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When we think of a piano keyboard, we picture the familiar arrangement of black and white keys that has remained largely unchanged for centuries. But in the late nineteenth century, a number of inventors believed there was a better way. One of the most ambitious attempts to redesign the piano was the Jankó keyboard, and among the manufacturers willing to embrace this bold innovation was Decker Brothers of New York. Around 1890, the company produced a small number of upright p

This transposing upright piano was made by Weser Brothers in New York, New York in 1940. According to the inscription on the case, it was made “expressly for Irving Berlin.” The transposing mechanism moves the action and keyboard so that the player can play in any key. Irving Berlin was a self-taught pianist who preferred to play on the black keys. This piano is serial number 117728 and has a compass of AAA-c5, tape-check upright action, felt hammers, single-, double-, and tr

This upright piano was made by John Isaac Hawkins in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1801. Hawkins patented an ingenious small upright piano with a folding keyboard, of which the Smithsonian’s is an example. Other piano experiments were an upright instrument, the Claviol, which bowed the strings, a system of attaching the strings to a nut on a threaded rod, and the use of springs as strings in the bass. Only three of his instruments are known to survive. This piano is serial nu

The maker of this piano is unknown, but it is thought to have been made in Germany or Austria in the 1840s. This is a small square piano contained in a work table, which has receptacles in the top of the case for sewing implements. Such multi-purpose instruments illustrate the importance of the piano to the training of women in the 19th century. The piano has a compass of F-f3, Viennese action, white leather on wood core hammers, iron strings, single- and double-strung, wood

At the end of the eighteenth century, piano makers were not only concerned with building louder, stronger instruments — they were also exploring one of music’s oldest challenges: how to create perfect harmony in every key. In 1796, a remarkable piano was built in Vienna featuring an extraordinary keyboard design with 31 notes per octave. Unlike the traditional twelve-note keyboard familiar to modern pianists, this instrument included additional pitches between the familiar no

When the great passenger liner Rome was launched in 1881, it represented the height of Victorian ambition, combining engineering achievement with luxury and refinement. Among the many comforts offered to first-class passengers was a dedicated Music Room — a reminder that, even during a long Atlantic crossing, music remained an essential part of social life.The Rome was built for the Inman Line, one of the leading transatlantic shipping companies of the nineteenth century. The

Among the many experiments that shaped the development of the modern piano, few are as visually striking as the curved keyboard. In 1882, the German piano manufacturer W. Neuhaus Söhne of Kalkar produced an unusual upright piano featuring a concave keyboard — an ambitious attempt to rethink the relationship between the pianist and the instrument. The idea behind the curved keyboard was simple but revolutionary: instead of forcing the player’s hands to reach across a straight

Elvis Presley's famous gold piano is one of the most iconic musical instruments associated with the King of Rock and Roll. Originally built by the Cable Piano Company in the 1920s, the grand piano was purchased by Elvis in the 1950s for his mother, Gladys Presley. Following her death, the instrument was refinished in brilliant gold leaf and placed in the music room at his home, Graceland. There it became a striking centrepiece, reflecting Elvis's love of both music and distin

The Archicembalo, devised in the mid-sixteenth century by the Italian composer and theorist Nicola Vicentino, was an ambitious keyboard instrument created to realise the microtonal system described in ancient Greek music theory. Unlike the standard 12-note octave, Vicentino’s design divided the octave into 31 distinct pitches, allowing for finer enharmonic and chromatic distinctions than were possible on conventional keyboards. The instrument embodied his belief that Renaissa

Grave monument to Gladys Spencer (1897-1931) L.L.C.M. (Licentiate of the London College of Music'), in the form of her sculpted likeness lying beside a grand piano she played. The eroded inscription reads: "In Loving Memory of Gladys Spencer L.L.C.M. My darling Gladeyes who passed away 6th April 1931 aged 34 years. The gardener hath plucked a still rarer flower". She trained at the London College of Music, was music and dance trainer for child performers at the Classical Acad

The magnificent Steinway grand piano at the American Cathedral in Paris is closely associated with the American composer Cole Porter, although it originally belonged to his close friend, Howard Sturges. Built in Hamburg in 1906 (serial number 121776), the instrument left the Steinway factory as a conventional ebony grand before being transformed in Paris into an extraordinary work of decorative art. Its lavish case, inspired by a seventeenth-century Flemish harpsichord by Joh

The Hupfeld Sinfonie-Jazz Orchestrion: A Marvel of Mechanical Music The Hupfeld Sinfonie-Jazz Orchestrion is a fascinating piece of musical history that encapsulates the innovation and artistry of the early 20th century. Manufactured by Ludwig Hupfeld AG in the 1920s, this massive self-playing instrument has become a highly sought-after collectible, capturing the imagination of musicians, historians, and collectors alike. A Brief History of the Hupfeld Sinfonie-Jazz Orchestr

The Moór double keyboard piano (also called the Moór Duplex Piano or Bechstein–Moór piano) is one of the most unusual experiments in piano design from the early 20th century—a hybrid between piano, organ thinking, and pianistic technique innovation. It was invented by the Hungarian composer and pianist Emánuel Moór, who was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was strongly influenced by Liszt’s virtuosic tradition. Moór’s idea was not to change the sound of th