In an earlier series of articles, we examined the pipe organ and its electronic counterpart along with its history and uses for worship. This month, we focus on the piano. The two pianos in our sanctuary are used often in worship both as a solo instrument and for accompaniments.

But before we explore the piano in its present form, it would be useful to become familiar with the piano’s many essential parts:

• Strings: the source of all sound in the piano, made of steel, with the lower strings wound with a copper alloy.

• Hammers: Wooden mallets covered in hard felt, whichstrike the strings and quickly rebound.

• Dampers: Wooden bars with soft felt attached, that pressagainst the strings to stop them from vibrating.

• Keys: Wooden levers that, when depressed, push thehammers toward the strings.

• Damper Pedal: On the far right below the keys, lifts alldampers from the strings, allowing them to vibrate.

• Una Corda Pedal: On the far left, moves the hammersand keys to one side, so that only one string is struck.

• Sostenuto Pedal: In the center of the three pedals, liftsthe dampers only from the strings that are played.

• Lid: The large wooden covering at the top of the piano.

• Music Rack: Wooden board that holds the music book inplace for easy viewing.

• Fallboard: Wooden board that covers the keys when notin use.

• Tuning Pins: Metal rods on which the strings arethreaded, and which can be turned to tighten the strings.

• Harp: The entire network of strings and the large metalframe on which they are mounted.

• Soundboard: A thin wooden sheet below or behind thestrings, used to amplify and broaden the tone.

When a key is depressed, the corresponding hammer moves upward (or forward), striking the string at the moment the damper for that key is removed.

The string will continue to vibrate until the key is released, causing the damper to again press against the string and stop the sound. The hammer does not remain in contact with the string once it is struck, but immediately rebounds so that the vibration is not stopped by the hammer. If you look into the body of the piano, you will notice the bass strings are wound with copper to weigh them down and thus produce a lower pitch without lengthening the string. As your eye moves across the harp, you will notice the strings appear in pairs, then in threes. This arrangement provides a more consistent tone, since the higher pitches tend to have less body. You will also notice that the high treble strings have no dampers because their sound decays so quickly that damping is unnecessary.

Using the Damper Pedal allows the player to increase the fullness of the tone by having more strings involved in the vibration. This allows those strings that were not struck but have frequencies in agreement with the others to vibrate. Using the Una Corda (one string) Pedal gives the effect of softening the sound because fewer strings are vibrating. In the upright piano this pedal moves the hammers closer to the strings, thus shortening the striking distance.

Because the piano is a percussion instrument, creating sound when a string is struck, its tone begins suddenly with a peak and then decays gradually. This gives the instrument a more rhythmic quality when compared with the organ, where the sound begins more smoothly. Notes on the piano can be sustained in a phrase by use of the Damper Pedal. Notes on the organ can only be sustained by continuing to hold the keys with the fingers. By the way, the full name of the piano is “pianoforte” or “fortepiano.” It was so named because at the time of its invention it was the only keyboard instrument that could produce both loud (forte) or soft (piano) sounds by changing the striking force on the keys.

In coming articles, we’ll explore the variety of literature for the piano and some thoughts about its evolution.

D. E. Dillard