To truly understand what makes pianos so special, we must first learn where they came from. Pianos’ history is as old as that of any other instrument. By learning a little about their history, we can understand why pianos have such a special place in homes, schools, universities, and concert halls. The piano, often called the “king of music instruments,” had humble beginnings.
Harps and Lyres
Harps and lyres were early stringed instruments that led to the modern piano. These were created during the classical Greek and Roman eras. The use of reeds or quilled picks for plucking led to the use of rudimentary hammers for playing.
Harpsichords
Harpsichords, which were invented around 1400AD, were the first piano-like instruments. The shape we know as a grand piano evolved from horizontal strings stretched across a bridge and a wooden soundboard. The mechanism that vibrated the strings was replaced by plucking the strings. Even though the instrument was played with a keyboard, it functioned similarly to a guitar pick.
Material and design innovations produced a beautiful instrument, but the sound remained unchanged. There was little volume control, and the sound was relatively thin. For the next 300 years, there was little progress.
Pianoforte
Then, in the early 1700s, there was Bartolomeo Cristofori. Dissatisfied with the harpsichord’s limited volume, he devised a new mechanism to strike the strings rather than pluck them. The first pianoforte was built, and a three-hundred-year journey began to perfect the piano action.
This action improvement was accompanied by design and material experiments to improve tone quality, sound resonance, and sustain. A tuning system known as “well-tempered” was also developed, which has become the standard for pitch in pianos today. Many early innovations were trial and error despite skilled craftsmen producing the best pianos.
Piano
The industrial era arrived, bringing wood milling machinery, iron smelting, and other factory production. This resulted in a new ability to create more consistent instruments. Aside from the factory setting, inventive inventions flooded patent offices with new mechanical devices. Like Ford’s Model T, Pianos will increase, both inexpensive and ornately expensive.
Pianos became a household staple for nearly 50 years, serving as the instrument of choice for both performance and décor. The sizes and styles varied, but the internal mechanisms remained unchanged. Innovations in concert pianos enriched the professional pianists and composers of piano music.
Electronic Keyboards
Then, the electronic age arrived, and with it, electronic music. The piano-like keyboard quickly became the device of choice for triggering these machines. Synthesizers and keyboards had arrived. Many electronic manufacturers produced strange-feeling musical products, focusing on the electronic capacity to play many sounds rather than the realism of a piano feel. It would take over two decades for the electronic keyboard to be paired with something resembling a real piano action.
Digital Piano
With the advancement of so-called digital pianos and the modernization of acoustic piano production, there are now many options to consider. A few top manufacturers still make handcrafted pianos [at a premium price]. Computer-aided design is a new technology.
New computer-aided design [CAD] technology allows for accurate factory production of acoustic grand and upright pianos. The advancements in design, keyboard feel, sound amplification, and digital recording [sampling] provide digital pianos that are as realistic as they are affordable.