The history of the piano

The origins: from Cristofori to the modern piano

The piano was born in Florence around 1700, the work of Bartolomeo Cristofori, a harpsichord maker at the Medici court. His “gravicembalo col piano e forte” solved a limitation of the harpsichord: the ability to vary the intensity of the sound depending on how hard the key was pressed, thanks to a hammer that struck the string and immediately fell back, leaving it free to vibrate. It is from this idea — “soft and loud” in the same instrument — that the name we still use today comes.

The evolution of the action

For over a century, the action kept evolving. The early “Viennese” actions, light and shallow in touch, gradually gave way to the sturdier “English” action. The decisive step came in 1821, when the French maker Sébastien Érard patented the double escapement action: it allows the same note to be repeated quickly without fully releasing the key, an essential requirement for nineteenth-century virtuoso repertoire and still the basis of every modern action today.

The nineteenth century also brought the cast-iron frame (introduced to withstand the growing tension of ever-thicker strings) and cross-stringing (“overstrung”), which allows longer strings within the same footprint and a fuller sound — both innovations underpin the modern piano, upright or grand.

Upright or grand: two instruments, two purposes

The upright piano was born in the nineteenth century as a practical answer to a real need: bringing the piano into homes, where there was no room for a grand. The strings are arranged vertically, and the mechanism works “sideways” rather than “from above”, with some compromise on note-repetition speed compared to a grand — though minimal today in quality models.

The grand piano instead keeps the horizontal layout of strings and action, with the lid opening to project the sound outward: it is the configuration that allows the greatest freedom of repetition and the greatest sound projection, which is why it remains the reference instrument for concerts.

You can find our selection of both, among the brands we carry (upright pianos and grand pianos).

The first digital pianos

The digital piano was born roughly a century and a half after the double escapement action, in the 1980s, when advances in sound synthesis and sampling made it possible for the first time to credibly reproduce the timbre of an acoustic piano without strings or hammers. It should not be confused with the electric piano of the 1950s–70s (such as the Wurlitzer or the Fender Rhodes, which generated sound with vibrating reeds or metal tines, not a digital sample): the true digital piano — in the sense we mean it today, with sampled sound and a weighted keyboard — is an invention of the 1980s, driven in particular by the major Japanese manufacturers.

Today a good digital piano offers a weighted keyboard, multiple sampled dynamic layers per note, and functions an acoustic doesn’t have — from headphones to recording — remaining a sensible choice for those starting out or with space or time constraints. Take a look at our selection of digital pianos.