Since about 1450 keyboards have virtually remained the same, except for a little variation in the colour of the keys.

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Since about 1450 keyboards have virtually remained the same, except for a little variation in the colour of the keys. The organ was the first keyboard instrument and the way of the keys has varied greatly and at times was so heavy that the players were called "Organ Beaters", because they actually had to hit the keys to make a sound, rather than playing them. About the 13th or 14th Century, keyboard music was made of natural modes, modes then being the basis of music. The interval of the B to B, was considered unmusical, so B was lowered bringing in an extra note, this then gave five accidentals, B flat was probably followed by F sharp, E flat, C sharp and finally G sharp.

The first of the Harpsichord family was the virginal. The strings were plucked by a then came the Clavichord, the spinet followed and then the more elaborate harpsichord. Harpsichords then had one manual and a two-foot registers and were slightly more triangular shaped than a modern grand piano.
 

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In 1598, in letters to the Duke of Modena, Paliarino describes an instrument he has made, he called it "Pian e Forte" although this instrument was capable of soft and loud, it is not clear if it is a type of harpsichord fitted with a device or a true hammered piano.

From then onwards the piano has advanced and  eventually chips were invented. Then someone got the idea of using these chips on a piano based instrument, using electricity. Now we have advanced so much we have floppy disk drives, dual voices and many other effects.

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