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Intro to Piano
What is a piano? Well, it is a work of art, known as a string instrument but has the mechanics of a percussion instrument, using a keyboard to play its notes. Although we may just look at and play the piano, we don't often think about how they were made, or rather, how they really work on the inside.
Pianos and History
We invite you to enjoy your time here and to learn all about the piano's rich history and fame as well as their inner magic. If you wish to learn more, about the history and pianos, be sure to click the links down below. If you sadly don't have the time to learn more, we have brief explainations of both the history and the mechanics if you so desire to learn anyways.
Brief History
At The beginning, the first instruments that were popular were the string instruments, the monochord being the first to start the piano family line. The very first piano made was the clavichord, 14th century. Later on, Hermann Poll was inspired by the clavichord and invented the harpsichord, 1397, which gained much popularity among many pianists such as Bach. lastly, being a combination of both the clavichord and harpsichord, Bartolomeo Csistofori invented the fortepiano, 17th century. After the lifetime of the fortepiano, the grand piano was made in Bartolomeo's name, as well as its counterpart, the upright piano, invented by John Isaac Hawkins.
Brief Mechanisms
When we look at a normal piano, we see that there are usually three pedals and a keyboard of white and black keys. As each key is pressed on the board, it triggers a mechanism that would move the hammers within to strike a string, but only once. The pedals are used to manipulate the sound and length of the piano, with the left pedal damping the sound and the right pedal letting the notes stay at a longer length. For the other pianos that contain a third pedal in the middle, it is a combination of both pedals, where the note pressed right before the pedal is treated as a right pedal note, while the notes played after are treated as left pedal.
