An invention that let an instrument play both 'soft' and 'loud' — and rewrote music history over three centuries.
The piano was invented by Italy's Bartolomeo Cristofori around 1700. His hammer-striking mechanism let a keyboard play both 'piano' (soft) and 'forte' (loud) for the first time; in 1711 Scipione Maffei named it, and the word 'piano' was born.
To grasp how revolutionary the piano was, look at its predecessors. The two main 17th-century keyboards each had a fatal flaw: the clavichord could vary volume with the touch and was expressive, but too quiet for any large setting; the harpsichord plucked its strings, was loud enough for performance, yet every note sounded the same however hard you pressed.
In other words, players had to choose between 'expressive but quiet' and 'loud but rigid.' The piano was born to break that deadlock.
Around 1700 in Florence, Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) built the first piano. His revolutionary invention was a mechanism that struck the strings with a hammer that then rebounded instantly — the prototype of the modern action (piano action) — giving players, for the first time, both volume control and ample loudness.
In 1711 the poet Scipione Maffei called it 'gravicembalo col piano e forte' (a harpsichord with soft and loud), the source of the names 'pianoforte' and 'piano.' Three of Cristofori's pianos survive, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1720), the Museo degli Strumenti Musicali in Rome (1722) and Leipzig University's instrument museum (1726); the 1722 and 1726 instruments already carry an early form of the una corda device.
By the 1780s two schools had formed. The 'Viennese' action had a light, elastic touch and a refined tone — the pianos of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven; the Walter piano Mozart bought around 1783 still survives in the Mozart Museum in Salzburg.
The 'English' action, developed by Backers, Broadwood and Stodart, used an escapement and check for a louder, more robust sound, though it needed a deeper touch and was less sensitive. The rivalry and fusion of the two paved the way for the modern piano.
Over the next century the piano underwent two innovations that defined its modern form.
France's Sébastien Érard patented the 'double escapement' action in 1821. It let the hammer reset quickly so a note could repeat rapidly — regarded as the birth of the modern grand action, still used in virtually all grands today.
Boston maker Alpheus Babcock invented and patented the one-piece cast-iron frame in 1825. It let pianos bear far higher string tension, greatly raising volume, range and tuning stability, and became the standard for all types of piano.
The 19th-century industrial revolution brought mass production, taking the piano from aristocratic privilege into ordinary homes. The piano became a symbol of middle-class culture, demand surged, and a host of makers emerged, driving rapid advances in craft and design. It was in this wave that Steinway set the 88-key standard, still used today, in the late 1880s.
In the 20th century, Steinway, Bösendorfer, Bechstein and later Yamaha and Kawai established their places and pushed the craft to new heights.
Today the piano remains central to classical, jazz and popular music. And this precise machine, carrying three centuries of craft, still needs regular tuning and care to keep its voice across the generations.
The piano was invented around 1700 by Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori. His hammer-strikes-and-rebounds mechanism is the prototype of the modern action (piano action).
In 1711 the poet Scipione Maffei called Cristofori's invention 'gravicembalo col piano e forte' — a keyboard that plays soft (piano) and loud (forte) — later shortened to pianoforte, then piano.
The earliest pianos had a narrow range, low volume and a wooden frame. After Érard's 1821 double escapement and Babcock's 1825 cast-iron frame, pianos bore higher tension, with greatly improved volume, range and stability, laying the basis of the modern grand.
The modern 88-key standard was set by Steinway in the late 1880s and has been followed ever since. The 88 keys comprise 52 white and 36 black.
Mainly the clavichord and the harpsichord. The clavichord could control volume but was too quiet; the harpsichord was loud but could not control dynamics. The piano was invented to solve both problems at once.
Whatever brand your piano is, regular tuning and professional care are the keys to its tone and value.
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