The Italian Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655-1731) invented the piano in 1709.

In 1709, he used the plucked clavichord as a prototype and made a clavichord that was called "a clavichord with strong and weak tone changes." He used a mechanism on the piano that used hammers to strike the strings to produce sounds. The device replaces the mechanical device of the clavichord that used animal quills to wave the strings to produce sounds. This makes the sound more expressive, the sound levels richer, and the changes in the sound can be directly controlled by touching the keys with your fingers.

Bartolomeo Christofori (*1655) modified the piano in his workshop in the Uffizien, Florence, by striking the keyboard with force Change the intensity of the sound. To do this, he used a leather-covered mallet to strike the strings with an action. The newly constructed piano was initially named "Gravecembalo col piano e forte" (meaning: harpsichord with varying pitches), later shortened to "Piano forte" (meaning: strong and weak).

At that time, the Christopher Leigh action was astonishingly perfect. With the help of Prince Ferdinando and the Medici family, Christofori established the "Christofori Piano Studio" in Florence.

Extended information:

On December 20, 1600, Matteo Ricci, an Italian missionary who set out from Tianjin, set foot in Beijing for the first time. The next day, he led several priests and brought tributes into the palace to meet Ming Shenzong Zhu Yijun. Among the many gifts, the one that amazed Zhu Yijun the most was a Nanxian clavichord. Matteo Ricci also brought a priest with superb skills and asked him to play the clavichord in front of the emperor. Those small metal blocks installed at the end of the piano dance one after another on the strings, flowing out beautiful and moving melodies.

All this touched Zhu Yijun's heart, and he decided to let four eunuchs learn to play this magical foreign instrument. Four eunuchs who used to play string instruments in the palace orchestra came to learn from Father Pontil on the order of the emperor. Under Pang Di's careful guidance, two of the eunuchs quickly learned to play the music. But we had to wait for the other two to graduate together, which lasted for more than a month.

After finishing his studies, because the eunuchs wanted to have Chinese lyrics for the music they played, Matteo Ricci specially wrote eight lyrics about ethics and cultivating good conduct, and gave them a Chinese flavor The title is "Eight Chapters of Xiqin Music".

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia--Piano