Piano and keyboard

About the piano...

Despite being commonly known as a keyboard instrument, the piano is difficult to classify. It can be classified within the percussion string family because its sound is produced by the vibration of strings. However, some also associate it with the percussion family, as it indirectly uses a percussion mechanism. The piano has an enormous and varied range of chords, sounds, and intensities.

Brief summary of the history of the piano

The invention of the modern piano is attributed to the Italian musician Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1709 in Italy. The creation was marked by his desire to improve the volume control of the harpsichord (a musical instrument that predated the piano). It was later perfected on different occasions by German musicians and widely commercialized in the United States.

Historically, it has been an instrument reserved for upper-class social strata with greater purchasing power, due to the sophistication of the instrument and the training required to learn to play it. Fortunately, today, we can find thousands of affordable pianos among the wide variety of piano types available and the ease of learning to play thanks to the advantages of new technologies.

Among the main predecessors of the piano, the zither, the monochord, the dulcimer, the harpsichord, and the clavichord stand out.

Composition and functioning of the piano

The traditional piano consists of a large soundbox, which, through its integrated keyboard, strikes the different steel strings with "hammers" to produce sound. Subsequently, the sound vibrations are conducted through the different bridges of the piano to the wooden soundboard, which converts them into sound and amplifies it. Seeing this process, it is easy to understand why it is categorized as a percussion string instrument.

Most common types of pianos

There are many types of pianos, but undoubtedly, the most common are acoustic pianos (the grand piano and the upright or wall piano) and digital pianos.

1. The acoustic piano

• The grand piano

These pianos keep the strings and soundboard arranged horizontally. They are characterized by having a hinged lid that, when open, projects the piano's sounds outwards clearly and cleanly.

There are various sizes depending on the brand and the specific type of piano (baby grand piano, quarter grand piano, parlor grand piano, concert grand piano...). Typically, the average length of these pianos ranges from 130 cm for the smallest to about 250 cm for the longest.

• The upright or wall piano

Almost a century after Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the grand piano, the upright piano was developed, this time in London. This type of piano is distinguished by having the strings, soundboard, and hammers arranged vertically, that is, creating a 90º angle with respect to the floor.

In this case, the size of the instrument will also determine the classification of the different types that exist, from the smallest such as the spinet upright piano (less than 98 cm) to the largest such as the antique upright piano (140 cm high) or others of intermediate height such as the console upright piano or the studio upright piano.

2. Digital pianos and keyboards

• The electric piano

The electric piano, also called digital piano or electronic piano, was the last of the pianos to be invented, already in the 20th century.

Aesthetically, it is relatively similar to acoustic pianos and can have the same number of keys; however, the sound production is very different. The digital piano performs electronic synthesis to produce sound and has many extra functionalities: it can play sounds from other musical instruments, allows playing accompaniment rhythms, etc.

Specifically, the sound of the electric piano is recorded and stored in its system, and when playing, what we do is not generate the sound but simulate it.

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