There are two main types of piano: the grand piano and the upright piano. Although an acoustic piano has strings, it is usually classified as a percussion instrument rather than as a stringed instrument, because the strings are struck rather than plucked (as with a harpsichord or spinet) in the Hornbostel–Sachs system of instrument classification, pianos are considered chordophones. The strings are sounded when keys are pressed or struck, and silenced by dampers when the hands are lifted from the keyboard. Most notes have three strings, except for the bass, which graduates from one to two. When the key is released, a damper stops the string's vibration, ending the sound. The vibrations are transmitted through a bridge to a soundboard that amplifies the sound by coupling the acoustic energy to the air. The hammer then rebounds from the strings, which vibrate at their resonant frequency. Pressing one or more keys causes a hammer made of wood or plastic, padded with firm felt, to strike the strings.

Ī piano has a protective case surrounding the soundboard and metal strings, strung under great tension on a heavy metal frame. Invented in the 1700s, the fortepiano was the first keyboard instrument to allow gradations of volume and tone according to how forcefully or softly the player presses or strikes the keys, unlike the pipe organ and harpsichord. 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. The English word piano is a shortened form of the Italian pianoforte, derived from clavicembalo col piano e forte ('key harpsichord with soft and loud'). It was invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700. It is played using its keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) touched by the performer with the fingers and thumbs of both hands, causing the hammers to strike the strings.

The piano is a keyboard instrument with strings struck by wooden hammers coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt some early pianos used leather). Problems playing this file? See media help.

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