ENCYCLOPEDIA 4U .com



Encyclopedia Home Page

Google
  Web Encyclopedia4u.com

 

Musical keyboard

The musical keyboard, also known as the piano keyboard is a way of arranging parts of a musical instrument which produce notes.

Many musical instruments which have a key for each note lay them out in this standard way: the piano, harpsichord, clavichord, organ, synthesizer, celesta, and carillon keyboards. Also, instruments such as the xylophone which have a separate sounding part for each note lay them out in this pattern.

The twelve notes of the Western musical scale are laid out with the lowest note on the left; the seven larger keys (for the "natural" notes of the C major scale: C, D, E, F, G, A, B) jut forward, with the sharp and flat keys less prominent. The pattern then repeats at the interval of an octave. Early harpsichord and organ keyboards have a range around 50 notes; the modern piano has 88. The standardization of white natural keys and black sharp keys began in England in the 18th century.

Non-standard musical keyboards

See also:




Content on this web site is provided for informational purposes only. We accept no responsibility for any loss, injury or inconvenience sustained by any person resulting from information published on this site. We encourage you to verify any critical information with the relevant authorities.



Copyright © 2005 Par Web Solutions All Rights reserved.
| Privacy

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Musical keyboard".