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piano
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Introduction & Top Questions References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
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An innovative piano design
The intricate process of constructing a grand piano
A pianoforte by Bartolomeo Cristofori Fats Waller “Giraffe-style” piano, an upright piano in Biedermeier style, by Gebroeders Muller, c. 1820; in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands. Detail of the late 19th-century piano that belonged to Leopold Godowsky. Square piano by Johann Christoph Zumpe, 1767; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
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piano summary
Quizzes
Young girl wearing a demin jacket playing the trumpet (child, musical instruments, Asian ethnicity)
Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary Quiz
Gong. Closeup of a khong wong gong circle chime. Thai classical musical instrument, part of piphat ensemble. (percussion, music)
Music Quiz
Trumpet musical instrument.
Musical Instruments
Related Questions
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Old broken disused piano with damaged keys
Is the Piano a Percussion or a Stringed Instrument?
Woman Playing a Theorbo to Two Men, oil on canvas by Gerard Terborch, 1667-1668. (Baroque Art)
What’s That Sound?: 8 Intriguing Early Musical Instruments
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart rehearsing his 12th Mass with singer and musician. (Austrian composer. (Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
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Macro of sheet music
10 Classical Music Composers to Know
Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)
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Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503-06; in the Louvre, Paris, France. 77 x 53 cm.
Why Is the Mona Lisa So Famous?
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piano: Facts & Related Content

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News •

'Piano doctor' brings music back to Chicago airport • Apr. 23, 2025, 2:52 AM ET (NBC)

Facts

Also Known As pianoforte • Klavier

Photos and Videos

An innovative piano design
A pianoforte by Bartolomeo Cristofori
Fats Waller
“Giraffe-style” piano, an upright piano in Biedermeier style, by Gebroeders Muller, c. 1820; in the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Detail of the late 19th-century piano that belonged to Leopold Godowsky.
Square piano by Johann Christoph Zumpe, 1767; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Each key of a piano actuates a complex mechanical system to strike a taut string and produce a musical tone. Depending on how the keys and pedals are operated, the mechanism may produce a variety of effects on the same note, from muffled to brilliant and from quick to sustained.
The intricate process of constructing a grand piano
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Key People

Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
German composer
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Austrian composer
Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn
Austrian composer
George Gershwin
George Gershwin
American composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Russian composer
Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
Austrian composer
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms
German composer
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Hungarian composer
Sergey Prokofiev
Sergey Prokofiev
Russian composer
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Russian composer
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin
Polish-French composer and pianist
Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
German musician and composer
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
American composer
Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
French composer
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
German composer
Weber, Carl Maria von
Carl Maria von Weber
German composer and musician
Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Hungarian composer
Antonín Dvořák.
Antonín Dvořák
Bohemian composer
Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
American musician
Dmitri Shostakovich
Dmitri Shostakovich
Russian composer

Related Quizzes and Features

Quiz
Young girl wearing a demin jacket playing the trumpet (child, musical instruments, Asian ethnicity)
Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary Quiz
Gong. Closeup of a khong wong gong circle chime. Thai classical musical instrument, part of piphat ensemble. (percussion, music)
Music Quiz
Trumpet musical instrument.
Musical Instruments
List
Woman Playing a Theorbo to Two Men, oil on canvas by Gerard Terborch, 1667-1668. (Baroque Art)
What’s That Sound?: 8 Intriguing Early Musical Instruments
Demystified
Old broken disused piano with damaged keys
Is the Piano a Percussion or a Stringed Instrument?