Piano | Definition, History, Types, & Facts | Britannica

Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos piano Introduction & Top Questions References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics Images & Videos At a Glance piano summary Quizzes Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary Quiz Music Quiz Musical Instruments Related Questions

• Why is Igor Stravinsky so famous?
• What was Igor Stravinsky’s family like?
• How was Igor Stravinsky educated?
• How did Franz Liszt begin his career in music?
• What did Franz Liszt do while in Weimar, Germany?

Contents Entertainment & Pop Culture Musical Instruments CITE verifiedCite While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Select Citation Style MLA APA Chicago Manual of Style Copy Citation Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/art/piano Feedback External Websites Feedback Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Feedback Type Select a type (Required) Factual Correction Spelling/Grammar Correction Link Correction Additional Information Other Your Feedback Submit Feedback Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

• IndiaNetzone - Piano Musical Instrument
• ABC listen - Classic Instruments - The Piano
• Musical Instrument Museum - Exploring the History of the Piano
• The Met - The Piano: The Pianofortes of Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655–1731)
• Humanities LibreTexts - The Piano in the Classical Era and the Piano Sonata
• National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - What Does It Take to Play the Piano? Cognito-Motor Functions Underlying Motor Learning in Older Adults
• VIVA's Pressbooks - Open Music Theory - Transcription from Piano
• History of Piano
• Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection - Piano

Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

• piano - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

piano musical instrument Ask Anything Homework Help Also known as: Klavier, pianoforte Written and fact-checked by Britannica Editors Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.... Britannica Editors Last updated Jan. 9, 2026 •History Britannica AI Ask Anything Table of Contents Table of Contents Ask Anything Top Questions

What is a piano?

A piano is a keyboard musical instrument that has wire strings that sound when struck by felt-covered hammers operated from a keyboard. It is also called a pianoforte.

How many keys does a piano have?

The standard modern piano has 88 keys and has a compass of seven full octaves plus a few keys. The white keys represent the diatonic notes and the black keys are their respective sharps and flats.

Who are some of the greatest pianists?

There have been many great pianists over time with a variety of styles. This list includes but is not limited to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Frédéric Chopin, Myra Hess, and Clara Schumann. One of the best-known pianists of the early 21st century is Mitsuko Uchida.

Who invented the piano and when?

Bartolomeo Cristofori is often credited with inventing the piano about 1709, though this has been disputed. Cristofori’s piano was not the first instrument using keyboard striking action; examples of the piano principle existed as early as about 1440. However, the modern piano design stems from Cristofori’s creation.

What are piano pedals used for?

Piano pedals are used to change the tone of the instrument. However, the use of these pedals is a very advanced technique and is therefore not strictly necessary for beginners and intermediate players who are trying to memorize key positions.

piano, a keyboard musical instrument having wire strings that sound when struck by felt-covered hammers operated from a keyboard. The standard modern piano contains 88 keys and has a compass of seven full octaves plus a few keys.

The vibration of the strings is transmitted to a soundboard by means of a bridge over which the strings are stretched; the soundboard amplifies the sound and affects its tone quality. The hammers that strike the strings are affixed to a mechanism resting on the far ends of the keys; hammer and mechanism compose the “action.” The function of the mechanism is to accelerate the motion of the hammer, catch it as it rebounds from the strings, and hold it in position for the next attack. Modern hammers are covered with felt; earlier, leather was used. The modern piano has a cast-iron frame capable of withstanding the tremendous tension of the strings; early pianos had wood frames and thus could only be lightly strung. Modern pianos are therefore much louder than were those of the 18th century, an increase in loudness necessitated in part by the size of 19th-century concert halls. Of the three pedals found on most pianos, the damper pedal on the right lifts all the felt dampers above the strings, allowing them all to vibrate freely; the left pedal shifts the keyboard and action sideways to enable the hammer to strike only one of the two or three unison strings of each tenor and treble key (the bass notes are only single-strung); and the middle pedal (generally available on grand pianos but also found on some upright pianos) usually holds up the dampers only of those keys depressed when the pedal is depressed.

Credit for priority of invention has been much disputed, but there is little doubt that it belongs to Bartolomeo Cristofori, who devised his gravecembalo col piano e forte (“harpsichord with soft and loud”) in Florence in approximately 1709. This was not the first instrument using keyboard striking action; examples of the piano principle existed as early as about 1440. Cristofori had arrived at all the essentials of the modern piano action by 1726, and it is from Cristofori’s piano that the modern piano stems.

Britannica Quiz Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary Quiz

The piano, made in a variety of forms, was widely popular in the mid-18th century. Preferring a lighter, less-expensive instrument with a softer touch, German piano makers perfected the square piano. When Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Muzio Clementi began to write for the piano, a distinctively pianistic style of playing and composing developed. From that point on, the piano became the preferred medium for salon music, chamber music, concerti, and song accompaniments.

By roughly 1860 the upright piano had virtually replaced the square piano for home use. Early upright pianos were made according to the design of upright harpsichords with the strings rising from keyboard level. They were consequently very tall, and many were made in elegant shapes. But by taking the strings down to floor level, John Isaac Hawkins made the upright shorter and more suitable for small rooms.

Also called: pianoforte (Show more) French: piano or pianoforte (Show more) German: Klavier (Show more) Key People: Ludwig van Beethoven Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Joseph Haydn George Gershwin Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Show more) Related Topics: jack check intermediate lever Bösendorfer piano prepared piano (Show more) See all related content

A number of developments followed in the 19th and 20th centuries. String tension, determined at 16 tons in 1862, increased to as much as 30 tons in modern instruments. The result is a dynamic range, sostenuto (ability to sustain a tone), and tonal spectrum unknown to Frédéric Chopin, Ludwig van Beethoven, and even Franz Liszt. A significant development in the 20th century (beginning in the 1930s) was the appearance of the electronic, or electric, piano, which relied on electroacoustic or digital methods of tone production and was heard through an amplifier and loudspeaker. See also barrel piano; player piano.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.