| MUSIC MINI COURSE: Part I | | | | SOME PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS: PIANO OR |
| Should I Use a Piano or a Keyboard? | | | | KEYBOARD? |
| Welcome to the wonderful world of music. As you | | | | Does it matter if you apply the information in this |
| begin reading this Music Mini Course it is fun to realize | | | | course to a keyboard or a piano? Certainly not. The |
| that you are also participating in a very important | | | | only real difference is that a full size piano has 88 keys |
| cultural aspect from around the world which has been | | | | (counting both the white and black keys). Keyboards |
| going on for centuries. Did you know that pianos in | | | | come in several different sizes. Some have 60 keys, |
| some form have been around for over 500 years? | | | | some even less. There are also 88 key electronic |
| Some of the first instruments of this kind were | | | | keyboards and digital pianos that produce very realistic |
| created in the late Medieval Period and were called | | | | acoustic sounds. Whatever size your instrument may |
| clavichords. They had a very light, metallic sound | | | | be, remember that the ARRANGEMENT of the keys |
| because the small hand-pounded 'hammers' were | | | | and the ORDER of the KEY NAMES is the same on |
| made of very light weight metal-like material. These | | | | both instruments. Rest assured that your basic |
| hammers struck strings of varying lengths to create | | | | knowledge of the fundamentals of music can be done |
| different tones or pitches. The next cousin to the | | | | very effectively either on a keyboard or a piano. |
| clavichord was the harpsichord invented by Cristofori | | | | After you have developed a foundation of basic piano |
| in Italy around 1450 A.D. This keyboard instrument had | | | | playing skill you will want to revisit this subject and |
| a mechanism in it called the plecktrum which 'plucked' | | | | make another decision. If you are planning to pursue |
| the strings and produced a slightly stronger sound than | | | | popular music then perhaps an electronic keyboard |
| its predecessor. Whether you are playing an acoustic | | | | would suit you best. On the other hand, if you intend |
| instrument, which is the closest relative to the history | | | | to study more in the direction of classical music an |
| just mentioned, or an electronic keyboard, you are now | | | | acoustic piano would definitely be the right choice. |
| participating in a centuries old musical art form. | | | | |