Research Paper

25 June 2016

The evolution of the piano

Piano is a kind of musical instrument played with keyboard, which has a soundboard and metal strings enclosed in the wooden case. When someone presses the keys, the strings will be struck by hammers and the vibration can produce sounds. Piano is used in many different kinds of music people are familiar with this musical instrument. However, how the piano was originated still not proved yet. Before 18th century, there were two kinds of original piano: Clavichord and Harpsichord. The first actual piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) in around 1700. After that, piano experienced technology improvement for about 300 years to be the modern piano.

According to Wörsching, the word “Clavichord” was mentioned in a poetry called DerMinne Regal in 1404. The Clavichords that survived and are well preserved now are made by Domenico da Pesaro, an Italian keyboard instrument maker. The earliest survived works is now kept in the Musikinstrumenten-Museum, Leipzig University. The clavichord was an oblong square box with legs. The way it made sound was different with other instrument that with keyboards. “When the key was pressed down, a metal pin or tangent, flattened at one end, rose and struck the string, which sufficed for several keys. Later each key had its own set of strings and was called ungebunden, or unfretted. The pianoforte was a dulcimer or hackbret with keyboard, wooden hammers and dampers.”(Frishmuth, 47). Actually, the way of making sounds can originate from Monochord in Ancient Greece, According to Dolge, Monochord was invented by Pythagoras in 582 B. C. “The monochord is an oblong, rectangular box, made of mahogany, 26 inches long, 2 inches wide and 2 inches high” (MR. HIGGS' MONOCHORD). Monochord is for acoustical measurements using the movable bridge to alter the pitch.

In the seventeenth century however, the harpsichord began to rise in popularity. The harpsichord, along with the spinet, might be considered a “detour” (Closson 35) in the development of the piano, however, it was discovered greater tone production so Harpsichord can be played alone and could be heard in a large room. However, with this increase in sound, the sound itself became “harsher, raw, more nasal and almost offensive to the ear”. (Dolge 35) The harpsichord is essentially a larger spinet with the exception of the shape, which is the beginning of the shape of the piano, as we know it today. In the middle of the seventeenth century, harpsichords began to have two keyboards and three strings per note with one of the strings tuned an octave higher. (Dolge 37)

It has been proved that the first actual piano was invented by Bartolomeo Cristofori. The sign of the modern piano is the way of using hammer to strike on strings in order to making sounds. In 1711, an Italian journalist called Scipione Maffei has described the instrument Bartolomeo Cristofori made as “gravecembalo col piano e forte”, which means “a big harpsichord that can play the strength of rhythm”. People use “Pianoforte” or “Fortepiano” to replace the lone phrase. That is where the word “piano” came from.

Works Cited

"Piano - Definition of Piano in English from the Oxford Dictionary." Piano - Definition of Piano in English from the Oxford Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 June 2016.

Powers, Wendy. "The Piano: The Pianofortes of Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Oct. 2003. Web. 25 June 2016.

Wörsching, Joseph. Die Historischen Saitenklaviere Und Der Moderne Clavichord- Und Cembalo-Bau. n.p.: Mainz : Rheingold-Verlag, 1946. Web. 25 June 2016.

"Domenico Da Pesaro - Keyboard Instrument Maker : Grove Music Online - Oi." Domenico Da Pesaro - Keyboard Instrument Maker : Grove Music Online - Oi. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 June 2016.

Frishmuth, Sarah S. "Stringed Instruments." Bulletin of the Pennsylvania Museum 3.11 (1905): 45-48. Web. 25 June 2016.

Dolge, Alfred. Pianos and their Makers: A Comprehensive History of the Development of the Piano. New York, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1972. Print. 25 June 2016.

"MR. HIGGS' MONOCHORD." Transactions of the Society, Instituted at London, for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce 54 (1843): 166. Web. 25 June 2016.

Closson, Ernest. History of the Piano. London: Paul Elek Publishers Limited, 1947. Print. 25 June 2016.