A well-known musical instrument somewhat resembling the harpsichord, and consisting of a series of wires of graduated length, thickness, and tension, struck by hammers moved by keys.

The piano. Many young ladies were taught to play it, music being thought to be suitable feminine accomplishment, although it was not considered gentlemanly for a man to know how to play.

a stringed instrument that is played by depressing keys that cause hammers to strike tuned strings and produce sounds

the forerunner of the piano. Before the pianoforte came along, there was the harpsichord, which excelled in showing off precision, technical brilliance, texture, and virtuosity, but was limited in emotional expressivity because the player had no control over volume. By using new technological advances, the pianoforte allowed greater emotional expression because it could play softly ("piano") or more loudly ("forte"), depending on the mood the musician wished to create. This innovation fed into the Regency and early Romantic era's preference for increasingly emotional music, as in the works of Beethoven.

'Soft-loud.' A keyboard instrument, the full name for the piano, on which sound is produced by hammers striking strings when keys are pressed. It has 88 keys.