From the very beginning man has been surrounded by the sounds of nature. The rhythmic beating of the rains, the rush of the winds, the wash of waves along the sea shore and the songs of the birds in the forest. That was the only sounds man can imagine. Man tried to creation and construction of instruments with woods and bones for music making.

Histories recorded that music was first developed into an art in the far East of Hindu community (India). Indian Orchestras with stringed instruments have existed in very ancient times. They sang Sanskrit words accompanied by instrumental music believing that such singing would make them both energetic and heroic, and world bring peaceful heart to them.

The Chinese idea of music was very different from the Indian; they believed that music influenced character. Good music guaranteed a well-ordered community while bad music endangered the state. This state must be brought into harmony with the universe. The musical instruments which could accomplish this must be integrated with the cosmic forces. The changing seasons, the wind, thunder, water and fire, and with all matters. The times and conditions of the playing of their instruments were regulated by these cosmic forces. The substances of which the instruments were made of the eight substances of which all matter was thought to be composed. These substances are stone, gourd, ban boo, wood, silk, clay, metal and skin. These could be produce tones of a certain pitch or timbre.

Music as an art had a promising beginning in both India and China. These types of music from far East contribute the pentatonic scale which is used today in much of the folk music of Europe and America. There was music in Egypt from very early times, too. The paintings on the walls of tombs bear testimony of this. The first musicians who were paid to play appear to have been those who attended the bearded Assyrian kings. A stone slab carved in bas-relief shows them playing ensemble.

The Hebrews was not into instrumental music rather singing was very important to them. The Christian Bible recorded that Samuel, the last of the judges, built a school of prophecy and music, David who has been called the Great musician, studied there as a boy. The music of the psalms of David has been lost, but as poems they have been an inspiration to generations of men. The echoes of the ancient music in all those places died so long ago that our ears will never hear the sounds. The foundations for the music as we know it was laid by the Greeks.

The Greeks were the first people who tried to study and understand music a “divine discovery” because they concluded that power of music was so great that it was beyond man’s comprehension.

The Greek Mythology ascribed to music as a divine origin and named as its inventors and earliest practitioners gods and demigods such as Apollo, Amphion, and Orpheus. People thought it could heal sickness, purify the body and mind, and work miracles in the realm of nature. In the cult of Apollo the lyre was the characteristic instrument while in that of Dionysus it was the aulos. Both these instruments probably came into Greece from Asia Minor.

It was probably Pythagoras in the sixth century B.C who first found out that the pitch of musical notes depended on the speed of vibrations.

Below is the outline of the development of musical instruments related to keyboard instrument.

Keyboard Instrument sparked off in 14^th and 15^th centuries. The psaltery was the forerunner of keyboard instruments especially harpsichord.

Psaltery is a shallow closed box where strings are stretched and sounded by plucking with fingers or plectra. Dulcimer was another stringed instrument but its strings are struck (this developed to piano). Dulcimer and psaltery looked alike. It originated before Christ in Iran.

Dulcimer produces its music by the struck of small hammers on the strings just by the struck of small hammers on the strings just like the piano. Music notation started in Rome in 800AD. Simple curves where used to indicate the movement of pitch. The crude nature of notation improve in 1160 in Paris. 5 lines where introduced by 1400, the English improved it more. In 1157, the monochord introduced the clavichord. On the adventure of keyboard instrument development, different types of strings where in use. In 1350, German builder smith introduced wire through steel plates which was useful until 19^th century different musical instruments where using different materials for string. Clavichord is the smallest of string keyboard instruments. Five accidental was introduced in keyboard instruments around 13^th – 14^th century. Harpsichord seems to have spread from Italy. Bartolomeo Christofori (1655-1735) modified the harpsichord to a harpsichord with soft and loud. The mechanism was called Hammer Harpsichord. Tuning fork was invented by John Saw, a Lutenist. This tuning fork helps him tune his lute. People had no interest and enthusiasm about the instrument.

Gottfried Silberman who was J.S Bach’s friend produced two of Christofori’s piano but the situation was still the same. On the struggle to improve the piano, Christian Ernest frienderici who was a pupil of Silberman made a small square piano, which pulled the interest of the people.

Due to social unrest in Germany because of seven years of war, twelve instruments makers came to England in 1760, piano gave a new look. Domenico del Mila made the first upright piano in 1739. In 1801, Muzio Clement of Italy made his respected piano method which Beethoven commended it. Broad wood introduced a sustaining pedal in 1783. The same 1783 piano took over the harpsichord because six octaves was the range of piano. John Isaac Hawking (an English residing in Philadelphia) made the first true upright piano in 1800. In 1801, Erard made a grand for Napoleon, which had a Viennese action and fine pedals.

Spinet is related both to the clavichord and harpsichord. It consists of an oblong wooden box and a keyboard, and the metal strings are arranged perpendicularly to the keys like a clavichord. The strings are plucked with little pieces of leather. Similar to a harpsichord.

Harpsichord first appeared several years after the spinet. It was used in 15^th and 16^th centuries until the invention of the harpsichord. With sets of strings added. Spinet originated in Germany.

Piano is one the most common musical instrument found in homes in Europe and America.

It needs good caring and management to perform perfectly. There are three instruments inside the piano:-

(1)     The structural unit which includes the piano back, the metal plate, the tuning-pin block.

(2)     The tone unit also includes the soundboard assembly, piano string and the hammer heads.

(3)     The mechanical unit consist of the keyboard assembly, the hammer-action assembly and the damper-action assembly.

Grand piano is a piano in which the tone and mechanical unit are built horizontally while in upright piano is vertically built. Piano owners should follow the instructions of the piano maker and tuners. The relative humidity and varied temperature in different seasons affects piano most. For example the hash nature of dry season in Africa does a lot of harm to pianos in Africa. Some pianos are highly resistance to the weather while some have poor resisting force to the weather.

Piano has gone through years of modification and piano makers in Europe and America have worked tireless to satisfy their clients. But the different weather conditions around the world needs to be handled in terms of materials used in piano making, which can resist weather conditions in these continents especially Africa. 

Pipe organ has pipes that produce sound. It is placed on a chamber that stores wind. The access of wind to pipes controlled by a keyboard. History recorded that the first instrument with these components was the hydraulis, which was invented by Ktesibois (a Greek engineer working in Alexandria in the 3^rd century B.C).

His solution to the challenge was

(a)     To place several existing wind instruments (perhaps different sizes)

(b)     Above a chamber containing an under pressure

(c)      Pressure that was generated by simple hand-operated pumps and controlled by the weight of water.

(d)     And to control access to the individual wind instruments through a simple system of keys and valves to admit the air. This machine developed to a musical instrument called the Pipe Organ.              

4 centuries after the invention of hydraulis, below organ appear first in the Roman Empire. Description of the instrument is found in writing from the first century B.C through the end of the Greco-Roman period. Some of these sources are technical in that they actually describe the instrument and how it worked.

The organ bellow replaces two parts of the hydraulis.

-         It provided the save of wind to the organ, replacing the pumps of the hydraulis

-         It provided a means of controlling the wind pressure, replacing the water regulator that defines the hydraulis.

During the middle ages, the organ in Western Europe developed into three different types of instrument like portative organ. It is called that because it was small enough to be carried easily.

Another type is the Positive organ of the middle ages was a larger instrument than the portative. Typically it had one manual and no pedal. One keyboard allowed the performer to use both hands, so that he or she could play polyphonic music.

It had more than one rank of pipes and stops to control which one sounded. It required a second person to operate the bellows. In fifteenth century, organs were being built with several characteristics, which would become standard elements of design for the next several centuries. These also include the tone colons.

Keyboards instrument have gone through lots of modifications through many centuries in different parts of the world.

I acknowledge Carl D. Schmeckel in his contribution in the area of piano technology in his book “piano owner’s guide”. Also, I acknowledge Donald Jay Grout in his great contributions to the history of western music “A history of western music”. I appreciate and also acknowledge Katherine B. Shippen and Anca Seildlova for their source of inspiration to most music students in their work “Heritage of music”. And all the websites that contributed immensely to the success of the webpage and all the enlightenment showered on me in the areas of my desire in the field of music.