The story of the piano begins in Padua, Italy in 1709, in the shop of a harpsichord maker named Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori (1655-1731). Originally called the gravicembalo col piano e forte (roughly "soft and loud keyboard instrument"), it represented a leap in technology over existing keyboard instruments such as the spinet, the virginal, the clavecin, the gravicembalo and the harpsichord. And of course, it has made possible countless artistic innovations in the three centuries that followed.

Roll your mouse over the points on the timeline pages below to see the unfolding of piano history in the context of world events - or read more about the origins of this indispensable instrument.