Piano

A piano, in spite of its appearances and our perceptions, is actually a stringed instrument—which is why it harks back to ancient harps. One of the earliest harps was a psaltery, a box in which stretched strings were plucked with the fingers.

The psaltery was a direct predecessor to the harpsichord, a similarly plucked harp, which was the predecessor to the hammer dulcimer, from which the piano descended.

A rudimentary piano called a clavichord was developed in the 12th century. Outfitted with keys and tangents to strike strings inside the instrument, the clavichord employed the basic method our modern pianos do.

While the organ is considered to be the first keyboard instrument created in the 1400s, the piano, in terms of history, was not far behind, first appearing in the 1700s. Today we have grand, baby grand, and upright pianos in our repertoire.