Q 01/05

Who invented the piano around 1700 while Keeper of the Instruments for the Medici court?

A) Bartolomeo Cristofori

B) Antonio Stradivari

C) Gottfried Silbermann

D) Sébastien Érard

Answer · why

A) Bartolomeo Cristofori

He was born in Padua and hired by Prince Ferdinando de' Medici in 1688; three of his pianos survive, in New York, Rome and Leipzig.

Q 02/05

Cristofori's original name for his invention described a keyboard of cypress with what quality?

A) Soft and loud

B) Sweet and clear

C) Long and short

D) High and low

Answer · why

A) Soft and loud

'Un cimbalo di cipresso di piano e forte' was shortened to pianoforte, then fortepiano, then just piano.

Q 03/05

How many keys does a standard modern piano have?

A) 76

B) 84

C) 88

D) 96

Answer · why

C) 88

That is 52 white and 36 black, spanning seven octaves plus a minor third from A0 to C8.

Q 04/05

How many black keys are there on a standard 88-key piano?

A) 30

B) 32

C) 34

D) 36

Answer · why

D) 36

They come in alternating groups of two and three, which is how players find their way around without looking.

Q 05/05

On a three-pedal grand piano, what is the leftmost pedal called?

A) Sostenuto

B) Una corda

C) Sustain

D) Damper

Answer · why

B) Una corda

On a grand it shifts the whole action sideways so the hammers hit fewer strings; the sostenuto is in the middle and the sustain on the right.