How the Piano Came to Be

In Short

Ellye Howell Glover traces the historical development of the piano from its ancient stringed precursors—such as the legend of Mercury's tortoise-shell lyre and the harps of Egypt—through medieval psalteries, keyed clavichords, virginals, and harpsichords, to the eighteenth-century invention of the hammer action. The book shows how early craftsmen solved mechanical problems of string tension and vibration to create a flexible, expressive instrument. It endures as a accessible, straightforward account of how a central centerpiece of modern household and concert culture came to exist.

The Story

The narrative opens deep in antiquity, grounding the origin of stringed instruments in legend and archaeological history. Glover recounts the myth of Hermes fashioning a lyre from dried sinews across a tortoise shell along the Nile, alongside historical evidence of harps drawn on Egyptian tombs and referenced in biblical texts. Greek and eastern civilizations adapted these early stringed devices, but centuries passed before instruments began to incorporate structural resonance and mechanical mechanisms.

During the Middle Ages, the emergence of the psaltery and dulcimer introduced the concept of a sounding board. By the eleventh century, the invention of the keyboard transformed how music was produced, eventually yielding the clavicytherium and the long-favored clavichord. The clavichord, which used metal tangents to strike brass strings, provided a soft, intimate tone beloved by masters like Johann Sebastian Bach. As time progressed, the virginal, spinet, and harpsichord expanded the instrument's dynamic reach and geographical footprint. Queens such as Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots played ornate virginals, while harpsichords—plucking strings with quill plectra—became fixtures of European musical life and barber shops alike.

The central turning point of the history arrives around 1709 with the independent development of the hammer action, credited primarily to Bartolomeo Christofori in Italy. By replacing the quill that plucked strings with a small hammer that struck them and quickly bounced back, Christofori created an instrument capable of subtle variations in volume—the pianoforte. To make this possible, he had to engineer thicker strings to sustain impact, solve structural weaknesses in the tuning pin block, and control the rebound of the hammer.

Initial resistance from traditionalists and prominent musicians gradually gave way as German and English builders refined the mechanism. Figures like Johann Andreas Stein, Gottfried Silbermann, and later Nanette Stein produced instruments embraced by Mozart and Beethoven. The narrative follows the piano across the Atlantic to North America, detailing early builders in Philadelphia and Boston, such as Benjamin Crehore and Jonas Chickering, who added iron framing and upright actions. Glover concludes by showing how hand-crafted, months-long builds evolved into modern production, turning a rare luxury into an accessible "household orchestra."

How It Unfolds

The ancient origins The history begins with legends of Mercury discovering sound in a tortoise shell and historical accounts of Egyptian harps. Early civilizations across Greece, Asia, and the Middle East developed basic plucked instruments that set the stage for stringed music.

The keyboard arrives The invention of the keyboard in the eleventh century leads to instruments like the clavichord and dulcimer. Musicians gain the ability to strike or pluck multiple strings using mechanisms rather than picking individual strings by hand.

The era of virginals and harpsichords Plucked keyboard instruments dominate European life throughout the Renaissance and Baroque eras. High society, monarchs, and everyday citizens adopt the spinet and harpsichord, despite tone quality described as a scratch with a sound at the end.

The hammer revolution Bartolomeo Christofori solves the long-standing mechanical challenge by inventing the hammer action in 1709. This allows notes to be played soft (piano) or loud (forte) depending on the player's touch.

Refinement and American adoption European builders refine the escapement mechanisms while American makers in Philadelphia and Boston introduce metal frames and upright designs. The piano transitions from an artisan curiosity into a standardized, widespread instrument.

The People

• Bartolomeo Christofori: The Italian inventor who solves the fundamental challenge of the hammer action, thick-string tension, and hammer rebound, creating the first true pianoforte. He dies in comparative poverty despite his breakthrough.
• Johann Sebastian Bach: The great composer who steadfastly prefers his quiet, intimate clavichord over early iterations of the piano, though he eventually praises later hammer-action designs.
• Nanette Stein (Maria Anna Stein): A skilled German piano manufacturer who carries on her father's firm, provides instruments to Beethoven, and maintains a successful business operating into the nineteenth century.
• Morris Steinert: An avid nineteenth-century collector who spends his personal fortune traveling Europe to find, restore, and preserve historical keyboard instruments to demonstrate how classic works originally sounded.

In Its Own Voice

"From the dried sinews stretched across the shell of a dead tortoise to the concert-grand piano of the present day is a far flight."

— The author introduces the vast chronological scope of the piano's development from primitive origins to modern engineering.

"The latter has been aptly called 'the household orchestra,' and in tracing its origin one must go far back into the annals of the past."

— A description highlighting how the piano evolved into a central fixture of domestic and cultural life.

"The 'scratch with a sound at the end' was gone forever."

— Commenting on the pivotal invention of the hammer action, which replaced plucking quills with dynamic striking hammers.

What It's Really About

Beneath its linear timeline of inventions, the book explores how technological innovation responds to human artistic expression. It presents mechanical evolution not as a series of random accidents, but as an ongoing search for dynamic control, volume, and tonal warmth. Glover shows how musicians continuously pushed against the physical limits of their tools, forcing builders to re-engineer materials, string tensions, and key actions. The work also highlights the cultural shift of music from exclusive royal courts to public concert halls and everyday domestic parlors.

Why Read It Today

This short history appeals to music lovers, pianists, and readers curious about the material history of everyday objects. Glover writes with a clean, unpretentious clarity that makes centuries of mechanical refinement easy to follow without requiring advanced music theory. Reading the book feels like taking a guided walk through an antique museum, complete with anecdotal vignettes about royal expense ledgers, composer rivalries, and early colonial privateers capturing London instruments at sea.

Because the book was published in 1913, modern readers will notice period perspectives, such as a heavy reliance on nineteenth-century traditional myths alongside documented history, as well as a romanticized view of early historical eras. However, its brevity and focus on the physical mechanics—how plectra, tangents, quills, and hammers differ—give context to the music of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven that remains useful today.

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