Keyboard Tools - the history of creation

Keyboard instruments have appeared quite a long time and have become very popular. They are characterized by a key system of sound extraction with the help of special levers. As a reference, you need to clarify that such tools have a keyboard - an ordered set of keys located in a strictly defined order.

Keyboard instruments have a fairly rich history, which originates in the distant Middle Ages. By right one of the first such adaptations is considered an organ. The first organs were equipped with special valves. They had large dimensions and were extremely inconvenient. The valves were quickly replaced with levers, which were still not pleasant enough for pressing. Already in the eleventh century the levers were replaced by wide keys. Even they could even press a hand. However, familiar to contemporaries comfortable narrow keys appeared only in the late fifteenth - early sixteenth century. Therefore, the first keyboard musical instrument with a modern system of keys is an organ.

As one more ancient tool it is possible and it is necessary to name a clavichord. If the organ has at its core pipes for sound extraction and can be considered to some extent wind, then clavichords are the first stringed keyboard instruments. They appeared in the period from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. Unfortunately, even researchers and music historians can not specify more exact dates. The device of clavichord reminds modern pianoforte. It is characterized by a soft, quiet sound. Klavikord rarely used when playing for large audiences. Since such keyboard instruments are rather compact, they were often played at home. Rich people and nobles preferred to play music on small "domestic" clavichord. Especially for such instruments were created wonderful musical works by such famous composers of the Baroque era as Mozart, Beethoven, Bach.

It is impossible not to mention such key musical instruments as harpsichords. They appeared in the fourteenth century in Italy. Harpsichords are keyboards of the pluck type. The sound is extracted due to the fact that the string is protected by the mediator at the moment the key is pressed. In the Middle Ages, the mediator was made from a bird's feather. Strings at the harpsichord are already parallel to the keys, unlike the piano or clavichord. The sound is more sharp and weak. The harpsichord was often used as an accompaniment to chamber music. In many cases, this tool was considered even as an element of decor.

Naturally, we can not fail to mention such an instrument as a pianoforte. It was designed in Italy at the beginning of the eighteenth century. It was the pianoforte that helped to sustain the keyboard instruments with the violin competition. The impressive range and dynamics raised it to a high level of popularity. The inventor Bartholomew Christophi gave the name to this instrument, saying that he can play "both loudly and quietly." The principle of operation of the piano is simple: when you tap the key, the hammer is activated, which causes the string to vibrate.