How the Piano Came to Be

An illustrated, popular history traces the evolution of stringed and keyboard instruments from ancient origins through medieval and Renaissance forms to the modern piano. The text blends myth and archaeological detail—such as the tortoise-shell origin story and Egyptian harp imagery—with clear descriptions of intermediary instruments like the psaltery, dulcimer, clavicytherium, clavichord, virginal, spinet, and harpsichord. It explains the introduction of the keyboard and the gradual development of action mechanisms, discusses materials and tone production, and highlights representative makers and instrument types shown in illustrations. Technical notes and images illuminate how construction and playing technique changed over time to produce the concert instrument known today.