3 Facts about the Piano
Short History of the Piano
Today, piano (from Latin clavis "key"; Middle Latin clavis "key") refers
to the modern, advanced musical instrument fortepiano fortepiano, i.e. a stringed
piano in which hammers are struck against strings at the touch of a key
by means of a special mechanism. The name pianoforte, or piano for
short, was also commonly used because the fortepiano was the first
instrument to offer the possibility of changing the volume continuously
between soft (piano) and loud (forte) at any time by the strength of the
touch, unlike the harpsichord, for example, where the strings are
plucked by a mechanism. The main forms of the piano today are the grand
piano and the upright piano.
Today, the latter is almost always referred
to as the upright piano and is often equated with this term.
Historically, piano, until the 19th century spelled clavier or clavir,
generally referred to any keyboard instrument, occasionally just a
keyboard, that is, a part of an instrument. Today's piano is a keyboard
instrument in its operation, a percussion instrument in its mode of
excitation, and a stringed instrument because of the vibrating medium.
3 Facts you should know
- A piano has 88 keys.
- 1 octave has 7 octaves.
- 1 octave has 7 white keys and 5 black keys.
Learn more about the piano on Wikipedia
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