Mannheim, Germany

Piano

Klavier

Bachelor's
Language: GermanStudies in German
Subject area: arts
Qualification: Bachelor
Kind of studies: full-time studies
University website: www.muho-mannheim.de
Piano
The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori around the year 1700 (the exact year is uncertain), in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys (small levers) that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. The word piano is a shortened form of pianoforte, the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument, which in turn derives from gravicembalo col piano e forte and fortepiano. The Italian musical terms piano and forte indicate "soft" and "loud" respectively, in this context referring to the variations in volume (i.e., loudness) produced in response to a pianist's touch or pressure on the keys: the greater the velocity of a key press, the greater the force of the hammer hitting the strings, and the louder the sound of the note produced and the stronger the attack. The first fortepianos in the 1700s had a quieter sound and smaller dynamic range.
Piano
Life is like a piano. What you get out of it depends on how you play it.
Tom Lehrer, as quoted in Quotes about Life and Living, p. 45
Piano
When you play, never mind who listens to you.
Robert Schumann, Advice to young musicians (1860), p. 10
Piano
Ebony and ivory live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh lord why don't we?
Paul McCartney, song Ebony And Ivory (1982).
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