early 18th centuryReputable sourceWell documented
The Invention of the Piano
On the timeline · around early 18th century · The Baroque
What happened
In the first half of the eighteenth century a new keyboard instrument appeared — the fortepiano, later simply the piano. Unlike the harpsichord, which plucked its strings at a fixed volume, the piano struck them with hammers, so a player could make each note soft (piano) or loud (forte) according to the pressure on the key. Over the century it steadily overtook every other keyboard instrument.
Why it matters
The piano's expressive range — its ability to swell, whisper, and thunder under one pair of hands — made it the central instrument of Western music, at home in the concert hall and, before long, in ordinary households.