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by OnlyPiano.com
The piano is an innovation on the harpsichord, a similar looking instrument that worked by plucking strings when keys were pressed. The harpsichord existed for at least 200 years prior to the invention of the piano, and began essentially as a harp laid on its side and fitted with mechanical means of plucking the strings. It later evolved to contain most of the primary parts found in pianos today. It was a successful instrument, but afforded little dynamic control due to the mechanism by which the strings were sounded.
Sometime shortly before 1700, an Italian harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo Cristofori developed the defining feature of the piano: Its action. Rather than pluck strings, piano keys cause a hammer to strike and fall away from them, which means that one can play softer or louder depending on how hard one hits the keys (hence the term “pianoforte,” from which the piano gets its name).
Despite its potential, the piano was initially slow to catch on, and it took till the latter part of the 1700s before composers began writing music intended for it. Clementi, Hadyn and Mozart were some of the pioneers who helped to popularize the instrument. Over time, innovations in design and materials made the piano more versatile and better suited to the wants of composers, and before the 19th century Beethoven was making his name as a virtuoso, later writing extensively for piano in his sonatas and concertos.
Technologically, innovation occurred in on all fronts and is continuing today. The action developed to more faithfully transmit nuanced movements of the pianist, iron frames allowed for stronger string tension and greater range, and pedals were developed to better control the sustaining and damping of notes. Today pianos have evolved to range from gigantic concert grands to compact uprights to electronic keyboards accurately simulating the weight and feel of acoustic ones. They contain various types of wood, plastic, and metals, all of which are finely engineered to produce great music, from the soft legatos of Chopin to the poundings of Rachmaninoff and Thelonius Monk.
For more detailed histories of the piano, see:
http://www.uk-piano.org/history/history_1.html
http://pianoeducation.org/pnowhy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano
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