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Hammered dulcimer -

Appearing around 500 BCE, the hammered dulcimer was the first widely used stringed instrument. Traditionally played in the Middle East, Southwest Asia, parts of the Far East, and in Greece and Rome, its structure of paired strings was very similar to that of the piano.

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Clavichord -

It was the dulcimer that provided inspiration to the Italian inventor and engineer Giovanni Spinette, who in the early 15th century created the first clavichord.

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Harpsichord -

The harpsichord made its first appearance in the late Middle Ages, most likely in Italy. Its invention is generally credited to Jerome of Bologna (Hieronymus Bononiensis) in 1521, although an earlier 1515 example has been attributed to Vincentius.

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Oval spinet -

Based on the design of the harpsichord, Italian engineer Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) invented the oval spinet, which he unveiled in Florence in 1690. Two of Cristofori's oval spinets survive. One is exhibited in the Galleria del Accademia in Florence, the other, from 1693, is in the Museum für Musikinstrumente of the University of Leipzig.

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Invention of the piano -

The invention of the instrument that we would today call a piano was announced in 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori. Modifying the design of the oval spinet, Cristofori named his instrument pianoforte. The total number of pianos built by Cristofori is unknown. Only three survive today, all dating from the 1720s. Pictured is a 1720 instrument, which is exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

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The 1722 Cristofori piano -

A pianoforte made by Cristofori in 1722 is in the Museo Nazionale degli Strumenti Musicali in Rome.

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The 1726 Cristofori piano -

The Musikinstrumenten-Museum of Leipzig University in Germany is the current home of Cristofori's 1726 pianoforte.

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The piano enters the home -

Relatively inexpensive to purchase, the pianoforte was the first instrument of its type to find favor with Italian nobility and royalty, and was widely adopted in the homes of the wealthy and the privileged.

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Pedal power -

Gottfried Silbermann (1683–1753) was a noted builder of keyboard instruments. His design for the pianoforte was heavily based on that of Cristofori. However, Silbermann made one vital addition: the inclusion of a device by which the player could lift all of the dampers off the strings, permitting them to vibrate freely. Without realizing it, he had invented the forerunner of the damper pedal.

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Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) -

An early admirer of Silbermann's pianos was the German composer Johann Sebastian Bach (pictured). King Frederick the Great of Prussia was so taken by the instrument that he purchased several. Two of Silbermann's pianos are still located today in Frederick's palaces in Potsdam.

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"Viennese action" -

Silbermann's nephew and pupil Johann Andreas Silbermann was the teacher of Johann Andreas Stein, who perfected the so-called "Viennese action", found in the pianos used by Haydn (pictured), Mozart, and Beethoven.

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Square piano -

Another one of Silbermann's pupils, Johannes Zumpe (1726–1790), became the leading and large-scale maker of early English square pianos.

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John Broadwood (1732–1812) -

Scotland-born John Broadwood took Zumpe's piano design and helped perfect the English grand action, adding more octaves to cover treble and bass. It remained in use by many makers virtually unchanged for 70 years. Haydn, Beethoven, and Chopin all played Broadwood instruments. The company, John Broadwood & Sons, still manufactures pianos today.

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Grand old age -

Pictured is the earliest French grand piano known to survive, made by Louis Bas of Villeneuve-lès-Avignon in 1781. The instrument is on permanent display in the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota.

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'Moonlight Sonata' -

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)  composed his 'Piano Sonata No. 14,' also known as 'Moonlight Sonata,' in 1801. It became one of the most popular piano compositions of all time.

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Cabinet piano -

The tall upright pianos that appeared on the market in the early 19th century were known as cabinet pianos. These rectangular shaped instruments were shaped as such because the strings and soundboard were set vertically.

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Sébastien Érard (1752–1831) -

French instrument maker Sébastien Érard developed the capability of the instrument by inventing a grand piano action that became the predecessor to those used in modern grands. Érard's pianos were widely appreciated by the foremost musicians of the day, illustrious composers that included Liszt, Mendelssohn, Wagner, Verdi, and Ravel.

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Upright piano -

In 1800, Philadelphia-based English-American inventor John Isaac Hawkins (1772–1855) made the first truly successful low upright pianos by placing the lower end of the strings near floor level. The design proved enormously popular.  Image: Encyclopædia Britannica

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Wilkinson & Wornum -

Later in England, piano maker Robert Wornum (1780–1852) patented his Unique upright in 1811. He went into business with George Wilkinson. The action in these so-called small cottage and oblique uprights are considered to be the predecessor of the modern upright action. Wornum's piano manufacturing business eventually became Robert Wornum & Sons and successfully traded until 1900.

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Big in America -

Little written evidence exists of grand pianos being built in the United States prior to 1840. After this date, however, these instruments began being made to order, their bodies created from a one-cast iron frame.

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Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (1797–1871) -

Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg, whose anglicized name was Henry Engelhard Steinway, was the founder of the piano company Steinway & Sons, established in Manhattan in New York City in 1853. It remains one of the most prestigious manufacturers of pianos in the world.

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Steinway & Sons -

The company has two factories, one in Queens, New York, the other in Hamburg, Germany. Its elegant showrooms in America and across Europe are known as Steinway Halls. Steinway manufactures some of the finest grand pianos found anywhere, used by many professional musicians. The company also makes an upright piano, the more affordable K-132.

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Player piano -

In 1897, American engineer Edwin Scott Votey (1856–1931) patented the player piano, or pianola. This self-playing piano was able to produce music without an instrumentalist through a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism that operated the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper. Pictured is a pianist at London's Perforated Music Company recording music onto punched paper roll to use on a player piano.

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All that jazz -

The advent of jazz music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries saw the piano play an important role in the development of the genre, both as a spotlighted solo instrument and due to its role in the rhythm section. Jazz pianists such as Scott Joplin, Art Tatum (pictured), and Thelonious Monk further elevated the instrument as a vital building block in the evolution of jazz music.

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Rocking and rolling -

America in the mid-50s saw the rise of rock and roll, and with it a number of extraordinarily talented pianists who took the instrument to new and previously unheard of levels. Leading the way was Little Richard, whose unique pounding and raucous style of playing influenced Jerry Lee Lewis, who made his piano as much a character as himself—wild, candid, and wholly unpredictable.

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Electric piano -

American music inventor Harold Rhodes (1910–2000) is regarded as the father of the electric piano. In the late 1940s, he invented what became known as the Rhodes piano, which generated its sound by hammers hitting a length of wire known as a tine. The signal was then sent through a cable to an external keyboard amplifier and speaker. Noted users of the instrument include Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek and Billy Preston, who played a Rhodes during the Beatles' rooftop concert in 1969, and on the band's hit single 'Get Back.'

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Donison-Steinbuhler Standard Piano -

In 1970, Canadian composer, pianist, and conductor Christopher Donison developed an idea to modify a concert piano to accommodate pianists with smaller hands. Collaborating with David Steinbuhler, a textile manufacturer from Pennsylvania, he produced the Donison-Steinbuhler Standard, a keyboard reduced to seven-eighths the size of the conventional concert piano. The smaller keyboard greatly facilitated the study, competition, and performance of those learning to play the instrument.

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Synthesizer -

Parallel with the development of the electric piano was the synthesizer, an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Robert Moog (1934–2005) invented the first commercial synthesizer in 1964, but it was during the following decade that the instrument gained an iconic status, popularized by pioneering German synth pop band Kraftwerk.

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Digital piano -

The digital piano is designed to serve primarily as an alternative to the traditional acoustic piano, its defining feature being a musical keyboard with 88 keys. The instrument is often used as a MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) controller enabling the user to record songs from their digital piano into their Mac or PC, and sequence music and play a variety of virtual instruments.

Sources: (Early Music) (The Galpin Society Journal) (Colonial Society of Massachusetts)

See also: The world in tune: national musical instruments

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