The Evolution of the Piano

A journey through centuries of innovation, craftsmanship, and musical transformation.

History of the Piano

Who invented the piano? The history of the piano tells us that Bartolomeo Cristofori of Italy is said to have invented the instrument. He had great knowledge of stringed keyboard instruments, particularly the harpsichord, since he was a harpsichord maker. Cristofori built his first piano around 1700, but no one seems to know for sure the exact year—possibly earlier, or maybe even a little later. History, as it seems, is not always written down as it happens.

Cristofori’s Surviving Pianos and Early Innovations

The only surviving Cristofori pianos are from the 1720s. He did not invent the stringed keyboard instrument. This happened much earlier, and some authorities may not even consider him the actual inventor of the piano. So, is history right to claim that he invented the piano? Yes. His important contribution was the piano action. This is a large part of what makes a piano a piano.

The Piano Action and Escapement

The action is the inside moving parts that sit directly on the keys and, when a key is struck, send the hammer forward to strike the strings. The important idea here is that this mechanism then releases to allow the hammer to come back in place, allowing the player to quickly play another note. This escapement, or releasing of the hammer for quick repetition, was not possible before Bartolomeo came up with the idea.

So yes, while he did not actually invent the entire piano, he did come up with one of the most important principles that makes up a piano: the escapement, or “let-off,” as it's called by piano techs. And he had no example to follow but his own. His work then became a model for the many piano makers that followed, once his invention became widely known around 1711. Of course, many improvements had to be made. His invention was far from perfect.

Pianist performing on stage in elegant dress.

Early European Development of the Piano

As the instrument improved, pianoforte making began to enjoy great success throughout Europe in the mid- to late 1700s. On the Viennese keyboards that Mozart composed with, the black keys were white and the white keys were black—opposite from the way we know them. Early keyboards were only 5 octaves (60 or 61 keys). By 1820, pianos had 7 octaves (85 keys). By the late 1800s, nearly all had 88 keys, as they do now.

Advancements in the 1800s

Throughout the early to mid-1800s, piano building changed tremendously. One thing that forced this change was the fact that pianists and composers put great demand on builders to produce a better and stronger instrument. Power, strength, tone, and sustaining were the main concerns. So the sound and action began to slowly improve.

Also, the steel industry started producing higher-quality piano wire along with better casting for the iron plates or frames. All these improvements happened over about a 150-year period.

Major Mechanical Innovations

Other inventions in history that greatly improved the piano were the repetition lever in grand actions. This lever means that a properly regulated grand piano action will repeat with much quicker repetition than an upright action will.

The repetition grand action, also called the double escapement action, was invented in the early 1800s. This was a very important addition to the grand piano action. Around the same time, the agraffe (used mostly in grands) and pressure bar (mostly in uprights) were invented. Now remember, Cristofori invented the basic escapement idea.

More improvements were a stronger one-piece cast iron plate, felt hammers instead of leather, 3-string unisons in the treble, the sostenuto pedal, and over-stringing. Much earlier, Gottfried Silbermann had invented the damper pedal, also called the sustain pedal.

Square Grands and Birdcage Pianos

Some types of pianos that are no longer being made are the square grands built from the early to late 1800s and the birdcage pianos built roughly during the same time period. Two poorly made types of pianos inside—yet often the square and birdcage styles had very beautiful and ornate cases. This fact makes them only useful as antiques to look at.

The birdcage action was a European style. The squares were made in America and Europe. Modern grand and upright pianos reached their present form by the later part of the 1800s. As you can see, much of the early development was in Europe. As the instrument became more and more popular in the U.S., American makers also contributed to its further development. For instance, Steinway in New York greatly added to the improvement of the piano.

History of the Piano in America

Since the piano was invented in Europe around 1700, that makes it over 300 years old. “Pianoforte” is what early pianos were called. In 1775, John Behrent of Philadelphia built the first American piano. In the 1700s, America imported its pianos from Europe. The imported pianos did not hold up well to the American climate.

Imports, of course, were quite expensive, which means that mostly only the wealthy could afford pianos back then. As the U.S. industry grew, fewer instruments were being imported by the early 1800s. By around 1860, over 20,000 pianos a year were being made in the U.S., most of them in northern cities, half of them in New York.

Mass Production and Expansion

European production at that time was much greater. Most of our U.S. production was more affordable than imports. Of course, some pianos, such as Steinways, have always been a little more expensive than the average or mid-grade instruments. By 1911, around 360,000 pianos a year were made in America. Actually, from the turn of the century, 1900, through the mid-1920s, production stayed quite high.

This time period represents one of the greatest and most productive in the history of American piano making. Remember, there were hundreds of makers in the United States during that time. All of those big, tall, heavy old upright pianos you have all seen over the years were made during that time.

Decline and the Impact of Economic Conditions

In the 1920s, the radio and phonograph hurt piano sales, and then the Great Depression of 1929 wiped out a lot of piano companies. For a few years in the 1930s, annual sales numbers in America dropped below 100,000 pianos—possibly as low as 50,000 or 60,000 during the early 30s.

During World War II, production almost stopped entirely. Only two or three piano manufacturers built pianos during WWII. Steinway and Gulbransen were two of them.

By the late 1940s and early 1950s, production and sales were about 150,000 a year, rising to over 200,000 a year by the mid-1960s. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the U.S. was again making around 300,000 pianos or more per year. These annual U.S. production numbers began to drop throughout the 1980s and 90s.

Modern Decline in U.S. Manufacturing

Estimating Total U.S. Pianos

Let’s estimate about 200,000 on average per year made in the U.S. from 1950 to 1995. That’s about 8 or 9 million. Add that to the 9 million estimated in the early 1900s.

Let’s just add only 500,000 to represent the Great Depression and WWII time period. That's about 18 million pianos made in America over a hundred-year period.

Even if this number seems high, then add all American piano production still around from the 1800s. There’s a boatload of pianos in America.

Used Pianos and the Modern Market

Currently in America (2011), annual production is probably less than 5000 a year. Annual sales of new instruments (including foreign-made) are well under 100,000. This number, as history indicates, will most likely drop even lower as time goes on.

Why?
Partly because the price of a new piano gets higher every year.
Partly because there are at least 15 million used ones available.
And partly because digital keyboards (electronic keyboards or digital pianos) are getting better—and cheaper.
It seems like all the electric gadgets (since the radio first came out) have been trying to kill the piano. And digital may be winning.

Foreign Piano History in America

Early Imports and Later Asian Influence

In the 1700s, pianos were imported from Europe. Then Americans started building their own. Then later we started importing them from Asia, plus a few from Europe.

The last 40 years or so have seen a huge amount of Asian imports. Yamaha and Kawai from Japan started in the late 1950s and 1960s. Samick and Young Chang from Korea started coming in around the late 70s or early 80s.

By 1995, Chinese pianos were pouring in.