Editing Piano (section)

==History==
The piano was based on earlier technological innovations in [[keyboard instrument]]s. The earliest known keyboard instrument was the Ancient Greek [[hydraulis]], a type of [[pipe organ]] invented in the third century BC. <ref>{{Cite book |last=Apel |first=Willi |title=The history of keyboard music to 1700 |last2=Tischler |first2=Hans |last3=Apel |first3=Willi |date=1997 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-21141-5 |location=Bloomington, Ind.}}</ref> [[Pipe organ]]s had been used since antiquity, and as such the development of pipe organs enabled instrument builders to learn about creating keyboard mechanisms for sounding [[Pitch (music)|pitches]]. The first [[string instrument]]s with struck strings were the [[hammered dulcimer]]s,<ref>David R. Peterson (1994), "Acoustics of the hammered dulcimer, its history, and recent developments", ''[[Journal of the Acoustical Society of America]]'' '''95''' (5), p. 3002.</ref> which were introduced in the [[Middle Ages]] in Europe. During the Middle Ages, there were several attempts at creating stringed keyboard instruments with struck strings.<ref>Pollens (1995, Ch.1)</ref> By the 17th century, the mechanisms of keyboard instruments such as the [[clavichord]] and the [[harpsichord]] were well developed. In a clavichord the strings are struck by tangents, while in a harpsichord they are mechanically plucked by quills when the performer depresses the key. Centuries of work on the mechanism of the harpsichord in particular had shown instrument builders the most effective ways to construct the case, soundboard, bridge, and mechanical action for a keyboard intended to sound strings.

The English word ''piano'' is a shortened form of the Italian ''{{lang|it|pianoforte}}'',<ref>{{cite book |author1=Scholes, Percy A. |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont00scho |title=The Oxford Companion to Music (10th ed.) |author2=John Owen Ward |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-19-311306-0 |location=Oxford and New York |pages=lvi |url-access=registration}}</ref> derived from ''{{lang|it|gravecembalo col piano e forte}}'' ("harpsichord with soft and loud").{{sfn|Ripin|Pollens|2001|loc=¶2}} Variations in volume ([[loudness]]) are produced in response to the pianist's ''touch'' (pressure on the keys): the greater the pressure, the greater the force of the hammer hitting the strings and the louder the sound produced and the stronger the ''attack''. Invented in 1700, the [[fortepiano]] was the second keyboard instrument (in addition to the [[Clavichord|clavichord]] which predates it) to allow gradations of volume and [[Musical tone|tone]] according to how forcefully or softly the player presses or strikes the keys, unlike the pipe organ and harpsichord.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wraight |first=Denzil |date=2006 |title=Recent Approaches in Understanding Cristofori's Fortepiano |journal=Early Music |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=635–644 |doi=10.1093/em/cal050 |issn=0306-1078 |jstor=4137311 |s2cid=191481821}}</ref>

===Invention===
[[File:CristoforiPiano1726LeipzigKeyboardView.jpg|thumb|The 1726 Cristofori piano in the [[Museum of Musical Instruments of the University of Leipzig|Musikinstrumenten-Museum]] in Leipzig|left]]
The invention of the piano is credited to [[Bartolomeo Cristofori]] of [[Padua]], Italy, who was employed by [[Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany]], as the Keeper of the Instruments.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pollens |first=Stewart |date=2013 |title=Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence |journal=The Galpin Society Journal |volume=66 |pages=7–245 |issn=0072-0127 |jstor=44083109}}</ref> Cristofori was an expert harpsichord maker and was well acquainted with the body of knowledge on stringed keyboard instruments. This knowledge of keyboard mechanisms and actions helped him to develop the first pianos. It is not known when Cristofori first built a piano. An inventory made by his employers, the [[Medici]] family, indicates the existence of a piano by 1700. The three Cristofori pianos that survive today date from the 1720s.{{sfn|Ripin|Pollens|2001b|loc=¶1}}<ref name="metmuseum">{{cite web |url=http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cris/hd_cris.htm |title=The Piano: The Pianofortes of Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731) &#124; Thematic Essay &#124; Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History &#124; The Metropolitan Museum of Art |publisher=New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=2003 |author=Powers, Wendy |access-date=2014-01-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017032640/http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cris/hd_cris.htm |archive-date=2013-10-17 |url-status=live}}</ref> Cristofori named the instrument ''un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte'' ("a keyboard of [[cypress]] with soft and loud"), abbreviated over time as ''pianoforte'', ''fortepiano'', and later reduced to only ''piano''.{{sfn|Isacoff|2012|p=23}}

Cristofori's great success was designing a stringed keyboard instrument in which the notes are struck by a hammer. The hammer must strike the string but not remain in contact with it, because continued contact would [[Damping (music)|damp]] the sound and stop the string from vibrating and making sound. This means that after striking the string, the hammer must quickly fall from (or rebound from) the strings. Moreover, the hammer must return to its rest position without bouncing violently (thus preventing notes from being re-played by accidental rebound), and it must return to a position in which it is ready to play again almost immediately after its key is depressed, so the player can repeat the same note rapidly when desired. Cristofori's piano [[Action (piano)|action]] was a model for the many approaches to piano actions that followed in the next century.

Cristofori's early instruments were made with thin strings and were much quieter than the modern piano, though they were louder and had more [[sustain]] compared to the clavichord—the only previous keyboard instrument capable of dynamic nuance responding to the player's touch, the velocity with which the keys are pressed. While the clavichord allows expressive control of volume and sustain, it is relatively quiet even at its loudest. The harpsichord produces a sufficiently loud sound, especially when a coupler joins each key to both manuals of a two-manual harpsichord, but it offers no dynamic or expressive control over individual notes. The piano in some sense offers the best of both of the older instruments, combining the ability to play at least as loudly as a harpsichord with the ability to continuously vary dynamics by touch.

===Early fortepiano===
{{Main|Fortepiano}}
[[File:Grand Piano 1781 France - Louis Bas.jpg|thumb|Grand piano by Louis Bas of [[Villeneuve-lès-Avignon]], 1781. Earliest French grand piano known to survive; includes an inverted wrestplank and action derived from the work of Bartolomeo Cristofori (ca. 1700) with ornately decorated soundboard.]]
Cristofori's new instrument remained relatively unknown until an Italian writer, [[Scipione Maffei]], wrote an enthusiastic article about it in 1711, including a diagram of the mechanism, that was translated into German and widely distributed.<ref name="metmuseum" /> Most of the next generation of piano builders started their work based on reading this article. One of these builders was [[Gottfried Silbermann]], better known as an [[organ (music)|organ]] builder. Silbermann's pianos were virtual copies of Cristofori's, with one important addition: Silbermann invented the forerunner of the modern [[sustain pedal]], which lifts all the dampers from the strings simultaneously.<ref name="Badura-Skoda 2000 1–16">{{Cite journal|last=Badura-Skoda |first=Eva|date=2000|title=Did J. S. Bach Compose "Pianoforte Concertos"? |journal=Bach |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |issn=0005-3600 |jstor=41640462}}</ref> This innovation allows the pianist to sustain the notes that they have depressed even after their fingers are no longer pressing down the keys. As such, by holding a chord with the sustain pedal, pianists can relocate their hands to a different register of the keyboard in preparation for a subsequent section.

Silbermann showed [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] one of his early instruments in the 1730s, but Bach did not like the instrument at that time, saying that the higher notes were too soft to allow a full dynamic range. Although this earned him some animosity from Silbermann, the criticism was apparently heeded.<ref name="Badura-Skoda 2000 1–16"/> Bach did approve of a later instrument he saw in 1747 and even served as an agent in selling Silbermann's pianos. "Instrument: piano et forte genandt"—a reference to the instrument's ability to play soft and loud—was an expression that Bach used to help sell the instrument when he was acting as Silbermann's agent in 1749.<ref name="palmieri">{{cite book |last=Palmieri|first=Bob & Meg|title=The Piano: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2003 |isbn=978-0-415-93796-2}}. "Instrument: piano et forte genandt" [was] an expression Bach also used when acting as Silbermann's agent in 1749."</ref>

Piano making flourished during the late 18th century in the [[First Viennese School|Viennese school]], which included [[Johann Andreas Stein]] (who worked in [[Augsburg]], Germany) and the Viennese makers [[Nannette Streicher]] (daughter of Stein) and [[Anton Walter]]. Viennese-style pianos were built with wood frames, two strings per note, and leather-covered hammers.{{sfn|Rowland|1998b|p=23}} Some of these Viennese pianos had the opposite coloring of modern-day pianos; the natural keys were black and the accidental keys white.<ref name="vienna">{{cite web|url=http://www.ptg.org/resources-historyOfPianos-viennese.php|title=The Viennese Piano|access-date=2007-10-09|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011233347/http://www.ptg.org/resources-historyOfPianos-viennese.php|archive-date=2008-10-11}}</ref> It was for such instruments that [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] composed his [[piano concerto|concertos]] and [[piano sonata|sonatas]], and replicas of them are built in the 21st century for use in [[Historically informed performance|authentic-instrument performance]] of his music. The pianos of Mozart's day had a softer tone than 21st century pianos or English pianos, with less sustaining power. The term ''fortepiano'' now distinguishes these early instruments (and modern re-creations) from later pianos.{{sfn|Kennedy et al.|2012|loc="Fortepiano"}}

===Modern piano===
{{details|Innovations in the piano}}

{{listen
| type         = music
| header       = '''Comparison of piano sound'''
| filename     = Frederic Chopin - Opus 25 - Twelve Grand Etudes - c minor.ogg
| title        = 19th century piano sound
| description  = [[Frédéric Chopin]]'s [[Étude Op. 25, No. 12 (Chopin)|Étude Op. 25, No. 12]], on an [[Sébastien Érard|Erard]] piano made in 1851
| format       = [[Ogg]]
| filename2    = Frederic Chopin - etude no. 12 in c minor, op. 25.ogg
| title2       = Modern piano sound
| description2 = The same piece, on a modern piano
| format2      = [[Ogg]]
}}

In the period from about 1790 to 1860, the Mozart-era piano underwent significant changes that led to the modern structure of the instrument. This revolution was in response to a preference by composers and pianists for a more powerful, sustained piano sound,{{sfn|Hamilton|1998|p=62}} which was made possible by the ongoing [[Industrial Revolution]] with resources such as high-quality [[piano wire]] for strings and precision [[Metal casting|casting]] for the production of massive [[Cast iron|iron frames]] that could withstand the tremendous tension of the strings.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Petersen|first=Sonja|date=2013|title=Craftsmen-Turned-Scientists? The Circulation of Explicit and Working Knowledge in Musical-Instrument Making, 1880–1960 |journal=Osiris |volume=28|issue=1|pages=212–231|doi=10.1086/671378|issn=0369-7827|jstor=10.1086/671378|s2cid=143443333}}</ref> Over time, the tonal range of the piano was also increased from the five [[octave]]s of Mozart's day to the seven octave (or more) range found on today's pianos.{{sfn|Giordano|2010|p=118}}

Early technological progress in the late 18th century owed much to the firm of [[Broadwood and Sons|Broadwood]]. [[John Broadwood]] joined with another Scot, Robert Stodart, and a Dutchman, [[Americus Backers]], to design a piano in the harpsichord case—the origin of the "grand".{{sfn|Cole|2001|loc=¶8}} This was achieved by about 1777. They quickly gained a reputation for the splendour and powerful tone of their instruments, with Broadwood constructing pianos that were progressively larger, louder, and more robustly constructed. They sent pianos to both [[Joseph Haydn]] and [[Ludwig van Beethoven]], and were the first firm to build pianos with a range of more than five octaves: five octaves and a [[Perfect fifth|fifth]] during the 1790s, six octaves by 1810 (Beethoven used the extra notes in his later works), and seven octaves by 1820. The [[Vienna|Viennese]] makers similarly followed these trends; however the two schools used different piano actions: Broadwoods used a more robust action, whereas Viennese instruments were more sensitive.

By the 1820s, the center of piano innovation had shifted to Paris, where the [[Pleyel et Cie|Pleyel]] firm manufactured pianos used by [[Frédéric Chopin]], and the Érard firm manufactured those used by [[Franz Liszt]]. In 1821, [[Sébastien Érard]] invented the double escapement action, which incorporated a ''repetition lever'' (also called the ''balancier'') that permitted repeating a note even if the key had not return to its resting position.{{Sfn|Rowland|1998c|p=45}} This facilitated rapid playing of repeated notes, a musical device exploited by Liszt. When the invention became public, as revised by [[Henri Herz]], the double escapement action gradually became standard in grand pianos and is still incorporated into all grand pianos currently produced in the 2000s. Other improvements of the mechanism included the use of firm felt hammer coverings instead of layered leather or cotton. Felt, which [[Jean-Henri Pape]] was the first to use in pianos in 1826, was a more consistent material, permitting wider dynamic ranges as hammer weights and string tension increased.{{sfn|Rowland|1998c|p=44}} The [[Sostenuto|sostenuto pedal]] ([[#Pedals|see below]]), invented in 1844 by [[Jean-Louis Boisselot]] and copied by the [[Steinway & Sons|Steinway]] firm in 1874,{{Sfn|Rowland|1998c|p=47}} allowed for a wider range of effects.<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">
File:Broadwood grand square action.svg|Broadwood square action
File:Erard double pilot action.svg|Erard square action
</gallery>One innovation that helped create the powerful sound of the modern piano was the use of a massive, strong, cast iron frame.{{Sfn|Richardson|1998|p=99}} Also called the "plate", the iron frame sits atop the [[Sound board (music)|soundboard]], and serves as the primary bulwark against the force of string [[Tension (physics)|tension]] that can exceed 20 tons ({{convert|40000|lbf|kN|disp=out|abbr=off}}) in total for a modern grand piano.{{sfn|Fletcher|Rossing|1998|p=353}} The single piece cast iron frame for square piano was patented in 1825 in [[Boston]] by [[Alpheus Babcock]],{{sfn|Isacoff|2012|p=74}}{{sfn|Rowland|1998c|p=43}} combining the metal hitch pin plate (1821, claimed by Broadwood on behalf of Samuel Hervé) and resisting bars (Thom and Allen, 1820, but also claimed by Broadwood and Érard). Babcock later worked for the [[Chickering and Sons|Chickering & Mackays]] firm who patented the first full iron frame for grand pianos in 1843.{{sfn|Rowland|1998c|p=43}} Composite forged metal frames were preferred by many European makers until the American system was fully adopted by the early 20th century. The increased structural integrity of the iron frame allowed the use of thicker, tenser, and more numerous strings. In 1834, the Webster & Horsfal firm of [[Birmingham]] brought out a form of piano wire made from [[cast steel]]; it was "so superior to the iron wire that the English firm soon had a monopoly."{{sfn|Dolge|1911|p=124}} A better steel wire was developed in 1840 by the Viennese firm Martin Miller,{{sfn|Dolge|1911|p=124}} and a period of innovation and intense competition ensued, with rival brands of piano wire being tested against one another at international competitions, leading ultimately to the modern form of piano wire.{{sfn|Dolge|1911|pp = 125–126}}

Several important advances included changes to the way the piano was strung. There is one string for each note in the bass, two for each note in the tenor, and three for each note in the treble.{{sfn|Ripin|Pollens|2001a|loc = ¶4}} The use of a Capo d’Astro bar instead of agraffes in the uppermost treble allowed the hammers to strike the strings in their optimal position, greatly increasing that area's power. The implementation of over-stringing (also called [[cross-stringing]]), in which the strings are placed in two separate planes, each with its own bridge height,{{sfn|Rowland|1998c|p=44}} allowed greater length to the bass strings and optimized the transition from unwound tenor strings to the iron or copper-wound bass strings. Over-stringing was invented by Pape during the 1820s and first patented for use in grand pianos in the United States by Henry Steinway Jr. in 1859.{{sfn|Rowland|1998c|p=44}}

[[File:DuplexScale.JPG|thumb|Duplex scaling of an 1883 [[Steinway & Sons|Steinway]] Model 'A'. From lower left to upper right: main sounding length of strings, treble bridge, duplex string length, duplex bar (nickel-plated bar parallel to bridge), hitchpins, plate strut with bearing bolt, plate hole]]

Some piano makers added variations to enhance the tone of each note, such as [[Pascal Taskin]] (1788),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mediatheque.cite-musique.fr/masc/?INSTANCE=CITEMUSIQUE&URL=/ClientBookLineCIMU/recherche/NoticeDetailleByID.asp |title=Piano à queue |publisher=Médiathèque de la Cité de la musique |language=fr |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419124012/http://mediatheque.cite-musique.fr/masc/?INSTANCE=CITEMUSIQUE&URL=%2Fclientbooklinecimu%2Frecherche%2FNoticeDetailleByID.asp |archive-date=19 April 2014 |access-date=5 April 2014}}</ref> [[Collard & Collard]] (1821), and [[Julius Blüthner]], who developed [[Aliquot stringing]] in 1893.{{Sfn|Ehrlich|Good|2001|loc=¶4}} These systems were used to strengthen the tone of the highest register of notes on the piano, which up until this time were viewed as being too weak-sounding. Each used more distinctly ringing, undamped vibrations of sympathetically vibrating strings to add to the tone, except the Blüthner [[Aliquot stringing]], which uses an additional fourth string in the upper two treble sections.{{Sfn|Ehrlich|Good|2001|loc=¶4}} While the hitchpins of these separately suspended Aliquot strings are raised slightly above the level of the usual tri-choir strings, they are not struck by the hammers but rather are damped by attachments of the usual dampers. Eager to copy these effects, Theodore Steinway invented ''duplex scaling'', which used short lengths of non-speaking wire bridged by the "aliquot" throughout much of the upper range of the piano, always in locations that caused them to vibrate sympathetically in conformity with their respective overtones—typically in doubled octaves and twelfths.{{sfn|Giordano|2010|p=143–144}}

===Variations in shape and design===
Some early pianos had shapes and designs that are no longer in use. The [[square piano]] (not truly square, but rectangular) was cross strung at an extremely acute angle above the hammers, with the keyboard set along the long side. This design is attributed to [[Christian Ernst Friderici]] (a pupil of Gottfried Silbermann) in Germany and [[Johannes Zumpe]] in England,{{sfn|Dolge|1911|p=48}} and it was improved by changes first introduced by [[Guillaume-Lebrecht Petzold]] in France and [[Alpheus Babcock]] in the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grafing |first=Keith|date=1974|title=Alpheus Babcock's Cast-Iron Piano Frames|journal=The Galpin Society Journal |volume=27 |pages=118–124|jstor=841758|doi=10.2307/841758 |issn=0072-0127 }}</ref> Square pianos were built in great numbers through the 1840s in Europe and the 1890s in the United States, and saw the most visible change of any type of piano: the iron-framed, over-strung squares manufactured by Steinway & Sons were more than two-and-a-half times the size of Zumpe's wood-framed instruments from a century before. Their overwhelming popularity was the result of inexpensive construction and price, although their tone and performance were limited by narrow soundboards, simple actions and string spacing that made proper hammer alignment difficult.

[[File:Upright piano inside.jpg|thumb|left|The mechanism and strings in upright pianos are perpendicular to the keys. The cover for the strings is removed for this photo.]]
The tall, vertically strung upright grand was arranged like a grand set on end, with the soundboard and bridges above the keys and tuning pins below them. "[[Giraffe piano]]s", "[[pyramid piano]]s" and "[[lyre piano]]s" were arranged in a somewhat similar fashion, using evocatively shaped cases. The very tall cabinet piano was introduced about 1805 and was built through the 1840s. It had strings arranged vertically on a continuous frame with bridges extended nearly to the floor, behind the keyboard and very large ''sticker action''. The short cottage upright or ''pianino'' with vertical stringing—made popular by [[Robert Wornum]] around 1815—was built into the 20th century. They are informally called ''birdcage pianos'' because of their prominent damper mechanism. The oblique upright, popularized in France by [[Blanchet (harpsichord makers)|Roller & Blanchet]] during the late 1820s, was diagonally strung throughout its compass. The tiny [[spinet]] upright was manufactured from the mid-1930s until recent times. The low position of the hammers required the use of a "drop action" to preserve a reasonable keyboard height. Modern upright and grand pianos attained their present, 2000-era forms by the end of the 19th century. While improvements have been made in manufacturing processes, and many individual details of the instrument continue to receive attention, and a small number of acoustic pianos in the 2010s are produced with [[MIDI]] recording and digital [[sound module]]-triggering capabilities, the 19th century was the era of the most dramatic innovations and modifications of the instrument.