Piano Video Lesson: How Many Parts are There on a Piano?

Hi. This is Robert Estrin at LivingPianos.com and VirtualSheetMusic.com. The question today is how many parts are there in a piano. This is really fascinating to think about. You know that there are many strings in a piano, somewhere between 220 to 240 strings, depending upon the scaling of the piano, since there are three strings for each note through most of the piano, two strings and one string in the bass. Depending upon the scale design, there's different numbers but around 220 to 240 strings. Now consider this. For each string, there has to be a tuning pin. So, double that, you're at hundreds of parts already.

And that's just the strings and the pins. Each note of a piano has a damper and a damper head. That's 88 times 2 right there, so you're at hundreds or getting near a thousand very quickly. And you've got the furniture of the piano - the fallboard, the key slip, the lid, the music rack. It starts adding up. But when it really explodes is the action. Now, the action is everything from the keys to the hammers and everything in between. Did you know that, when you push a key on a piano, you're setting in motion somewhere around 100 parts for each key? If you multiply that all out, you've got thousands of parts.

So, the answer to this question is a piano with all the parts of the action as well as all the furniture and the strings and all of that put together, oh, somewhere around 12,000 parts. That gives a real appreciation for what it takes to manufacture a piano, doesn't it? Thanks for the great questions. Once again, Robert Estrin at VirtualSheetMusic.com and LivingPianos.com.

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