The Harpsichord used a plucking mechanism in which to create its sound. For each string of each note, a small piece of material called a ‘plectrum’ is attached to a slip of wood called a ‘jack’, and rests on the under side of the string on the far end of the key, so when the key is hit the far end rises, plucking the string as it does so. The jack is pivoted so that when the key is let go the plectrum slides and does not touch the string a second time. Unfortunately, there were a few bad aspects about the Harpsichord. One being that the dynamics of the notes on the keyboard would stay the same no matter how hard or softly they would be played. This problem was counteracted by various techniques and methods invented to change the notes volume. After this problem aroused, Harpsichords were soon made with two strings per note

The Harpsichord was eventually completely replaced by the Piano in the early 19th century. But, a man named Bartolomeo Cristofori first invented it in 1698, and by 1700 he had built at least one instrument of this kind. He called it ‘Gravicembalo col piano e forte’ – ‘a Harpsichord with soft and loud’. With the piano, because the strings were struck and not plucked, this gave the pianist powers of expression and offered all sorts of new possibilities. The player could now make sudden contrasts between soft and loud, he could now also control the various shades of tone and volume in between. The player could play smoothly or short and detached, and list of other things too lengthy to go in to. It took a while for composers and players to perfect and master the playing of the instrument, but gradually it was used more often and proved to be so popular that by the 1800s the Piano had totally replaced the Harpsichord.

instead of one and a row of jacks for each set of strings. ‘Stops’ and ‘Registers’ were invented, to allow the player

Some topics in this essay:
Century Harpsichord, Bartolomeo Cristofori, German Harpsichords, Sebastian Bach, Beethoven Mozart, Upright Piano, Instruments Harpsichord, Grand Pianos, set strings, piano 19th century, set strings sounded, strings sounded, 19th century, piano 19th, string note, sounded octave, strings sounded octave, rely gravity, tone colours, upright piano, normal pitch,