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Learning Objectives

At the end of this class, you should be able to:

  • Describe the role of keyboard instruments as an orchestral, solo, or accompanying instrument.
  • Differentiate aurally and visually between the piano, harpsichord, organ, and synthesizer.
  • Define the following musical terms and instruments: concerto, electrophone, keyboard instruments, recital, repertoire, solo, and soundboard
  • Compare and contrast the different types of keyboard instruments, including the piano, harpsichord, organ, and synthesizer.

Key Points

  • Keyboard instruments are sometimes included as part of the orchestra. More often, however, they are featured as solo instruments in music events called recitals, where a soloist plays alone, or in a concerto where a soloist plays accompanied by an orchestra. Keyboard instruments are also widely used to accompany voices or other instruments.
  • On the harpsichord, tones are produced by strings stretched over a soundboard, which is a thin piece of wood that amplifies the sound of the strings.
  • The harpsichord keyboard is not touch-sensitive. This means that no matter how softly or forcefully one presses a key, the sound the instrument produces will maintain a fairly constant volume level. Well-built harpsichords are capable of producing quite a rich sound.
  • The piano is one of the best-known and best-loved musical instruments. It is used in a wide variety of music styles, from Latin jazz to art music to contemporary avant-garde. Although it has strings that vibrate to produce sound, the piano may be considered a percussion instrument because depressing the keys causes hammers inside the piano to strike the strings. There are 88 keys in a full-size piano keyboard, each one attached to its own corresponding hammer.
  • On the piano, the keys are connected to the hammers through a complex mechanism of levers. This keyboard mechanism may also be referred to as the piano action. The keyboard mechanism of a piano includes hammers, soundboard, iron frame, and pedals.

Listening List

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

  • "Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3: No. 1. Elegie in E-Flat Minor"

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

  • "Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467: II. Andante (Featured in "Elvira Madigan")"

Composer: Felix Mendelssohn

  • "Organ Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 65: Andante"

Composer: Frédéric Chopin

  • "Mazurka No. 24 in C major, Op. 33, No. 3"

Composer: George Frideric Handel

  • "Keyboard Suite No. 3 in D Minor, HWV 428: V. Air"

Composer: Radha Wardrop

  • "Dream of Flying: The Small Hours"

Composer: George Frideric Handel

  • "Organ Concerto No. 13 in F Major, HWV 295, "The Cuckoo and the Nightingale": II. Allegro"

Composer: Jean-Philippe Rameau

  • "Pieces de Clavecin: Suite in G Major - minor: IV. La Poule"

Composer: Frédéric Chopin

  • "Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21: II. Larghetto"

Composer: George Frideric Handel

  • "Keyboard Suite No. 4 (Set II) in D Minor, HWV 437: I. Allemande"

Composer: George Frideric Handel

  • "Keyboard Suite No. 7 (Set I) in G Minor, HWV 432: IV. Sarabande"

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

  • "Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria"

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

  • "Keyboard Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1058: Harpsichord Concerto in G Minor, BWV 1058: III. Allegro assai"

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

  • "Flute Sonata in A Major, BWV 1032 (arr. O. Dantone and R. Gerlach): I. Vivace"

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

  • "Flute Sonata in A Major, BWV 1032 (arr. O. Dantone and R. Gerlach): I. Vivace"

Composer: Jean-Philippe Rameau

  • "Pièces de clavecin, Suite in A Minor-Major: I. Prelude"

Composer: François Couperin

  • "Concerts royaux, Concerto No. 3 in A Major: II. Allemande: Legerement"

Composer: François Couperin

  • "Les Barricades Misterieuses"

Composer: 0

  • "Manha De Carnival"

Composer: Sergei Rachmaninoff

  • "Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Variation 18"

Composer: John Cage

  • "Amores: I. Solo for prepared piano"

Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach

  • "Keyboard Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056: Piano Concerto in F Minor, BWV 1056: Largo"

Composer: Franz Liszt

  • "William Tell: Overture"

Composer: Franz Liszt

  • "Rossini - Overture to the opera William Tell, S552/R237"

Composer: Ludwig van Beethoven

  • "Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight": I. Adagio sostenuto"

Composer: Franz Liszt

  • "Fountains of the Villa d'Este"

Composer: Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

  • "Keyboard Sonata in A major: II. Andante con tenerezza"

Composer: Arnold Schoenberg

  • "Six Little Piano Pieces, Op. 19: II. Langsam"

Self Check

At the end of each class, you will have an opportunity to check your knowledge. Please take it as many times as you need to as this will help you prepare for the Section Quiz and the Midterm Exam.