Try looking up these key words on the internet
|
|
|
Try looking up these key words on the internet |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Progress and further opportunities
Applying for lessons and further information |
Keyboard instruments are operated by striking individual keys, though the mechanism that the keys operate may produce sound in virtually any way. The piano creates its sound by striking the strings with hammers, the organ by blowing wind through pipes and the harpsichord by plucking strings with quills. The electronic keyboard creates the sound electronically, and can imitate the other keyboard instruments as well as produce many other sounds.
Keyboard instruments are able to play more than one pitch at a time, and do not need to play with other instruments to create harmonies. The earliest surviving examples of keyboard instruments are organs dating from the 14th century. The drawback of the early keyboard instruments, the organ and the harpsichord, is that they are not able to change the sound by changing the way the keys are struck.
The piano, invented in the early 18th century, addressed this by a mechanism where the way the key is struck changes the speed with which the hammer hits the string, and when the key is released the string is stopped from vibrating. This allows for a great deal of control of volume, attack, and articulation.
Pianos are used in many types of music. The versatility of the electronic keyboard has seen it used a great deal in popular music and also contemporary classical music. The Indian harmonium is an example of a keyboard instrument which has become part of a non-western culture.
Although players will often start on an electronic keyboard, the playing technique for the piano is different, and prospective piano players should obtain a piano and have piano lessons while still in the early stages of learning. It is easier for a pianist to play the keyboard. Keyboard players can join the Keyboard Workshop and at about grade three progress to a Keyboard Ensemble at the Centre for Young Keyboard Players, and also play in bands with keyboard players or other instrumentalists, or even a keyboard orchestra. Talented pianists can apply to join the Centre for Young Pianists. |
|
Download an information sheet about keyboard purchase here. |