The Harpsichord: The Grandparent of the Piano (Level 1 Explore Zone). Key Stage 2

2 days ago
4 min read

Updated: 13 hours ago

An ornate harpsichord with intricate floral designs and painted lid in a dimly lit room, wooden floor enhancing its antique charm. — Gérard Janot, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Imagine a keyboard instrument that looks a little like a grand piano, but sounds very different!

That's the harpsichord.

What was it?

The harpsichord is an instrument from a long time ago. It has a keyboard, just like a piano, but when you press a key, instead of a hammer hitting a string (like in a piano), a tiny piece called a plectrum plucks the string. Think of it like a guitar pick plucking a guitar string, but inside the instrument.

This plucking action gives the harpsichord its special, bright, and slightly "twangy" sound.

Part	What it Does
Key	You press this to play a note
String	This makes the sound
Plectrum	This tiny part plucks the string
Soundboard	This makes the sound loud enough to hear

When was it used?

The harpsichord was very popular for around 300 years! It was first used a lot during the Renaissance period and became the most important keyboard instrument during the Baroque period.

Famous composers like Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel wrote lots of amazing music for the harpsichord. If you listen to music from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries (that's the 1500s to the 1700s), you will hear the harpsichord everywhere!

It started to become less popular around the time the piano was invented, in the late 18th century, but people still love playing and listening to it today!

Harpsichord vs. Piano: What's the difference?

Diagram illustrating the mechanical workings of a harpsichord and a piano, highlighting the key differences between the plucking action of the harpsichord and the striking mechanism of the piano. (Note the images are from Wiki Commons. The numbers on the piano mechanism can be found on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_(piano) and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpsichord — Diagram illustrating the mechanical workings of a harpsichord and a piano, highlighting the key differences between the plucking action of the harpsichord and the striking mechanism of the piano. (Note the images are from Wiki Commons. The numbers on the piano mechanism can be found on *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_(piano)* *and* *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harpsichord*

This is the big question! While they both have a keyboard and strings, the way they make sound is the key difference, and this affects what the musician can do.

Feature	Harpsichord	Piano
Sound Action	Plectrum plucks the string	Hammer hits the string
Volume Control	Cannot change the volume easily (always sounds the same loudness)	Can easily change the volume (soft to loud)
Why?	The plucking action is the same no matter how hard you press the key	Pressing the key harder makes the hammer hit harder, creating a louder sound
Nicknames	The "always loud" instrument	The "soft-loud" instrument (its original name was pianoforte)

What the Harpsichord Could Not Do

The biggest thing a harpsichord could not do that a piano can is change its volume based on how hard the player presses the keys.

When a composer writes music, they use words like:

Piano (or p) which means soft
Forte (or f) which means loud

On a piano, the player can make a note soft or loud just by touching the key gently or strongly. This is called dynamics.

On a harpsichord, the volume stays roughly the same no matter how hard you press. The player can only change the volume in certain ways, like by pulling levers to use different sets of strings, but not instantly, note-by-note, like on a piano.

Listen to the Difference

To hear the beautiful sound of the harpsichord, listen to this Musette in D by J.S. Bach. There is a smaller version of this piece in Level 1 Achieve that you can hear below. The music downloads are included after the videos.

Musette played on a Harpsichord

Musette Played on a Piano

The Level 1 Version

Download the music

Level 1

Level 6

Conclusion

The harpsichord is a brilliant, historical instrument with a unique plucked sound. It was the star of the show for hundreds of years! However, the piano was a revolutionary invention because it gave musicians the ability to easily play both soft and loud sounds (the pianoforte), which the harpsichord could not do.

Test Your Harpsichord Knowledge (KS2)

1. What is the tiny part inside a harpsichord that plucks the string to make a sound?

A. Hammer
B. Bow
C. Plectrum
D. Finger

2. During which major period of music was the harpsichord the most important keyboard instrument?

A. Romantic
B. Modern
C. Baroque
D. Classical

3. What is the biggest difference between a harpsichord and a piano?

A. The piano is bigger.
B. The piano can easily change between soft and loud (dynamics), but the harpsichord cannot.
C. The harpsichord has a wooden case, and the piano has a metal case.
D. The harpsichord has more keys.

Glossary (Key Harpsichord Words)

Word	What It Means
Baroque	A long time ago (around 1600-1750), when the harpsichord was most popular.
Composer	A person who writes music.
Dynamics	How soft or loud the music is.
Forte (f)	A musical word meaning Loud.
Pianoforte	The original, full name of the piano, meaning "soft-loud."
Piano (p)	A musical word meaning Soft.
Plectrum	The tiny part inside a harpsichord that plucks the string.
Renaissance	An old time (around 1400-1600), when the harpsichord was first popular.
Soundboard	The piece of wood that makes the sound loud enough to hear.