Innovations and Evolutions Blog
The most used instrument for Acoustic music is the Piano.
The original name Pianoforte (piano “slow”
and forte “loud”) a percussion instrument is the successor of the Harpsichord, invented
by Bartolomeo Cristofori in the 1720s. The 3 original pianos made by Cristofori
are found in the Museum of Art in New York, Museo Nationale degli Instrumenti
Musicali in Rome, and Musiki-strumenten-Museum in Leipzig. The original pianos
had featured 4 octaves and 49 notes with a tension of 65N was made with Cypress,
Boxwood, paint, and leather.
Wikipedia Link below:
My main focus is the modern Grand Piano with its 88 notes (C major; CDEFAB) and 36 black keys. Meaning there are 88 different Pitches and 7 ½ octaves from a deep bass to a high treble. The Grand piano is a great instrument to play due to its smooth non-artificial sound. It is so beautiful that Queen Victoria had to buy it for her Husband Albert in 1854 from a maker by the name of Sébastien Erard. The Grand Piano also known as the Recital Grand is 6 inches or larger, whereas, the Baby Grand or the Parlor Grand is smaller than 6inches but it makes the same sounds as a Modern Grand Piano. The only difference is the size. The anatomy of the Grand piano is the keys, hammer, escapement (makes the hammer go back after hitting a string), Dampers (prevents the vibration of string), strings (made with high tension steel), and the frame(body).
"Let Her Go" by the Passenger
Music has been my get
away or constant motivator. I love playing the Piano but I also enjoy hearing
it being played. I like it so much that I own a song in the genre folk pop, called “Let Her Go” by the Passenger(a British singer and song writer) that was made into a cover using the Grand
Piano. I enjoy hearing polyphonic melodies in music without it having a sharp
pitch, which sometimes hurts my ears, that many electric instruments have and I
believe that the sound an electric instrument is trying to mimic a note that is
more smoother and on a Grand Piano.
One of my favorite
pieces is the cover of “All of Me” a
song by John Legend, the cover is done by Constantino Carrara on a Theatre
Grand Piano.The song was released in 2013 in the album Love in the Future, which was dedicated to his Wife Chrissy Teigen.
"All of Me" By John Legend
“Piano.” Wikipedia. 5 Oct. 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano#Grand .Web. 15 Oct. 17.
Passenger. "Let Her go." All the Little Lights, Sydney's Linear Recording, 2012, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Let_Her_Go .
John Legend. "All of Me." Love in the Future, 2013,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_of_Me_(John_Legend_song).
As someone who grew up playing the piano (although I do not any longer) I appreciate this post. I love the cover of "All of Me", this version of it on the piano really showcases the rich and emotional tune to the song. I love this song so much thatI actually learned to play a simple version of it on my guitar. I don't know very much about the Harpsichord, but I did google it and came across this article. I thought it was a good read as it discussed some musical elements we have specifically learned in class, such as it being a polyphonic instrument, "one of many voices". Good job on the assignment :) I'm going to keep my window open after I'm done with this comment so that I can listen to the entire "All of Me" cover, love it so much :)
ReplyDeletehttps://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/renk/hd_renk.htm
DeleteThank you! I love the piano so much that I was happy with the opportunity to write about it. I'm happy you liked the song, its one of my all time favorites.
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