Piano- The Ancient Radio

We've always seen pianos as a piece of home décor, to give the house a warmer and livelier atmosphere. Earlier though, pianos had an essential role in almost every home, for more than just the aesthetics. Most people would learn the basics of playing the piano, so they could interpret and rearrange newly premiered pieces and play it for their families. This is also why the piano has remained one of the most popular and widespread instruments, even to this day.

Created in somewhere in 1700, the worlds 1st piano was quite different from what the modern

piano looks like. it even had another name - pianoforte. This name was derived from 2 Italian terms namely 'piano' (soft sound)and 'forte'(loud sound). This was to signify the instrument's ability to produce sounds of various soft and loud sounds, based on the force applied onto the keys. The first piano maker, Bartolomeo Cristofori, was inspired by the harpsichord and made variations to the instrument, to create the piano. While a harpsichord has 2 keyboards the piano has only one. The harpsichord cannot produce sounds of different volumes, but a piano can. This earned the instrument the name Gravicembalo col piano e forte(a harpsichord with soft and loud).

After many experiments, the piano was born. It had a keyboard with 54 keys attached to wooden hammers, covered with thin felt. These hammers were directly above a set of thin strings. When the keys were pressed, the hammers would strike the strings, causing vibrations. The keys were made of ivory and the strings extended backwards, attached at various tensions, to create different pitches.

There were white keys, at a lower level and black keys at a higher level, at intervals of 2 and 3 white keys. Other people, greatly intrigued by this new instrument, contributed to the evolution of the piano. Even famous composers loved the instrument and were keen to develop it. For instance, Mozart made the piano smaller and lighter than the original piano and even, reversed the colors of the keys.

The modern piano is quite different from the original piano. The keys remained black and white but ivory is no longer used. plastic and wood have replaced it. The instrument is huge and heavy(weights ranging from 91 to 544 kg), with 88 keys. What contributes more to the weight is the number of strings. Thicker than the strings used previously, there are around 3 strings connected to each key. The thin felt on the hammers has also been replaced with softer wooly

material, to reduce the harshness with which the hammers strike the strings .And the most glorious additions are the 3 pedals, at the base of the piano.

The one on the right, is the sustain pedal. As the name suggests, the pedal, when held down by the foot, sustains the notes for longer than the vibration of the strings. This is used in almost every piano piece and is also called the 'soul of the piano'.

The sostenuto peddle, in the middle, is similar to the sustain pedal. However, it sustains only the notes played when the pedal was pressed, allowing selective sustain. This is a relatively new addition and is often replaced with a practice pedal that greatly reduces the volume of the

instrument. This allows you to rehearse without bothering people around much.

The last pedal is the soft pedal. This pedal reduces the volume of the notes being played. All these additions contributed to the pianos huge range of pitches and volumes. Its dynamics have now sparked debates as to whether it belongs to the percussion section(since the sound is produced on striking the keys) or the string section (since the strings vibrate to make the sound). Either way, its one instrument that will never be forgotten. So now that you're so well informed about this heavenly instrument, go ahead and feed that new born admiration by listening to these pieces!

Lodovico Guistini- Piano Sonata 6(the first ever piano composition!)

Beethoven Moonlight Sonata

Liszt La Campanella

Haydn Piano Sonata

Debussy Clair de Lune

Chopin Fantasie-Impromptu