An old engraving showing the musical instruments (from Ancient Egypt onwards) that were the precursors of the piano. It is from a Victorian book of the 1880s. The illustration shows Ancient Egyptian lyres (a to c) and harps (e and f). In medieval times the cithara (g) and psalterium (h) were played. In the 1500s the dulcimer (i) and citole (j) were popular. Larger were the keyed cithara (k) and the clavicymbal (l). Various virginals date from Elizabethan times (p to o). The spinet (q) and manichorde (m) date from the 1600s and from the 1700s is the harpsicord (r) which is a large spinet.
An old engraving showing the musical instruments down the centuries (from Ancient Egyptian times) that were the precursors in the evolution of the piano. It is from a Victorian mechanical engineering book of the 1880s. The illustration shows Ancient Egyptian lyres (a to c) and harps (e and f). In medieval times the cithara (g) and psalterium (h) were played. In the 1500s the dulcimer (i) and citole (j) were popular. Larger and more sophisticated were the keyed cithara (k) and the clavicymbal (l). Various virginals date from Elizabethan times (p to o). The spinet (q) and manichorde (m) date from the 1600s and from the 1700s is the harpsicord (r) which is essentially a large type of spinet. The piano (pianoforte) is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented in Italy by Bartolomeo Cristofori c. 1700, in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers covered in a softer material such as wool felt or leather. The instrument responded in volume to a player's pressure on the keys. The naming of the instrument was to avoid confusion with the harpsichord, which has no variation in volume.
Size: 2690px × 4252px
Photo credit: © M&N / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1800s, 19th, acoustic, ancient, black, century, cithara, citole, clavicymbal, design, dulcimer, early, egypt, egyptian, elazabethan, engraving, evolution, hammer, harp, harpsicord, historical, history, hundreds, illustration, instrument, keyboard, keyed, lyre, machine, manichorde, mechanical, medieval, music, musical, musician, nineteenth, piano, pianoforte, play, player, playing, pluck, precursor, psalterium, spinet, string, stringed, victorian, virginal, white
