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 – piece of Renaissance art.
The first piano was actually called a ‘harp-harpsichord’ and looked like a harpsichord:
Today pianos now come in many sizes and 3 shapes:
- Grand – large for concert halls and outdoors events
- Upright – medium-sized for private studios and homes
- Portable – small digital pianos that play through speakers, designed for many types of locations
The cabinets are usually made of wood, and the shiny black pianos are coated with polyester plastic.
The white key surfaces were originally made from Ivory from elephant tusks, and the black key surfaces were originally made from Ebony wood.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 54 keys (shown above), 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.
Pianos are 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 base note strings being wound with copper wire.
The shiny finish coating the cabinets of most pianos is PolyEster (PE).
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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