Evolution of the Keyboard

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The Physical Evolution of the Keyboard: From Monochord to Harpsichord

Since the first person heard the wind whistle through the trees or the sea in a seashell humans have been drawn to sound. Being the oppressive and ingenious species that we are we felt the need to capture these sounds and any others that we could to keep for our own. Eventually people like Pythagoras and gods such as Apollo found that by stretching materials and picking/plucking them that they would produce sounds and that the tighter you stretched these strings the higher the sound would go. These were the early beginnings of the pianoforte.

The first ancestor of the modern pianoforte is the monochord (diagram 1). A monochord is a wooden box with a single string stretched lengthwise down the middle. The string sits raised on bridges very dissimilar to those of a violin or cello. These bridges positioned approximately 2 inches in from each end. They are simple and usually triangular shaped pieces of hard durable material such as ebony or walnut. Between these two bridges are two taller bridges that may be moved by each hand to alter the pitch given. The philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras used a monochord to study the fundamentals of sound.

The next logical step in this evolutionary chain was as sure as a spoiled child’s demands. Now that I have what I want I want more of it. Thus came the psaltery (diagram 2). The psaltery was a great leap fourth from the monochord. It was a small trapezoid shaped box with many strings stretched over it. However unlike the monochord the psaltery did not have movable bridges to change the pitch while playing and furthermore these bridges were much more like the bridges of modern string instruments. The psaltery was played by picking the strings (which were obviously tuned to different pitches) with the fingers or with a pick. This was an extremely popular instrument in the Middle Ages but as the music got more complicated and simple accompaniment wasn’t enough it was soon swallowed by progress.

Next we come to a point in time where a great leap had to be made. Musicians had made positive steps forward in the way of pitch and time but of only one or two notes at a time. What was needed was an in instrument that gave players control of many pitches simultaneously. The mechanism ...

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...; New York, NY: Crown Pub. Inc., 1973.

Donnington, R. Music and its Instruments

New York, NY: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1982.

Gaines, James R., Ed. The Lives of the Piano

New York, NY: The Hilltown Press Inc., 1981.

Mason, Merle H., Comp. Piano Parts and Their Functions

Seattle, WA: Piano Technicians Guild, 1977.

Pollens, S. The Early Pianoforte

New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1995.

Stolba, Marie K. The Development of Western Music

Rev. Ed. New York, NY: McGraw Hill Comp., 1998.

White, William B. Theory & Practice of Piano Construction

New York, NY: Dover Publications, Inc., 1975.

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