The piano was born in the city of Florence in the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (now part of Italy), in the year 1700, more than 320 years ago.
Bartolomeo Cristofori invented and built the first pianos (Cristofori music stores in Singapore are named after him). The invention of the piano was paid for by the Medici family who funded Renaissance art from selling wool. Indeed, it could be argued that the piano was the final – and greatest – legacy of Medici patronage.
The first piano was actually called a ‘harpsichord with soft and loud’ and looked like a harpsichord:
Today pianos now come in many sizes and 3 shapes:
- Grand – large for concert halls, recording studios, and outdoors events
- Concert Grand – 9 or 10 feet in length, suited to large concert halls and outdoors events
- Studio Grand – 7 or 8 feet in length, suited to recording studios and smaller indoor venues like wedding chapels or churches
- Baby Grand – 5 or 6 feet in length, suited to smaller rooms in homes
- Upright – medium-sized for private studios and homes
- Portable – small digital pianos that play through speakers, designed for many types of locations
The white key surfaces were originally made from Ivory from elephant tusks, and the black key surfaces were originally made from Ebony wood. These are now illegal and/or too expensive, so now they are both made of plastic. The first Cristofori pianos had 49 keys (the one shown above has 54 keys), Mozart’s Anton Walter pianos had 61 keys, Chopin’s Pleyel pianos had 78 keys, most pianos today have 88 keys, and there are grand pianos available with up to 108 keys.
Timeline of Piano Note Ranges
1700: 49 keys (4.1 octaves) – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Tuscany 🇮🇹
1720: 54 keys (4.5 octaves) – Bartolomeo Cristofori, Tuscany 🇮🇹
1775: 61 keys (5.1 octaves) – Anton Walter, Austria 🇦🇹
1815: 78 keys (6.5 octaves) – John Broadwood, England 🏴
1831: 85 keys (7.1 octaves) – Henri Herz, France 🇫🇷
1852: 88 keys (7.3 octaves) – Carl Stein, Austria 🇦🇹
1863: 90 keys (7.5 octaves) – Henri Herz, France 🇫🇷
1909: 97 keys (8.1 octaves) – Bösendorfer, Austria 🇦🇹
2010: 102 keys (8.5 octaves) – Stuart & Sons, Australia 🇦🇺
2018: 108 keys (9.0 octaves) – Stuart & Sons, Australia 🇦🇺
Pianos are percussive stringed instruments; the strings are made of metal. Brass was originally used, however now piano strings are made from tempered high-carbon steel – with the bass note strings being wound with copper wire.
The cabinets are usually made of wood, and the shiny finish coating the cabinets of many pianos is PolyEster (PE) plastic.
Pianos are popular around the world for accompanying singing in schools, choirs, and bands, as well as playing for personal leisure and relaxation. They are popular compared to other instruments because they have a wider palette of sound and they don’t require warming up, tuning, and/or cleaning every time you play them.
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