Why Is It Called a Piano?
If you are relatively new to the piano, you may wonder why this instrument is called that. At first glance, the name doesn’t make a lot of sense.
You’ve been taught that “piano” is the musical term for “soft” (or “quiet”). And why would this large, heavy object full of hammers and metal be called “the soft”? Or even “the quiet”? (It can be anything but quiet — as you’re probably aware.)
Actually, the term “piano” is only a nickname. The instrument’s full name, used only rarely today, is “pianoforte.”
What? This makes even less sense! You know that “piano” is the musical term for “soft or quiet.” You also know that “forte” is the musical term for “strong” (or “loud”). So the instrument’s more formal name means, literally, “the soft-strong” or “the quiet-loud.”
Why? The answer goes back to the piano’s origins.
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument, as distinct from a stringed instrument without a keyboard, such as a violin. It was invented in Italy at around 1700, by a harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo Cristofori. At that time, the best-known stringed keyboard instruments were the clavichord and the harpsichord. The harpsichord produced sound by means of plucking the strings with a quill, while the clavichord’s strings were struck by a small metal blade called a tangent.
As versatile and widely-accepted as these instruments were, they lacked dynamic range.
The harpsichord’s strings were plucked with the same force no matter how forcefully the player’s fingers struck the keyboard. The clavichord, while offering a greater subtlety in dynamic range, was rather quiet, since the tangent remained in contact with the string after it was struck. (This has the effect of both producing the sound and damping it, or keeping it quiet.) The clavichord was best suited to intimate chamber music and would have been drowned out if accompanied by a full orchestra, as in a concerto performance.
So when Cristofori invented his instrument, it had this great advantage over these forerunners: Dynamic range.
As you know, the piano can produce a sound that is either soft and quiet, or large, forceful, and loud — all depending on the force with which the player strikes the keys. So revolutionary was this capability, that its original name in Italy, the land of its birth, was “clavicembalo col piano e forte.” This translated literally as, “harpsichord with soft and loud.” Such a rather unwieldy handle became shortened to “pianoforte,” and since then, to “piano.”
So now you know why your favorite stringed keyboard instrument is called “the piano” — even though its very capability to play more dynamics than “soft” is its hallmark, and the source of that name.
Take advantage of this capability the next time you play. Whether you’re playing for your teacher, a packed auditorium, or just yourself, make sure you use that full dynamic range. And enjoy it.
Tags: bartolomeo cristofori, clavichord, dynamic range, harpsichord, invention of the piano, inventor of the piano, piano, piano lessons, pianoforte
