Skip to main content

The Structure of a Grand Piano

Piano keys are one of several smaller piano components.

The grand piano consists of six main parts that function together to create sound. Each part is expertly crafted and manufactured in a factory. The making of a grand piano is largely still a job that requires craftsmanship and skill. While machines are used in the process, each component is hand-inspected and guided to ensure a high-quality instrument.

Frame


The frame is made of iron and is cast out of a single sheet of metal. Since the frame has to support a large amount of tension on the strings, it is necessary to use iron to prevent the frame from breaking under the pressure. The frame sits on top of the soundboard and serves to hold the strings in place through tension nuts that the piano tuner can tighten or loosen to raise and lower the pitch.

Soundboard


The soundboard of the piano is made of spruce. Spruce is a soft wood that can be damaged easily if mishandled. The woods acts to capture the vibrations of the strings and aids in resonating the sound through the rest of the piano. Soft woods, such as spruce, create more dense frequencies and produce a richer tone than hardwoods. Hardwoods have more resonance and penetrate more effectively, but the soft wood of the piano helps to dampen the percussive sound of the hammers hitting the strings.

Strings


The lowest strings of the piano are the thickest and produce deep rich bass tones. As the strings go higher, the width of the string shrinks. This makes the top strings capable of greater penetration and the lowest strings capable of substantial resonance. The strings are made out of steel and come in groups of three per pitch. There is a total of 88 groups of strings to corresponding to the 88 keys of the standard piano.

Case


The case on a grand piano is the wooden outside that wraps around the iron frame. The wood of a grand piano is shaped out of a single piece of wood that is formed by pressing it into a mold. The mold then sits in the manufacturing plant under controlled conditions in which moisture and temperature are closely monitored. When the case is ready, the soundboard and frame are lowered inside.


Action


The action holds all of the hammers of the piano. The action is connected to the keyboard so that when a piano key is depressed, it activates a shank that is connected to a hammer with felt padding. The felt hammer then strikes the appropriate string, sending vibrations through the frame and soundboard. This creates the slightly percussive sound that we recognize as a piano.

Pedals


There are three pedals on a grand piano. The far left pedal, called una corda, will soften the sound of the piano when depressed. The middle pedal, or sostenuto, when depressed will sustain only the notes that were depressed immediately before it was activated. The far right pedal is the damper pedal, and when depressed, it sustains all of the notes. The middle and right pedal are never used at the same time.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Claude Debussy Never Cared About Music Theory

  Claude Debussy was born on August 22, 1862. So, I felt writing a blog post to celebrate would be appropriate. Debussy was a revolutionary composer who challenged the conventions of Western music. He was influenced by the impressionist painters, the exotic sounds of gamelan music, and the symbolist poets. He created a musical language that was expressive, colorful, and atmospheric. One of the most remarkable aspects of Debussy's music is his use of harmony. He did not follow the rules of tonality and functional harmony that dominated the music of his time. Instead, he used modes, scales, chords, and parallel movements that created a sense of ambiguity and fluidity. He also experimented with timbre, texture, rhythm, and form to create musical images that evoked moods and emotions. Debussy's music can inspire us to think outside the box and explore new possibilities in our own compositions. We can learn from his innovative techniques and his artistic vision. We can also apprecia...
Post a Comment
Read more

List of Musical Techniques and Their Meanings

Musical techniques are the building blocks of any basic music training. These techniques allow performers to improve their coordination and develop accuracy through repetitive daily exercises. Musical techniques progressively build upon previously learned techniques. Scales Scales form the basis for other musical techniques. Student may study major and minor scales as well as modern scales, such as the whole-tone and octatonic scales. A scale consists of patterns of half steps and whole steps. These whole steps and half-step arrangements will be different for each scale. Scales are musical techniques that can help a performer to play faster and more accurately, and make learning new pieces easier. Chords Chords require knowledge of major and minor scales. Chords come in several different forms that affect the sound. Triads consist of three notes spaced a third apart and classified as major, minor, augmented and diminished chords. Seventh chords build on triads and have an additional no...
Post a Comment
Read more

Similarities of Classical and Baroque Music

Music has evolved through the centuries and undergone drastic changes. One of the most significant transitions was from the Baroque to the Classical period of music. In this paragraph, I will compare and contrast some of the main features of these two styles, such as ensembles, instrumentation, and counterpoint study. The Baroque and Classical periods of music have many similarities. While the style of music changed drastically, certain key elements remained the same between the two styles. Composers in the Classical period sought to simplify music and create clearly audible musical lines. In contrast, composers from the Baroque period were interested in creating complex and highly ornamented musical lines. The Baroque period occurs from approximately 1600 to 1750, and the Classical period extends from 1750 to 1820. Ensembles Ensembles are groups of musicians that perform together. Both the Baroque and the Classical period had similar types of ensembles, such as operas, orchestras, str...
Post a Comment
Read more