{"id":17408,"date":"2023-07-26T16:29:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musiknerd.org\/unkategorisiert\/piano\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T19:36:06","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T17:36:06","slug":"piano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musiknerd.org\/en\/musical-instruments\/piano\/","title":{"rendered":"Piano"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is a piano?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The piano<\/strong>, also known as the fortepiano or string piano, takes its name from the Latin words “clavis” (key) and “taste” (key).\nThis name refers to the crucial role of the keys on this instrument.\nWhen a key is pressed, a complicated mechanism sets small hammers in motion, which strike the strings and thus produce the piano’s unmistakable sound. <\/p>\n\n

The development of the piano made it possible for the first time to change the volume continuously.\nThis led to the emergence of the term “pianoforte” (abbreviated to “piano”).\nThis term emphasized the ability to play between soft (piano) and loud (forte) and contributed to the popularity of this unique instrument.\nToday’s piano is a keyboard instrument<\/g><\/g><\/g> in operation, a percussion instrument<\/g><\/g><\/g> in the way it is excited and a stringed instrument<\/g><\/g><\/g> in the type of vibrating medium. <\/p>\n\n

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History of the piano<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Historically, stringed keyboard instruments can be traced back to the monochord.\nSeveral monochords developed into raft or tubular zithers played with both hands.\nThis gave rise in antiquity to keyboard organs on the one hand and various plucked, struck or bowed stringed instruments on the other, including the psaltery. <\/p>\n\n

The organistrum from the 12th century – a hurdy-gurdy whose string length could be changed using tangent keys – is regarded as an intermediate link in the development of stringed keyboard instruments.\nIn 1397, a jurist in Padua first mentions a psaltery that was operated with keys.\nIn 1404, a clavicordium and a clavicymbolum are mentioned for the first time in the Minneregeln of Eberhard von Cersne.\nIn 1425 such an instrument appeared on an altarpiece in Minden, and in 1440 Arnaut Henri de Zwolle described this new type of instrument in a treatise, including a dulce melos related to the hammered dulcimer. <\/p>\n\n

From the monochord and the psaltery, the clavichord developed in the late Middle Ages by adding a keyboard (tangents firmly connected to the key strike the strings) and in the Renaissance the virginal and the harpsichord as well as their variants clavicytherium and spinet, in which the sound is produced by striking the strings with a keel.\nThe grand piano form of the harpsichord ultimately became the model for the first pianos. <\/p>\n\n

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History of Bartolomeo Cristofori and the first fortepiano<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

The world of the piano has a fascinating history dating back to the\n17th and\n18th century Italian instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori created the first fortepiano, in which hammers struck strings at the touch of a key, enabling dynamic playing.\nHis innovations and improvements led to the creation of the term “pianoforte”, in which the volume could be varied continuously between soft and loud.\nWhile the piano initially attracted little attention in Italy, it quickly became popular in other parts of Europe. <\/p>\n\n

In Germany, Gottfried Silbermann had a decisive influence on the modern piano.\nHe improved Cristofori’s action and earned recognition from composers such as Johann Sebastian Bach.\nJohann Andreas Stein created the Viennese action, which was adapted by numerous piano makers in Vienna and Germany.\nIn England, on the other hand, the square piano developed as a cheaper alternative to the fortepiano and became a great sales success.\nThe English action of Robert Stodart and John Broadwood brought further improvements and helped the piano to become increasingly popular. <\/p>\n\n

The developments and innovations in the piano world contributed to the piano becoming one of the most popular and widely used musical instruments for musicians and the European bourgeoisie.\nWith its unique ability to express a wide range of emotions and create virtuoso soundscapes, the piano is still an indispensable instrument in the music scene today. <\/p>\n\n

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The development in the first half of the 19th century<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

In the first decades of the 19th century, the piano underwent a remarkable development.\nTwo grand piano actions dominated: the Viennese action by Johann Andreas Stein and the English action by Americus Backers, Robert Stodart and John Broadwood.\nWhile the Viennese action stood for delicate instruments with a soft sound, the musicians and composers of the emerging Romantic period demanded more power and expressive possibilities.\nThe English action became increasingly popular, as it allowed for larger hammers and a greater volume of sound. <\/p>\n\n

Between 1750 and 1850, the range of the keyboard increased from around five to seven and a half octaves, which required additional bracing and a cast-iron frame.\nThe piano strings were made of stronger cast steel, and cross-stringing made it possible to use longer strings in shorter instruments.\nJohann Heinrich Pope’s innovation of wrapping the hammerhead with felt instead of leather fundamentally changed the sound of the piano, allowing for richer and more colorful tones. <\/p>\n\n

An important invention of this period was S\u00e9bastien \u00c9rard’s repetition mechanism, which enabled fast and virtuoso playing.\nThe damping was controlled by pedals and the piano became an integral part of concert life in the big cities.\nWith the growing popularity of the piano, it also found its way into middle-class households. <\/p>\n\n

The first half of the 19th century was characterized by groundbreaking developments in piano construction, which made the instrument a powerful and expressive companion for musicians and composers.\nThe piano sound became more varied and refined, and the piano established itself as one of the most important and popular musical instruments of its time. <\/p>\n\n

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The development in the second half of the 19th century<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

By the middle of the 19th century, most of the elements of the modern piano, both the grand piano and the upright piano, had been developed.\nThis was followed by a number of innovations, above all the cross-stringing of the grand piano, but above all constant refinements and improvements to the mechanics, construction and manufacturing processes.\nThe second half of the 19th century was characterized by an unprecedented intensification of production.\nWhereas around 33,000 pianos were produced in Europe in 1850, by 1910 this figure had risen to 215,000. <\/p>\n\n

This sharp rise was probably due to the increasing popularity of the piano among the middle classes, for whom owning a piano became a status symbol, but also to the general population growth in the 19th century.\nThe once popular table piano was displaced by the pianino and to a certain extent became a victim of its own success.\nIt developed from a simple, small instrument into a large, heavy colossus with an exclusive design.\nThe gap was filled by the new, smaller and cheaper pianino, which became by far the most popular domestic instrument of the middle classes internationally.\nBy the end of the 19th century, most instrument makers had stopped producing upright pianos. <\/p>\n\n

At the Great Exhibition of 1851 in London, one of the first major international world exhibitions, piano makers from all over Europe and the New World met for the first time.\nThe exhibition was a great success and was to be held regularly from then on.\nSuch events facilitated technological comparisons, spurred competition and contributed significantly to innovation.\nHeinrich Steinweg and his son Henry Steinway played a central role in the further development of the piano. <\/p>\n\n

In 1859 they patented the complete combination of cast iron frame and cross-stringing for grand pianos and in 1866 the installation of cast iron frames and cross-stringing for upright pianos.\nIn 1878 Steinway patented the bending of the grand piano case made of laminated maple layers.\nThese innovations created the shape and basic construction of the modern piano, which has hardly changed in over 140 years.\nThe innovations were soon adopted by other manufacturers. <\/p>\n\n

With the development of the Steinway & Sons Centennial D in December 1875, the concert grand piano can be regarded as largely mature.\nIt has the cross-stringing from 1859, the one-piece cast iron plate, the action frame from 1871, the sostenuto pedal and the pilot screws from 1875, and initially the bass tension screws on the soundboard, which were removed in 1878.\nThe smaller changes that followed served less to improve the sound than to simplify and cheapen production and improve handling – while retaining the sound quality achieved.\nIts successor, the D grand piano introduced in 1884 and still in production today, is almost 200 kilograms lighter. <\/p>\n\n

During its production period, the Centennial D underwent several experimental developments.\nFrom 1880, the final form was found with the installation of the “rim”, the outer casing glued from thick planks, in the Model D.\nDuring these years of technical progress, it was hardly noticeable at first that the grand pianos had a poorer sound. <\/p>\n\n

They were equipped with hammers made from bent felt strips based on Dolge patents and strings made from Bessemer steel, which was invented in 1856.\nThese developments were due to the requirements for sound reinforcement in very large concert halls with 2500 to 7000 listeners.\nA performance that grand pianos could not have achieved 30 years earlier.\nThis type of grand piano won an award at the 1876 World Exhibition and is still considered technically up-to-date today.\nIt has hardly been significantly improved since then. <\/p>\n\n

However, the French grand pianos of the 1830s and 1840s by Hertz, Boisselot, Erard and above all Pleyel were more sonorous, more fiery, but quieter and not suitable for an audience of more than 1000 people, and their richness of sound came at the price of unimaginably high maintenance costs by today’s standards for the quickly wearing, elaborately handcrafted hammers.<\/p>\n\n

While the wars and political upheavals of the\n18th and early\n19th century, many piano makers fled from Germany and France to England and America.\nIn the second half of the 19th century, Germany became the world’s leading piano-making country, ahead of England, France and the USA.\nGerman piano makers delivered all over the world. <\/p>\n\n

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Development in the\n20th and\n21st century <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n

At the beginning of the 20th century, the piano also experienced a boom in the USA, which soon outstripped European production.\nIn 1910, 370,000 pianos were produced in the USA, compared to 215,000 in Europe.\nIn the heyday of piano manufacturing, 300,000 pianos were sold per year in Germany alone; at this time, the piano was a “status symbol, means of communication and favorite leisure activity at the same time” and enabled daughters of “good families” to present themselves to men in a favorable light at recitals. <\/p>\n\n

At the end of the\n19th century, the pianola (brand name of the American manufacturer Aeolian) was invented in the USA and pedal-operated self-playing pianos also became very fashionable in Europe, especially through Hupfeld, so that at the beginning of the\nAt the beginning of the 20th century, more upright and grand pianos were delivered than pure hand-playing pianos and piano production reached its peak.\nThe two world wars and the world economic crisis, but also a change in contemporary tastes, brought the heyday in Germany to an abrupt end. <\/p>\n\n

Home music gave way to record<\/a><\/span><\/strong> and the radio, and learning to play the piano was no longer an automatic part of education.\nMany manufacturers had to close their factories, lost them due to war damage or had to switch to the production of war material.\nIn addition, piano manufacturing came under criticism and experienced material difficulties, as the previously mass use of ivory for piano keyboards almost led to the extinction of elephant populations in Africa.\nAfter the Second World War, the industry was slow to recover and it was not until the 1960s that a gradual upturn began.\nGerman reunification also had a positive effect on piano manufacturing, as traditional companies in East Germany (e.g. Bl\u00fcthner) were unable to fully develop until 1990. <\/p>\n\n

The decline in European piano production was compensated for by American and emerging Asian piano production.\nThe last few decades in particular have been characterized by the upswing in piano manufacturing in Japan, South Korea and China.\nToday, the Japanese Yamaha Corporation produces grand pianos of the highest quality, which can be found more and more frequently in concert halls (e.g. in the Berlin Philharmonie).\nThe Korean Young Chang and the Chinese Pearl River Group are among the largest piano manufacturers in the world today. <\/p>\n\n

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Origin of the piano<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

Upright pianos were also built from the very beginning, for example by the Cristofori pupil Domenico del Mela and the Silbermann pupil Christian Ernst Friederici (1745).\nThese instruments often had impressive shapes, evidenced by names such as giraffe pianos, harp pianos, lyre pianos, pyramid pianos or cabinet pianos; they were usually very high, very exclusive and did not have much in common with today’s upright pianos. <\/p>\n\n

The first small pianos were created independently of each other around 1800 by Matthias M\u00fcller in Vienna and John Isaac Hawkins in Philadelphia.\nRobert Wornum, who built a cottage piano around 1811, was technically and commercially successful. By 1826, this had developed into the piccolo piano and became the model for all later pianos. <\/p>\n\n

His mechanism is a plunger mechanism with release, based on the principles of the English grand piano mechanism and modified by the hammer pivot joint, the so-called hammer shell.\nHe developed it further in the 1830s.\nThis action was further developed in Paris by Pleyel and Pape and made commercially successful, which is why it became known as the French action.\nIt essentially corresponds to today’s piano action. <\/p>\n\n

Around 1850 in Europe and around 1900 in the USA, upright pianos began to replace table pianos, which required more material and space and had a less favorable sound.\nThe piano makers tried to assert their craftsmanship not only through technical aspects, but also through the particularly artistic design of the cases, which they made especially for the numerous trade fairs and exhibitions. <\/p>\n\n

The mostly very wealthy clientele often ordered upright and grand pianos based on designs by important architects and artists, resulting in many extremely magnificent instruments.\nIn Germany, for example, the piano manufacturer Ibach had its own factory in Cologne with up to 2,000 employees, which produced these ornate cases.\nThe C. Bechstein company in Berlin also produced a large number of such art-case instruments. <\/p>\n\n

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Construction of a piano<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The case forms the body of the piano and consists of a stable beam construction, struts and wooden braces.\nThe soundboard, also made of wood, is glued onto this body and is of crucial importance for the sound development. <\/p>\n\n

The soundpost, also made of wood, is an important component to which the cast iron plate is attached.\nThis plate is bolted to metal pegs onto which the string ends are wound.\nThe strings are made of cast steel wire and vary in thickness depending on the pitch.\nFor the lowest notes, thicker strings are wound with copper wire, while three plain strings are used for the other notes. <\/p>\n\n

The action of the piano is a complicated mechanism consisting of keys, springs, reeds, tappets, dampers and hammers.\nWhen the keys are struck, the hammers hit the strings, producing the characteristic sound.\nThe keyboard usually has 88 keys, giving the pianist a wide variety of sounds. <\/p>\n\n

A piano is also equipped with two or three pedals, which offer further expressive possibilities.\nThese components were perfected around 1880 and have hardly changed since then.\nOnly the mechanization and automation of the production of small parts has made progress. <\/p>\n\n

Building a piano is a harmonious combination of traditional craftsmanship and modern technology that makes this fascinating instrument an indispensable part of the musical world.<\/p>\n\n

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Sound diversity and expressive possibilities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The piano fascinates with its impressive dynamic range, which enables the pianist to express a wide range of emotions from delicate, soft tones to powerful, loud sounds.\nThe specific characteristics of the piano sound include the fixed pitches, the sound coloration associated with the speed of touch and thus the volume, and the irrevocable decay of the sound, which can only be prolonged after touch by the right pedal and can be ended gradually or abruptly by gradual or abrupt damping. <\/p>\n\n

A characteristic feature of the piano sound is the polyphony of notes, in which two or three equally tuned strings form a string choir.\nThis “polychorality” was originally intended to increase the volume of the instrument, but above all it led to a more complex sound pattern of pre- and post-sounds.\nThe strings of a string choir are struck together and vibrate in the same phase, but with slightly different amplitudes, as the shape of the hammer is never completely uniform.\nThe string that is struck weakest gradually resonates with the other strings after its own excitation has died away, so that the strings of the string choir act like coupled pendulums that exchange a large part of their energy with each other. <\/p>\n\n

The combination of attack and sustain gives the piano its unique and multi-layered sound.\nUsing the left pedal weakens the attack sound on the one hand, as only two of the three strings of the string chorus are struck, and strengthens the resonance on the other, as the string chorus releases its energy comparatively slowly as a system of coupled pendulums.\nThe left pedal therefore not only produces an initially softer sound, but also a relatively longer lasting sound.\nThe piano’s pedals – sustain, una corda and sostenuto pedals – open up additional expressive possibilities for the musician and lend depth and nuance to the music. <\/p>\n\n

The variation possibilities with the pedals and the touch speed open up a rich sound palette for the pianist, enabling him to shape the musical interpretation individually and sensitively.\nThe tonal diversity of the piano makes it one of the most versatile and expressive musical instruments and an indispensable part of the musical world. <\/p>\n\n

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What influences the piano?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The sound and volume of a note on the piano depend exclusively on the speed and therefore the kinetic energy of the hammer striking the strings, and not on the way in which the pianist accelerates the hammer to this speed, i.e. not on a particular touch technique.\nApart from the pedals and a few phenomena that also play a role, such as the “overtone” and the “undertone” that arise when the finger and the key or the key wood and the bottom of the key meet, depending on the playing technique, the timbre and volume of the piano always run parallel. <\/p>\n\n

However, the timing of the string attack after the beginning of the attack of a piano key depends on the temporal force progression and thus on the acceleration of the hammer during the attack, so that a practiced pianist can make a certain note sound a little earlier or later within certain limits despite the same volume (“micro-agogic”) and set accents independently of the volume.\nIn this respect, the pianist’s touch technique has a decisive influence on the piano performance due to the actual timing of the onset of the piano tone. <\/p>\n\n

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How does a piano sound if it is not well air-conditioned?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n

The room climate has a considerable influence on the sound and overall quality of the piano.\nHumidity in particular plays a decisive role.\nA relative humidity of between 40 and 70 % is recommended, ideally between 50 and 60 %.\nHumidity below 40 % can dry out the wood, while humidity above 70 % encourages the formation of rust on metal parts such as the strings.\nFor this reason, the piano should not be placed on poorly insulated exterior walls, near radiators or on a heated floor, nor should it be exposed to draughts or direct sunlight. <\/p>\n\n

Serious problems can occur, especially with pianos that have traveled long distances under different climatic conditions.\nFor example, an instrument that was designed for the humid climate of East Asia and ends up in Central or Northern Europe may not survive the first cold and dry winter well.\nTo prevent this problem, large and renowned piano manufacturers such as Yamaha<\/g><\/g><\/g> produce their instruments for export in specially air-conditioned rooms. <\/p>\n\n

If the humidity drops sharply over a longer period of time, the wood dries out and contracts.\nThis can cause tuning pegs and screws to loosen, the beams of the keyboard and action to warp and the soundboard to lose its curvature, which has a negative effect on the tuning and sound.\nConversely, high humidity leads to a greater curvature of the soundboard, higher tuning, jamming of axes and keys and a duller sound, as the hammer felt absorbs moisture. <\/p>\n\n

Some piano manufacturers now use materials such as Plexiglas or carbon fiber composites (CFRP), which are less sensitive to climate fluctuations.\nThese are used for the piano body or soundboard in some series models in order to counteract the negative effects of the room climate and ensure the long-term sound quality of the piano. <\/p>\n\n

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Piano playing technique<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n

Playing techniques on the piano require close attention to physics, as even small movements have a major influence on the sound.\nThe sitting position plays an important role here, as an incorrect posture can impair the ease of playing. <\/p>\n\n

The basic rules for sitting posture are simple but very important: upright posture, shoulders and elbows relaxed at a 90-degree angle, which also determines the correct distance to the keyboard.\nThe wrist should be relaxed, while the fingers should be round and close to the keys.\nOnce this basic posture has been learned, it should be checked regularly, as discomfort or difficulties when playing are often due to incorrect posture. <\/p>\n\n

Particular attention should be paid to the wrist, as it has a major influence on the sound and the smoothness of the movements.\nAn immobile wrist can lead to a wooden sound and unnecessary strain on the fingers.\nIt is therefore important to pay attention to a dynamic and flexible movement of the wrist while playing in order to produce an expressive and controlled sound. <\/p>\n\n

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List of famous pianists<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n