How many keys does a piano have?
The piano is a versatile instrument, capable of imitating many other musical instruments. But few people seriously thought about how many keys are equipped with modern pianos and what it is connected with.
How many keys does an older piano have?
First of all, you need to understand what is meant by the word "piano". It includes two instruments: a piano and a grand piano. The first pianos had only 61 keys. Modern instruments have increased the number of keys. Oddly enough, the sound of classics has not changed much since then, but with new models it has definitely improved. The standard piano now has 88 keys. However, this number was not previously fixed. It depended on the principles according to which the piano was created.
The main ones in this case were octaves (segments), which included 7 notes, that is, 7 white (fundamental tones) and 5 black (semitones) keys. As already mentioned, the first model had 61 keys and 5 octaves. Such an instrument contained a middle register of octaves, that is, only octaves with a middle sound, without low and high notes. At the end of the 18th century, pianos ranging from 5 to 7 octaves began to be created.
It was on such instruments that Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and others created their masterpieces. The instruments produced at that time, like the modern ones, had, in addition to full ones, also incomplete octaves.
The number of white and black keys on modern models
As it was already noted, their standard number in a common modern instrument is 88. There are more white keys than black ones. The first are 52, and the blacks are only 36. The keyboard can also have 85 pieces, and this is also the standard. In this case, most of them will also be white, but their number will be 50. The number of black keys will be 35. The latter option is less common than the first.
Professionals say that playing an instrument with 88 notes is practically the same as playing an analogue with 85 notes. There are two main reasons: the 3 keys added to the earliest models are used extremely rarely, and it is also worth remembering the fact that it is the correct tuning of the instrument that is the main guarantee of excellent sound. Modern production is dedicated to the production of classic 88-key upright pianos. The keyboard starts at the lowest note ("A") of the subcontactave and ends at the highest note ("C") of the fifth octave. Instruments with such a number of notes began to be produced relatively recently - only from the 70s of the last century.
There are also exceptions: for example, Wayne Stewart invented the grand piano, which is equipped with 102 notes. According to the creator, the sound of the works on this instrument acquires richer colors. Such a grand piano is quite expensive, because its price is about 300 thousand dollars. Some modern synthesizers can have 25 to 61 keys. A 32-note instrument is also a common option. It is intended for children or music beginners. Semi-professional synthesizers can be equipped with 76 keys.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the number of keys on a piano is easy to determine at a glance and without recalculation.
The most common today are the 85 and 88 note models. We have considered them. If the piano keyboard on the right starts with one white key just before the black one, then the number of notes is 85. If this is not observed, then the number will be 88.
