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History and Origin of the Piano
The piano is considered one of the most classic instruments in the western world, originating in the 18th century. It is usually composed of pieces made of wood covered with a soft material (usually felt), activated through the keyboard with keys that play on the strings stretched, attached to the structure of the piano body. The sound is produced by the vibration of these strings (they are played by hammers that move away immediately after playing them) which makes them vibrate freely creating the musical notes as we hear them.
When we think about the Italian Renaissance period, several names come to mind (such as Da Vinci, Galileo and Medici), but few have heard of Bartolomeo Cristofori, the man who invented the piano as we know it today - in the beginning, called pianoforte. Bartolomeo was born in 1655 and made carnations for many years, instruments very similar to pianos.
After perfecting himself in the production of carnations, Bartolomeo began to experiment with some adaptations in the precursor instrument and wanted to create a type of evolution for the harpsichord. The piano and the harpsichord essentially differ in the way they produce the sound.
In 1783, the Englishman John Brodwood added the muted pedal and the right pedal. In 1821, the Frenchman Sébastien Erhard created the mechanism that allows the repeated touch of the same keys - small changes that make a lot of difference. The shape of the pianos changed a lot too, since they influenced the sound produced by the instrument (such as the upright piano and the grand piano). Today we also have the digital piano, a modernized version of the instrument.
Fig.1- Grand Acoustic Piano
Fig.2- Upright Acoustic Piano
Fig.3- Electric Piano (digital)
Almost all modern pianos have 88 keys, while the old ones have 84. The white keys represent the natural notes (do, re, mi, fa, sol, la and si), while the black keys represent accidents, such as sharp and the flats.
Curiosities about the Piano:
There are an average of 7500 parts on each piano;
The piano is generally considered a member of the percussion family, because it only makes noise when a hammer hits a string;
The piano is actually a relatively new instrument because it is only 319 years old;
There are 230 strings needed for a piano to be able to sound a complete sound;
A concert grand piano is 8 '11 "(272cm wide) and weighs more than 380 kilos, which makes the sound produced with higher quality;
For such importance, in the United States alone, there are more than 10 million pianos;
Being one of the most respected brands in the sector today, worldwide, Yamaha Corporation was the first to manufacture pianos in Japan. Its activities began in 1887;
Acoustic pianos need to be tuned once a year. When used daily, it should be fine-tuned every six months or less.
Do you want to understand and learn the piano better?
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Click on the button below to learn the piano notes and hear their sound.
Then you have two videos with lessons for beginners at the Piano.
