Why Old Piano has 85 Keys | Forte Piano Company (2024)
Why does an older piano have 85 keys?
Well, the piano started out with only about 60 keys. According to our piano historian, the first fully chromatic keyboard have appeared in the fourteen century. This is the time when pipe organs were being played. In about fifteenth and sixteenth century, the harpsichords and Clavichords were popular. From that time, piano was invented. It started with a pianoforte built by Bartolomeo Cristofori, the builder of harpsichord. In 1800, the first upright piano came into existence. Soon other builders created pianos. Number of keys and piano sizes varies. Piano makers had different view on how to build their pianos to advance in the competitive market. Also,composers began to write complicated music pieces that demanded for bigger and better instruments. Great composers like Mozart, had to look for instrument that is able to express the range of the music he was creating. Then the innovation of piano began. In 1850, the piano keys moved 4 full octave to 6 octave. Then the keys reached 85 keys, at the middle to late of 19th century. At that time period the 85 keys, 7 octave from A0 to A7, was the standard piano. This is why the older Steinway pianos have 85 keys.
Our modern piano today has 88 keys, 36 blacks and 52 whites. Except for the Bosendorfer Imperial Concert Grand that has 96 keys. But back then in the mid-of 19th century, there are few piano builders who experiment with 88 keys but it did not become the standard of piano back then. In the mid of 1880’s Steinway and Sons plunge into 88 key pianos and other piano builders did the same to meet the rival specifications. Today, almost all of our modern pianos have this configuration, with 52 white keys and 36 blacks. Expansion of keys according to Michael Moore of Steinway and Sons is a combination of artistic and capitalism that they have to reach up to 88 key piano. So at about 1890’s 88-key piano became the standard of the piano making.
Why end up to 88 keys?
Piano keys had reached its limit up to 88 keys for several reasons: First, tone should be considered. There is limit to the number of tones that a string can be made to reproduce according to Michael Moore. The expansion of keys can affect the tone, especially the bass notes end where the sound can rattle. Also, there is limit on the tone that the ear can hear. So, 88 keys are about enough for the better quality sound.
Second, size should be considered. For example, the Boesendorf that has 96 keys has reached up to 10 feet in length. Boesendorf builders have reasons for building 96 key piano but imagine how much space that piano can occupy if 96 key piano become a norm?
Number of keys differs depending on the kind of piano. Today, modern pianos have a total of 88 keys and older grand pianos have 85 keys. An advanced player often uses grand pianos to play complicated pieces of music. While beginners use smaller pianos. There are 230 strings in an average piano. Each string is about 75 kilograms of tension that with combined pull of strings may weight up to 18 tons. On the other hand, a concert grand has almost 30 tons of total string tension.
Piano design throughout the late of 19th to 20th century has slight changes. Only, the existence of digital piano is considered the great change in piano history at this time period. It has a complete different weighting system that imitates the weighting of a standard piano. It mimics the sound and feeling of a traditional piano. It uses amplifiers and speakers instead of hammers and strings. Digital piano started in 1980’s. They have either 76 or 88 keys.
In 1850, the piano keys moved 4 full octave to 6 octave. Then the keys reached 85 keys, at the middle to late of 19th century. At that time period the 85 keys, 7 octave from A0 to A7, was the standard piano. This is why the older Steinway
Steinway
Steinway is a prominent piano company, known for making pianos of high quality and for inventions within the area of piano development.
Even if the compass were to be expanded by increasing the number of keys on the piano, to the human ear, the extra notes at the bass end would become nothing more than a rumbling noise, and the added treble notes would be heard as an unpleasant dissonant noise with no sense of being in a tonal range, and thus, ...
During the latter half of the 19th century, ten or so different piano-makers are known to have built instruments with more than 88 keys. These include Bösendorfer, Érard, Ibach, Hertz, Kaps, and Petrof. The aforementioned Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Model 290 is the best-known piano to feature an extended keyboard.
The piano manufacturer Steinway was the first to come up with the idea of an 88 key piano. They did this in the 1880s, and many other manufacturers have since followed suit.
In the late 1880s, piano manufacturer Steinway created the 88-key piano. Other manufacturers followed suit, and Steinway's model has been the standard ever since. An 88-key piano has seven octaves plus three lower notes (B, B flat and A) below the bottom C.
Quality of materials and lever of craftsmanship In an older instrument, it is often the case that the quality of wood and craftsmanship was higher than what goes into new pianos today. In recent years, many of the traditionally European and American piano companies have now outsourced their production to Asia.
A 1720 fortepiano by Cristofori in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It is the oldest surviving piano. The piano was invented in 1698 by harpsichord maker Bartolomeo Cristofori in Florence.
There are pianos out there that have over 100 keys on them. Wayne Stuart, a designer from piano manufacturers Stuart and Sons, has designed and built a piano with 102 keys which are 14 more than the standard piano.
88 keys became standard around 1870, and so most classical music after that time would require an 88 key piano. Having a standard 88-key piano will allow you to play any classical music, which is what we'd recommend for any classical piano student.
Bösendorfer, the world's oldest premium piano builder, was started in Vienna in 1828 by Ignaz Bösendorfer. Ignaz started piano manufacturing at 19, and it quickly became clear that he had a gift for it.
A contemporary inscription by a Florentine court musician, Federigo Meccoli, notes that the “arpi cimbalo del piano e' forte” was first made by Cristofori in 1700, giving us a precise birthdate for the piano.
In these early days, the black keys were the ones that were lower and white keys were higher- so the colors on the piano were reversed! It still works like that on another keyboard instrument called the harpsichord. Feel free to search for some pictures of a harpsichord on Google.
The proper acoustic piano has a 88 keys. Some 19th-century parlor pianos have fewer keys – the top octave cutting off at 'a' – resulting in 85 keys. This allowed the piano manufacturer to save a few inches on the width of the piano – but that practice has been abandoned in favor of a standard 88 keys.
The key count of a keyboard affects how many notes are available but doesn't affect the quality of the learning experience. 61-key pianos are ideal for beginners to start learning because they do not require memorizing long stretches of keys or confusion over extra notes and octaves.
That's right: 49 keys are enough to get started. Because your instrument is really made up of repeating sets of 12 notes, as long as you have a few sets you will be fine. Obviously, in many cases it would be ideal to have a full 88-key keyboard. But you are not going to fail at piano just because you have fewer keys.
In the mid of 1880's Steinway and Sons plunge into 88 key pianos and other piano builders did the same to meet the rival specifications. Today, almost all of our modern pianos have this configuration, with 52 white keys and 36 blacks.
Pianos have 88 keys because composers wanted to expand the range of their music. Adding more piano keys removed the limits on what kind of music could be performed on the instrument. 88 keys have been the standard since Steinway built theirs in the 1880s.
If you plan to become a serious pianist someday, then you'll want to start with an 88 key piano from the beginning. A 61 key piano is a nice starting point to get your feet wet and see if the instrument is right for you. As you advance as a musician you will simply outgrow a 61 or 76 key piano over time.
Introduction: My name is Jeremiah Abshire, I am a outstanding, kind, clever, hilarious, curious, hilarious, outstanding person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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