HISTORY OF KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTS
Whilst we consider keyboards to be new technology with fancy controls and advanced features, you may be surprised to learn that keyboards are actually no new invention. History of Keyboard InstrumentsRecords of the first documented organ keyboard system date back to the first century. Vitruvius, the famed architect had spoken of an organ with balanced keys . Not long after this, Constantine the emperor had send a musical instrument with keys that could be pressed to king pep in, who was the king of France in the first century. During the 11th century, we know that a type of keyboard was applied to some string instruments in a composition by Guido of Arezzo. The keyboard that was used with this particular piece used a diatonic scale. It was made up of 8 tone increases with seven semitones. The keyboard had a total of just 20 keys, which would seem quite basic and difficult to use for today’s musicians. More at http://bestrateddigitalpiano.com.
It is not entirely known when the first chromatic scale was first used, or indeed who was responsible for recognising it. It is know however that Giuseppe Zarlino was the first person to add semitones to any instruments. He applied this technique in 1548. Even though this is the first documented use of the semitone, it has been noted that chromatic scales were already being used with instruments before this time. Guido of Arezzo was one of those people who used chromatic scales with his clavicymbala keyboard. There are also records of keyboards around this time that had up to 77 keys over 4 musical octaves. More at http://bestrateddigitalpiano.com/the-best-yamaha-digital-piano-that-you-can-purchase-today/. Following the 15th century, it is known that the chromatic scale was being used by all instruments that were made using key strings. The style of these instruments was quite similar to the acoustic pianos that we know of today. Even in these older instruments, the semitone increments were generally signified with the use of keys of a different colour with a raised profile in comparison to other keys on the keyboard. Several different versions of this kind of keyboard were created, including versions that had the semitone increases on the same level as the other keys. In 1811, a keyboard was created with the keys all in the same colour and at the same profile as each other, whilst one piano maker in 1789 created a version of a keyboard with concave keys. This was an attempt to match the natural movement of the arm.