Brad Callow Music Lesson and Reviews

Cristofori’s piano
In 1698, the Italian harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori began to develop a new keyboard instrument. His goal was to produce an instrument to produce sounds powerful desire or sweet (unlike the harpsichord, which could not change the volume). In 1709, the invention was finally over. Cristofori called it simply gravicembalo col piano e forte, harpsichord with soft shades and strong.

We changed the name to “pianoforte”, since shortened to “piano”. Cristofori encountered many problems in the development of his instrument. For example, how to prevent the hammer to bounce after hitting the rope and hit a second time? He found the solution. A mechanism we now call the “escape”. In 1732, the composer Lodovico Giustini published twelve sonatas for piano. The earliest compositions written for this instrument. On the score, he pointed out the passages that should be played “piano” or “forte”.

The Piano Silbermann
The news of Cristofori’s invention spread abroad, and instrument makers began manufacturing pianos. In Dresden, Germany, the organ builder Gottfried Silbermann introduced to Bach’s latest model piano, but the composer was not impressed. The high notes were weak, he remarked, and the keys too heavy, making carrying exhausting! Silbermann took these criticisms seriously and changed his piano. This time it was right to praise when he try another instrument in the great composer.

The square piano
The first pianos were grand pianos, with a horizontal box for housing rope. Elegant objects, but very bulky! Factors German built instrument smaller, called square pianos. These pianos knew very popular in England where German Johannes Zumpe, a pupil of Silbermann, settled in 1760. Zumpe’s reputation spread throughout the world, and its instruments were exported to France, and even to America where he brought a capital improvement.

The mechanism
There are piano styles and sizes varied from small modern upright piano, suitable for domestic use, to the piano concert. But on all pianos, the largest component is the iron frame. The heart of the piano is his mechanics, each part must function perfectly and be adjusted very precisely. The credit union, or furniture, upright piano is usually made of wood panels.