pianoforte

Hear this out loudPauseThe poet and journalist Scipione Maffei, in his enthusiastic 1711 description, named Cristofori's instrument a “gravicembalo col piano, e forte” (harpsichord with soft and loud), the first time it was called by its eventual name, pianoforte.

Hear this out loudPauseWhat we / I play is a piano - an abbreviation for pianoforte. In the early days of development the “piano” was a “fortepiano” made with harpsichord like strings and letter covered hammers and typically of 4 octaves range and used stops or knee levers in stead of pedals.

Hear this out loudPauseWhen someone presses a key, the hammer strikes the string or strings, and the strings vibrate, making a musical tone. The vibrating strings make the sides of the piano vibrate, or “resonate,” at that same frequency of vibration, which makes the sound louder.

Hear this out loudPauseCristofori, Creator of the First Piano The instrument was actually first named "clavicembalo col piano e forte" (literally, a harpsichord that can play soft and loud noises). This was shortened to the now common name, "piano."

88 keys Hear this out loudPauseHow many keys are on a piano? A typical full-sized piano has 88 keys!

Hear this out loudPausePianola types Both operate using the same principles: a paper roll, hand-punched with holes that correspond to the duration and pitch of the notes, unwinds by means of a machine powered by two foot treadles (or electricity).

Hear this out loudPauseThe sounds are produced by instruments in which the periodic vibrations can be controlled by the performer. That some sounds are intrinsically musical, while others are not, is an oversimplification.

Hear this out loudPauseThe name sounds similar, sure, but are the piano and the pianoforte the same type of musical instrument? The answer is yes. Piano is simply a shortened name for what, by and large, originated in Italy as the pianoforte.

Hear this out loudPauseMusical symbols known as dynamics tell us how loud or soft to perform music. The dynamic symbol for loud is called forte (FOR-tay), and looks like the letter f. The dynamic symbol for soft is called piano (Pe-AH-no, the same as the musical instrument) and looks like the letter p.

230 Hear this out loudPauseThe number of strings depends on the model, but is usually around 230. For the tenor and treble notes, three strings are strung for each key, and for bass notes, the number of strings per note decreases from three, to two, and then to one as you approach the lowest bass notes.

Hear this out loudPauseWhat we / I play is a piano - an abbreviation for pianoforte. In the early days of development the “piano” was a “fortepiano” made with harpsichord like strings and letter covered hammers and typically of 4 octaves range and used stops or knee levers in stead of pedals.

Hear this out loudPausePianolas have an internal mechanism that allows them to play paper rolls of music without a pianist. You can usually determine if you have a Pianola because you can see paper rolls through an opening at the front of the piano. A Pianola is referred to as an Ex-Player if the paper roll mechanism has been removed.