How can we help? RCC Librarians are available to chat during library open hours, when school is in session. You can also email us at librarian@roguecc.edu or call 541-956-7150 to be connected with a reference librarian.
Piano evolution, history of keyboard instruments:
00:00 From the clavichord to the modern piano with David Schrader, by BaroqueBand
16:06 The history of the piano with Liberace
30:22 History of the keyboard
36:31 A brief history of the piano, by Sounfly
39:54 The first piano by Bartolomeo Cristofori, by Gist piano Center
42:54 A brief history of the pianoforte, by BBC Radio 3
1999 Documentary about the most important pianists of the last century, with footages of: Solomon, Ignacy Paderewski, Józef Hofmann, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Benno Moiseiwitsch, Vladimir Horowitz, Georges Cziffra, Myra Hess, Artur Rubinstein, Francis Planté, Alfred Cortot, Wilhelm Backhaus, Edwin Fischer, Emil Gilels, Sviatoslav Richter, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Glenn Gould, Claudio Arrau.
Top reasons why the piano is the best instrument ever is:
*Pianos cover all 88 notes of the musical scale, unlike other instruments, offering an incredible, unparalleled range.
*Pianos go higher and lower in frequency than any other instrument.
*All other instruments are a subset of the piano keyboard. As such, pianos are the foundation of musical instruments in general and make an excellent starting point for any budding musician.
*The piano teaches both treble and bass clef while most instruments teach only one or the other. This provides the pianist with a deeper understanding of music.
*The piano trains players on all four harmonic parts of music. Most instruments only allow playing of one note at a time.
*After learning to play the piano, all other instruments are much easier to learn to play. For this reason, many people gravitate toward piano lessons for small children.
*Even if one majors in voice or other instruments in college, professors usually either require or strongly suggest piano lessons for a few years in advance.
*Learning to play the piano teaches maximum coordination from mind to hands to feet. Such skill transfers over to other parts of life.
No other instrument has been as important to the history of Western music as the piano. Since its invention in Florence three hundred years ago, the piano has become many things to many people—a bridge between the worlds of classical and popular music and the ultimate composer’s companion. This program traces the ancestry of the instrument and the history of those composers who championed its use. From the concert hall to nightclubs and living rooms, the piano has become the instrument of choice throughout the Western world. (51 minutes)
In 1701, Bartolomeo Christofori, a musician employed by the Medicis, invented the first piano by modifying a harpsichord. This program discusses how this popular instrument has changed over the years (except for its hammers), and how its flexibility and expressiveness have inspired composers such as Beethoven, Schumann, Liszt, and Bartók. (28 minutes)
With the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig under the baton of Semyon Bychkov, Kirill Gerstein puts emphasis on expression and effect in Sergei Rachmaninov‘s Second Piano Concerto. The concerto, whose impact can sometimes be blunted by its own popularity, gains a new life in music: finely balancing constructive rigor and thoughtfulness, this performance becomes a fresh, fruitful artistic joint venture.
In this program, Rudolf Buchbinder plays the First and Second Piano Concertos of Johannes Brahms in the Golden Hall of the Vienna Musikverein, accompanied by the Wiener Philharmoniker. On the rostrum is maestro Zubin Mehta, who has long been associated both with the orchestra and with soloist Rudolf Buchbinder.
Frédéric Chopin was a virtuoso pianist who revolutionized the world of piano music forever. He wrote no symphonies, no masses, no operas and no string quartets. He was the master of the small form. Born in Poland, he lived and died in Paris as an exile. We look at how Chopin changed the world's perception of how the piano should, and could, be played through some the most beautiful and poetic music ever written.
Cole is rumored to have had only two singing lessons. His talent often overshadowed that he was also one of the greatest jazz pianists of his time. He grew up during an era when he would have been influenced by the likes of Art Tatum, Fats Waller and Earl “Fatha” Hines.
Chords are built from scales. A triad is the most simple type of chord, it consists of 3 notes. To construct a triad you must take the 1st, 3rd and 5th. You could think of it as playing the root note, skipping the next note of the scale and playing the next one. Again, skip the following note and play the next one. These three notes create a triad. You can get major triads as well as minor triads (and more!).
