The piano, created by Bartolomeo Christofori in 1709, has impacted our society by becoming a popular instrument and a popular medium for musicians to create musical masterpieces. Also called the pianoforte, the piano is one of the most beautiful sounding instruments that can range in sound from as low as a gust of wind, to as high as the shrill sound of a bird. It has evolved over time and become an amazing instrument. The piano was accepted very well in history and it has generated many changes in the music industry. The piano was also used a lot in society and has had many applications grow from it. Without it, many classical masterpieces as well as modern songs wouldn’t have been possible.
There were many instruments that led to the invention of the piano. The first was the zither. Located in Africa and Southeast Asia, the zither was a stringed instrument found around 3,000 B.C. during the Bronze Age. There were many different kinds of zithers including the ground zither, the bar zither, and the board zither. All zithers were plucked. After the zither came the monochord. It was a scientific instrument in the sixth century B.C. It was used by the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who used it to try to prove that all laws of music are based on ratios. Originally, it only had one string, but more were added over time. When many strings were added, the monochord became the polychord. These two instruments were also plucked (Crombie 4-5).
The first instrument with strings meant for hitting was the dulcimer. It was trapezoidal in shape and was played with two padded hammers. It is still played today in folk music. The hurdy-gurdy, or the organistrum, was the earliest stringed instrument with a keyboard. It was created in the tenth ce...
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To Berniece, Boy Willie, and Doaker, the piano means different things. To Berniece, the piano acts as a piece of her ancestors, and whenever she uses it, she can sense her deceased family who used it in the past. To Boy Willie, it represents just a piece of property that can be sold to collect more money for the family. Lastly, to Doaker, the piano exists as a piano that is both good and bad for the family, but still has to be kept based on the history inside of it. The piano to him portrays itself as an instrument that is good and bad for the family, but they have to keep it because it is an artifact. Although they all have different thoughts on the piano, Berniece, Boy Willie, and Doaker can all agree on one thing: the piano is an artifact of family history.
It is believed that the Irish brought to the region the fiddle and the pipes. It is believed that the first stringed instrument, the dulcimer was brought by the Germans, Norwegians, Swedish and French. The dulcimer became known as the 1“Hog Fiddle” or “Music Box”.
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Howard, John Tasker. Our American Music. 1946. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1954. 666. Print.
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.
Susskind, Pamela. "Clara Schumann." The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Ed. Stanley Sadie and George Grove. 1980. Print.
The Harpsichord was first introduced around the 14th century. The definite origins of the harpsichord are unknown, but the first reference to the Harpsichord was made in Burgundy in 1450. The baroque era is highly recognised for its flamboyant, exaggerated and grandeur presentation. The music represented these elements through the use of ornamentation, which diminished when the classical era began. The music also focused on a more expressive, rather than perfected method.
trumpet or flute. It was the right hand corner that filled in the material during the rhythmic
- Norris, Jeremy Paul. The development of the Russian piano concerto in the nineteenth century. Indiana: Indiana University Press, 1988. Print.
Music has shaped the lives of people throughout history. Even in its earliest forms, music has included use of instruments. One of the oldest musical instruments known is a variation of the flute; the original flute is thought to date back nearly 67,000 years ago. Tonight we are going to move throughout the eras with a history of instrumental music. This concert will begin with the Renaissance Era and continue through time until we have reached modern instrumental music.
The piano held symbolic significance in the story of the family and their struggle to move forward. The piano represents the importance and value of slaves during slavery. Slaves were traded for objects during slavery. Slaves were of no importance to their slave owners. As Doaker says in the story “now she had her piano and her niggas too”, meaning slaves were nothing more than an accessory to their slave owners (Wilson 395). Doaker sarcastically speaks of how slaves were not considered humans but property. As Sandy Alexandre states in her work, “Property and Inheritance in August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson”, “Doaker sees greed where there should be something like repulsion or at least a semblance of hesitation to accept such an ill-begotten gift”(77). Alexandre argues slaves are not given the proper respect and are not considered equal. This specific event from the story shows how little to ...
Initially, the piano itself is a symbol of Berniece and Boy Willie’s past. The piano was from the family’s time in slavery. The piano was bought because their
Bie, Oscar. A History of the Pianoforte and Pianoforte Players. trans. by E. E. Kellett
Before the guitar was even thought of, there were instruments that showed some similarities. The first stringed instruments were around about 4000 years ago. The first few instruments were called tanburs and bowl harps. These instruments are made by taking a tortoise shell and attaching a stick to it, usually a bent one. After that, a few gut or silk strings were run from the stick to the middle of the shell. One of the oldest guitar-like instruments is about 3500 years old. This instrument belonged to an Egyptian singer named Har-Mose. He owned a tanbur, but his had three strings instead of just one or two. It was also made out of rawhide and cedar (Guy).