Welcome to the Piano
The piano (or pianoforte) is played all over the world and requires a great deal of coordination by the player. There are various sizes and shapes of piano with the most common being the 'upright' and the grand (pictured).
As the pianist plays the keys, a hammer mechanism strikes the strings inside the piano with a felt hammer causing them to vibrate thus producing the sound.
There have been many virtuosi players over the years and composers have written extensively for the instrument. In the classical era, Mozart wrote 27 concerti for piano as well as numerous solo works. With composers including Liszt, Paganini and Chopin writing countless works the piano soon became one of the most written for instruments.
In recent years the composer Einaudi has been taking the world by storm. This is a performance of his 'Berlin Song' performed at the Royal Albert Hall.
Here is a video featuring some boogie woogie!
Jools Holland interviews and then performs with Axel Zwingenberger, Ben Waters, Charlie Watts, Dave Green.
