The Piano- A Brief History
As an instrument the piano has evolved over the years to become a universally accepted solo and ensemble instrument.
The piano has a long and historical past, dating back to the 18th century and beyond. This article explores the technological advances that made it possible.
The first true piano was invented in the early 1700's by Bartolomo Cristofori of Florence, Italy. Up to this point the harpsichord had been a mainstay of musical composers across Europe. In the early years of the 18th century, however many composers and musicians wanted to see the harpsichord evolve into an instrument that had more easily controlled dynamic range and speed. Cristofori solved this problem by becoming the first to successfully create a working hammer action to replace the plucking action common in the harpsichord.
The new hammer action allowed the performer to play at various dynamic levels, a feat all but impossible with the plucked nature of the harpsichord. In fact, Cristofori's first successful instrument was named the gravicembalo col pian'e forte, or harpsichord with soft and loud. This instrument was later further improved by Sebastien Erard with his invention of a new kind of hammer action which allowed for notes to be played even more rapidly than with Cristofori's original design.
The next major step in the evolution of the piano did not come until 1825 with the addition of a solid metal frame on which the strings were stretched. This new frame allowed other changes to be made to the instrument which in the end brought the piano to the form in which we see it today.
Today's pianos can be found in a variety of shapes and sizes from the more compact upright piano in which the strings are strung in an up and down direction to save floor space to the massive full grand pianos which can measure seven feet long or more. A more recent iteration is the electric piano, often called a Clavinova, which uses electronic circuitry and a speaker to recreate the sound of an acoustic piano or many other instruments. All pianos today also have three pedals, two for sustaining the pitch of notes in various ways and one for muting or muffling the tone of the instrument.
