piano

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Introduction & Top Questions References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

An innovative piano design

The intricate process of constructing a grand piano

A pianoforte by Bartolomeo Cristofori

“Giraffe-style” piano, an upright piano in Biedermeier style, by Gebroeders Muller, c. 1820; in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

Detail of the late 19th-century piano that belonged to Leopold Godowsky.

Square piano by Johann Christoph Zumpe, 1767; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

For Students

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Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)

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piano: Media

musical instrument

Videos

The intricate process of constructing a grand piano

The intricate process of constructing a grand piano

Overview of how concert pianos are made.

Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz

Images

An innovative piano design

An innovative piano design

Upright pianos like the one pictured here—with their strings running down to floor...

© Wahavi/Alamy

A pianoforte by Bartolomeo Cristofori

A pianoforte by Bartolomeo Cristofori

Double-action pianoforte built by Bartolomeo Cristofori in 1720; in the Metropolitan...

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Crosby Brown Collection of Musical Instruments, 1889 (89.4.1219), www. metmuseum.org

Fats Waller

Fats Waller

Fats Waller playing a piano, 1938.

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-USZ62-123107)

“Giraffe-style” piano, an upright piano in Biedermeier style, by Gebroeders Muller, c. 1820; in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands.

“Giraffe-style” piano, an upright piano in Biedermeier style, by Gebroeders Muller,...

Courtesy of the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Detail of the late 19th-century piano that belonged to Leopold Godowsky.

Detail of the late 19th-century piano that belonged to Leopold Godowsky.

Wesleyan Virtual Instrument Museum 2.0 (https://wesomeka.wesleyan.edu/vim2)

Square piano by Johann Christoph Zumpe, 1767; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Square piano by Johann Christoph Zumpe, 1767; in the Victoria and Albert Museum,...

Courtesy of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Each key of a piano actuates a complex mechanical system to strike a taut string and produce a musical tone. Depending on how the keys and pedals are operated, the mechanism may produce a variety of effects on the same note, from muffled to brilliant and from quick to sustained.

Each key of a piano actuates a complex mechanical system to strike a taut string...

© Merriam-Webster Inc.

Audio

Frédéric Chopin: Fantaisie-Impromptu

Excerpt from Fantaisie-Impromptu (1835) for piano, by Frédéric Chopin.

Sergey Prokofiev

An excerpt from Sergey Prokofiev's Piano Sonata No. 7.

Franz Liszt: La campanella

Excerpt from La campanella (“The Bell”), number three of six études for...

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