How Does A Piano Work?
During this post, I’m going to explain how an acoustic piano operates. It may seem dull and boring to some of you, but it’s actually quite interesting. It’s like taking a look at science, and seeing how it can create art (music).
First of all, what is sound? Basically, sound is a kind of energy produced by vibrations. When any object vibrates, it creates movement in air particles. When the particles bump into each other, they start to vibrate as well. This movement is what we call sound waves. It keeps going until all those tiny particles run out of energy, and if your ears are within range of the vibrations, you can hear the sound.
So how does a piano then create sound? Well, as you push down on a key with your finger, a mechanism inside the piano called the action forces a hammer to go up (in horizontal pianos, such as grand pianos) or forward (in vertical pianos, such as a console) and it strikes the strings.
Piano Hammer
You’ve probably seen a piano hammer before. It looks like a round stick with a head on it, almost resembling a real hammer. The head is covered in very dense wool felt. As the strings vibrate, a musical sound is produced. Connected to the string is a large soundboard, which amplifies the sound a lot louder than the string could produce by itself. As you let go of the key, a felt pad known as a damper drops back onto the string, which stops the sound.
As you may know, when you press down the damper (far right) pedal, it raises all the dampers in the piano sot the strings keep producing sound. The strings then vibrate right across the soundboard to the bridge. The sound is held by the soundboard, cast iron frame, and the case. The sound flows through and out of the piano.
Do you ever wonder why some grand piano’s have their top up and some have them down? When the top is up, a higher tone quality is produced, as well as great resonance. Even the wood used to construct the piano affects its resonance. Obviously, if the wood is of high quality, the resonance will be excellent. If the piano is made with poor quality wood, the resonance will also be poor. And when the top of the piano is left down, the sound is much quieter, but still holds great resonance.
Elise’s Musical Tip For The Day:
If you have an acoustic piano, or have access to one, here’s a fun experiment. Sit at the piano and hit the keys, and evaluate how it sounds. Then, lift up the lid (or get permission to lift it up) and hit the keys again. You’ll notice how different it sounds; louder, clearer, and probably with greater resonance. That’s the science of sound! Interesting stuff, if you ask me…
Related posts:
- Why Should I Tune My Piano? A lot of people overlook the need for having their...
- How To Save Up For A Piano There's a lot more to buying a piano than you...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
Tags: Damper, Damper Pedal, Hammer, Piano Hammer, Piano Strings, Resonance, Sound Vibrations, Sound Waves, Soundboard, String Vibrations, Strings, Vibrations
Leave a Comment