How Many Keys Are on a Piano

It is said that, in the year 1709, an Italian harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo Cristofori, invented the 'pianoforte', in the capital city of Tuscany, Florence. This new musical instrument had a wooden frame like a harpsichord and a unique keyboard mechanism. This keyboard was very similar to the clavichord. Over the past 300 years, the pianoforte has undergone many changes. The shape, functionality, appearance, design and sound has been modified into today's version of the piano. In this article, we shall cover some information related to how many keys are on a piano.

Layout of Piano Keys
Before, we answer the question, how many keys are on a piano, let us understand the layout of these keys. This will help us understand the answer related to how many keys are on a piano better. The modern piano keyboard was first established in medieval Europe during the 13th century. It had 12 basic notes with a repetition of black and white keys. During the early stages of the piano, there were no black notes implemented as yet. Therefore, the piano key layout consisted of only seven basic notes. Then after many, many long years, keyboard players were finally able to decide and implement the number of musical notes one could play on the piano. Thus, today there are 7¼ octaves, that is, seven white notes and 5 black notes to an octave. This has made learning how to play the piano so easy that you can teach yourself piano with the help of beginner piano sheet music.

How Many Keys Are on a Piano?
Let us divide the question how many keys are on a piano into two parts: how many white keys are on a piano and how many black keys on a piano. The answer to the first question, how many white keys are on a piano, is 52. 36 accidentals or sharps and flats is the answer to the question how many black keys on a piano. By adding the answers of these questions, we get the answer to our initial question how many keys are on a piano. The answer is 88 keys on a piano. Initially, there were only 60 keys in the piano just like the harpsichord. As the composers started to play the instrument more and more, they began to develop different musical notes. As the music played on, the piano got complicated and more keys were added to it. Then, during the 19th century, the piano had 85 notes that went up to A. Finally, there were three notes added at the top. Thus, all pianos generally have 88 keys.

However, there are some exceptions to the general number of 88 keys. The two Bösendorfer pianos have more than the normal 88 keys. The 7'4" two Bösendorfer piano 225 has 92 keys and the 9'6" two Bösendorfer piano 290 has 97 keys. The two Bösendorfer Imperial Grand piano has 97 keys that cover a compass of 8 octaves C to C. These keys have a different finishing from the regular keys. This helps you avoid playing them accidentally during a recital. The semitone keys are in white and the fulltone keys are in black. The 'Cottage piano' that has missing top and bottom octave, found in the normal 88 key piano, has total of 64 keys. Pleyel, a company that was established in Paris, France in 1807 that is now under Schimmel Piano Co. today, had once built a double grand piano. It had 2 pianos in one case with 1 keyboard on either side. This piano, therefore, had 176 keys.

There are about 220 strings on a piano with 88 keys. This means each note has three stings in the treble. There are two strings in tenor and part of the bass. One string in the very low bass. The average tension of a steel piano string is about 160lbs with a 15% increase on the bass strings. The different pianos have different weights as follows:

• Baby grand 4' 11" - 240 kg approximately
• Concert grand 9' - 490 kg approximately
• Small upright 3' 8" - 184 kg approximately
• Large upright 4' 2" - 215 kg approximately

This brings us to learn another important piano fact. The biggest piano ever made was by Challen England. They made an 11' 8" long piano in 1935 for the Silver Jubilee of George and Mary. This piano weighed about 1 and a quarter tons. It had the combined tensile stress of the strings that amounted to over 30 tons.

This was some information related to the question how many keys are on a piano. I hope this short article has helped answer your question. So the next time you sit down to play some piano music, be sure your count your keys on the piano as 88 keys.