1. Created By: Dustin Null February 8 th 2011

2. The Piano  The Piano is a musical instrument with a manual keyboard that produces sounds that may be lowered or raised by means of pedals.

3. Creator?  Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the modern piano in the early 1700’s.

4. What are You Playing?  There are two basic types of pianos, (The Grand and the vertical)  Both kinds come in different sizes and styles.  The Vertical can be 52 or more inches high around 45 inches long

5. What Are The Main Parts?  There are two major parts to the piano. The frame and the action.  The frame is the support for the piano. This is what the piano is built around.  The action – translates the downward vertical motion of the piano key into a horizontal motion and strikes the strings and the notes are played.

6. What’s in a Piano  When your first open you piano you will se a cast iron frame. Right underneath that you will see a pin block.  The pin block protects the action so that its parts do not get damaged  The bridge sits between the soundboard and the frame. This holds the back end of the piano bed in place.  The soundboard is at the bottom of the piano. The strings are pulled across the soundboard and gets action from the bridge at the back..  The cover of the piano is made of a hard piece of wood and the keys are located in the front of the piano and what are used to play.

7. Vertical Action Piano

8. Grand Piano

9. Key Words  Action A combination of several thousand moving parts that work together to make the piano work.  Rim- the outside of the piano  Soundboard the heart of the piano  Strings metal wires made of steel or copper vibrate when struck by hammers  Tuning adjusting the tightness of the strings to change the pitch  Keys most pianos have 88 keys spanning the keyboard. The piano has 36 black keys and 52 white keys.

10. Help?  http://www.ptg.org/learningCenter/About YourPiano.pdf http://www.ptg.org/learningCenter/About YourPiano.pdf