modern day instruments we use today. Without the weird instruments that were made decades ago, we wouldn’t have had the cool instruments we do today. The issue of tuning and unpleasant sounds has been fixed because now instruments have tuning valves and other devices to help ease the pain of the horrendous sound made by out of tune instruments.

This relationship between mother, daughter, and piano is essential to the piano’s role in continually being a part of the family. Berneice sees this piano as a family member, and not just an heirloom to be relished. The fact that Berneice chooses not to disclose the history of

As he got older, the neuritis in his hands got worse, and it was almost impossible for him to play the piano, so he took up the

Modern music is very heavily influenced by the Zhou dynasty for example the flute. The flute is used in many orchestras and songs today . The use of the flute was advanced by the Zhou dynasty . The flute was made from bamboo pipes with holes in them that were made to imitate bird noises . At this time period a musical instrument like the flute is seen as advancement in music and was ahead of its’ time . There were different versions of a flute before the Zhou Dynasty , but they were not as precise and they could not play different notes. No other dynasty has revolutionized music in such an impactful way. There were two types of their flute that were invented. the first one was the dizi and the

In the 1700’s the piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence, Italy first introduced to the world as the "pianoforte" meaning “Soft loud”. “In the last quarter of the 18th century the piano had become the leading instrument of the western art of music that still lives on till today as an exotic instrument played by talented people in the world.” (Wendy Powers, 2003) Music has lived on from the beginning of time by all cultures and races for decades. Music is known to make the heart, soul, and brain one. Without this invention Beethoven would have not made the music that lives on

Clavichord and the harpsichord appeared during the 14th century. The clavichord probably appeared earlier than the harpsichord. The harpsichord and clavichord were both common until the appearance of the piano in the 18th century, after which their popularity decreased. The Clavichord is a European stringed keyboard instrument known from the late Medieval, through the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical eras. The Clavichord was mostly used as a practice instrument and as an instrument for composition, because the instrument itself was not loud enough for larger performance. The clavichord produces sound by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades called tangents. It allowed the strings to continue vibrating as long as the key was depressed. Thus, players had more control over the volume of their instrument.

On a piano, there are 88 keys in total: 52 white keys and 36 black keys. Sometimes, they may come with more or fewer keys, but the usual count is 88. The first time I touched these keys on a grand piano, I was eleven years old and about to perform in a recital. At the time, I didn’t know the value of learning to play this instrument. It was merely something I focused on for one day of the week (when I actually had piano lessons).

For example, composers wanted bassoonists to act more like higher woodwind players, and be able to play higher, faster, and louder than ever before. So, as in the classical era, instrument makers had to comply with the composer’s needs. During this time, instrument makers did not “re-invent” the bassoon, but instead they improved it by changing where keys go, and added more keys to make playing easier for the player (JSTOR 114-117). The metals that the keys were made out of and the quality of the keys on the bassoon were better than the dulcian, baroque, and classical bassoons. Some of the key work on the bassoons from the romantic era still remain almost unaltered to this day (JSTOR

The word “piano” is a modernization of the instrument’s original name, the pianoforte. In 1711, “Marchese Scipione Maffei publishes an article on Cristofori’s instrument ‘a newly invented harpsichord with piano and forte,’” (Schott 30). Maffei was an Italian writer and critic who published an article reviewing the new instrument. Though it is not clear in many sources what he actually thought of the instrument, whether he thought it was worthwhile or not, he did come up with the official name for it, pianoforte.

Everything relating to music kept growing and expanding. Even instruments were changing in popularity. In the eighth century the harpsichord was a very famous instrument but as music developed the love for the harpsichord declined. Audiences were being dazzled by music throughout this time

When Gould was a young boy he was he was taught piano by his mother. He was announced to strike single notes and listen to their long decay; which his father thought was different from most children. His interest for piano became stronger as he would play for family, friends, and sometimes large gatherings, including a 1938 performance at the Emmanuel Presbyterian Church. A tremendous step to his

The piano was invented in 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence, Italy. Then, it was a simple keyboard that had different dynamic levels when it vibrated upon being hit with small wooden hammers covered with deerskin. He experimented with different designs,

The grand piano is no doubt an amazing musical instrument. When any type of tune is performed on piano it becomes a special piece of art. If you talk about an urban rap track, it will also sound very smooth and gentle as the piano instrumental. It is because the track is changed and you also add into the melodies, tone and harmonies of the piano.

The modern piano is a descendent of the harpsichord, which used a plucking technique much like that of plucking the strings of a harp or lute. Bartolomeo Crisotofori, an Italian craftsman, substituted felt hammers in place of the plucking mechanism, making the instrument capable of graduations of tone and timber. He called his new instrument the Gravicembalo col piano e forte (a harpsichord with louds and softs). This was later shortened to the piano and with critiques from Baroque composers like Bach, a number of improvements were made to sound quality and tonality eventually emerging as the preferred keyboard instrument for Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. Over the course of centuries to different piano types have emerged. The grand piano, from 5' 6" to 8 or 9' in length horizontal to the upright piano, more suitable for the home, which also exists in differing sizes, 3-5; in height (Parakilas).

Inventors have been playing with the idea of electrically powered musical instruments since the 1800s, but "the first attempts at an amplified instrument did not come until the development of electrical amplification by the radio industry in the 1920s."