8 Interesting Facts You May Not Know About the Piano

The piano has been part and parcel of classical music for more than three centuries and has contributed greatly to modern music. First created in the early 1700’s the instrument originated from the harpsichord and has undergone various transformations over the years. Various forms of the piano include the grand piano, upright piano, digital piano and the most recent forms – keyboards and synthesizers. In addition to being one of the most popular musical instruments in existence, it also makes for a great piece of furniture. But there’s a lot more to pianos than meets the eye. Here are 10 interesting facts about pianos – maybe you’ll find a few you didn’t know: The first piano was invented in 1709 Harpsichord maker Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori invented the very first piano in Italy in 1709. His first creation was called gravicèmbalo col piano e forte which, in Italian, means harpsichord with loud and soft. This name was later shortened to ‘fortepiano’ to then just ‘piano’. As you may already know, the harpsichord is only capable of producing sound in certain volume and expression, so having an instrument that is sensitive to touch was a game changer. The first piano invented was so expensive that even average rich families could not afford it. You could predominantly find the instrument in the homes of aristocrats and royalty for nearly a century before it became more accessible to the rest of the public. Via Normans There are only three Cristofori pianos left Today, there are only three original Cristofori pianos in the world. One is located at the National Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome, the second is in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, and the third is in the Museum of Musical Instruments, Leipzig University in Germany. There’s massive tension in there A typical piano has about 220-230 steel strings. These produce the instrument’s sound when struck by the hammers, so they must be strung extremely tight to produce this sound. Each string usually holds around 168 pounds of tension, making the total tension of most standard pianos around 18-20 tons. However, some of the largest grand pianos hold up to whopping 30 tons of tension! This is truly incredible and exactly what makes piano tuning such a specialist, intricate job that can only be done by a professional. Via Normans It’s not a string instrument Despite having more than 200 strings, the piano is not a string instrument. It is actually a percussion instrument since its sound is produced as a result of the hammers that hit on the strings. The Upright piano is slower than the grand It may be unnoticeable to some pianists; however, the action on a grand piano is faster than the one on an upright, allowing you to play much faster. This is because a grand piano has a repetition lever, allowing the musician to repeat the notes when the key is only half way up. On an upright, vertical action requires the key to go [...]

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