Piano keyboards allow musicians to interact with this popular musical instrument. Here are some facts about the keyboard.

Piano keyboards have allowed both serious and casual musicians to interact with this popular musical instrument. Although there is more to the piano than its keyboard, those black and white keys are the components musicians must touch to bring forth melodies. Tickling the ivories is the method of evoking sound. This instrument is often used to accompany school children in choir and singing performances. It is also utilized by pianists in an array of genres ranging from classical symphonies to jazz and rock and roll.

This instrument was formerly called the pianoforte. Pianoforte is an Italian word that translates into loud and soft harpsichord. It is a member of the percussion family of instruments. Other musical families of instruments include the brass family, the woodwind family and the strings.

Percussion instruments make music by the striking of one object against the other. Examples of other percussion instruments include the drum, the triangle, xylophone, cymbals and rhythm sticks.

The piano's music comes from the striking of a keyboard which then hits internal sound makers within the body of the piano. Specifically, the keyboard causes felt covered hammers to hit steel strings. Each string produces a different vibration of sound. There are also foot pedals which affect the sound, causing it to soften, blur into one another or hold a note.

The piano's invention is said to have occurred in Italy around the year 1700. An Italian harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo Cristofori was employed as a keeper of instruments when he constructed the first piano. It wasn't widely accepted initially, but it eventually caught on with composers. One of the earliest composers to use it was Wolfgang Mozart, who wrote many of his operas, concertos and sonatas on it. Johann Sebastian Bach was reportedly not as enamored with the instrument initially, claiming it to be too quiet for his needs. Other composers who wrote for the piano include Haydn, Beethoven, Liszt, Schumann, Brahms, and Chopin.

The earliest pianos were different from the modern day versions. The initial instruments were modeled after the harpsichord. They had ranges of very soft sounds all the way to quite loud. The first upright piano was constructed in the late 1700's by an Austrian man named Johann Schmidt. The keys of today's keyboard are predominantly white with black. On a modern model, there are usually a total of 88 keys, 52 white ones and 36 black ones. This isn't always the case, however, as some small studio or "gig" piano keyboards only have a total of 65. These smaller types are lighter weight and therefore easier to tote along to gigs. Some of the earlier models were made up of an opposite compilation, the majority black with some white.

Taking piano lessons can be a wonderful addition to a culturally rich childhood. Not only does playing a musical instrument give a child the tools to produce lovely music, but it can also help him or her to develop enhanced mathematics capabilities. It is for this reason that piano keyboards are popular to learn to play.