Piano Info
History
The piano has been around for many, many years. Before the piano, there were other keyboard instruments--the harpsichord and the clavichord. With the advent of the piano, however, changes began in the way keyboard music was played. The piano made it possible to change the loudness or softness of the sound just by changing how much weight you put into the keys. With the previous keyboard instruments, such quick and nimble changes were not possible.
The piano also was tempered, meaning that music could now be played in any major or minor key and still sound in tune. The previous instruments could only be played in certain keys with one tuning. If you wanted to change to a different set of keys, the instrument had to be re-tuned to accomodate. This is why Johann Sebastian Bach wrote The Well-Tempered Clavier. He wrote a prelude and fugue for every major and minor key--all of which can be played on the piano without going out of tune.
The piano also has a damper pedal which extends the sound until you let up the pedal. The harpsichord did not have this capability. If you wanted a sound to last as long as possible, you simply held it down as long as you could. The damper pedal made it possible to play some notes and have them continue to ring while playing other notes. This feature added to the richness of sound that the piano could achieve. It also meant that you did not always have to hold down the keys physically in order to continue to use their sound.
Many, many pianists have gone before and left behind their ideas and examples of what can be achieved at the piano. There was Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Mozart, Debussy, and many more.
What to Expect
My piano students learn not only to play the piano, but also to read and write musical notation. The study of musical notation is called theory. Learning theory aids in understanding the concepts that are used in the performance pieces.