A Brief History of the Piano

​Americans who learn to play musical instruments enjoy various benefits, including decreased stress and improved memory. When it comes to learning an instrument for the first time, experts often suggest the piano because it is a user-friendly instrument that presents chords and scales in a way that is visual and easy to understand. However, the piano was not always such an accessible instrument.

The history of the modern piano stems from late 17th century Italy and the birth of Bartolomeo Cristofori, a musician who initially preferred the harpsichord. Over time, Cristofori became aggravated by his lack of control over the instrument's volume. Around the turn of the century, the musician developed a harpsichord that lacked a plucking mechanism, replacing the component with a hammer that players manipulated with their fingers.

While Cristofori's new instrument closely resembled a modern piano, he originally classified his creation as a new type of harpsichord. His name for the device, clavicembalo col piano e forte, translates to "a harpsichord that can play soft and loud noises, which became abbreviated as "piano."

The music world immediately noted Cristofori's invention, but the piano did not immediately enter the mainstream. Organ construction specialist Gottfried Silbermann expanded on Cristofori's design over several years. In 1747, Silbermann dedicated and delivered one of his pianos to King Frederick the Great. Not long after, Johann Sebastian Bach used the piano to perform a historical composition for the king.

Johann Andreas Stein, who would ultimately become known as a major piano manufacturer, joined Silberman. Stein continued refining the piano mechanism that Cristofori invented and improved by Silbermann. Stein's piano used a system called "Viennese action," which remained popular for several decades. This new design style produced a brighter tone and a more responsive keyboard.

Silbermann's iteration of the piano drew the attention of many composers, including Mozart. The control offered by the Viennese action enthralled Mozart, who wrote and performed countless piano pieces.

By this time, multiple piano manufacturers had started developing instruments for an ever-increasing number of composers and musicians. Johann Christian Bach used one of Johannes Christoph Zumpe's hammer-action clavichords, essentially a square piano, and regarded it as the first recorded solo piano performance at a public concert. A few years later, John Broadwood introduced a piano that was more powerful but also more sensitive to touch, resulting in an instrument that closely resembles the modern-day piano. Broadwood's piano was Ludwig van Beethoven's preferred instrument.

The history of the piano changed greatly after the French Revolution in 1789. Following the conflict, public interest and demand for the instrument expanded significantly. Manufacturers individually crafted pianos at the time, but the rise in demand led to the first piano manufacturing facilities. Developers also had to produce pianos with louder volumes and longer sustains so that musicians could play them in concert halls with thousands of audience members.

The instrument changed more as a larger number of musicians began to innovate and experiment with it. For instance, the introduction of trills and rapid arpeggios led to a keyboard capable of following quick note repetition. At the start of the 19th century, manufacturers designed compact pianos so buyers could play them at home when many viewed the piano as a core instrument for Western musicians.

Andrew Maniglia

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