The piano

📖 In short

The piano is a big musical instrument with a keyboard of white and black keys. When you press a key, a little felt-covered hammer strikes a string inside the piano, making a lovely sound. A pianist can play many notes together with all ten fingers.

🤩 Did you know?

A piano has thousands of small parts, mostly made of wood.
A concert grand piano can be 2.7 meters long.
The piano was invented in Italy about 300 years ago.
A piano has more than 200 tightly stretched strings.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 White and black keys

A piano usually has 88 keys: 52 white and 36 black. The keys on the left give deep, low sounds, and those on the right give high, thin sounds.

🔍 Loud and soft

The piano's full name means “soft and loud”, because the pianist can play quietly by pressing gently and loudly by pressing hard.

💡 The pedals

Under the piano are pedals the pianist presses with their foot: one makes the sound last longer, and another makes it softer.

🎯 Kinds of pianos

An upright piano stands against a wall at home, and a concert grand piano has a lid that lifts, is very long and sounds powerful. There are also light electric pianos.