Keyboard Instruments are those in which the sounds are triggered and controlled by a set of keys.

To understand how they work, imagine a key as a seesaw. When its outer edge is pressed down, the other end immediately rises, activating the mechanism that produces the sound. Various mechanisms create sound through keys, which is why there are different types of keyboard instruments, such as the piano, harpsichord, and organ, among others.

A Bit of History...

The first keyboards appeared in the 3rd century BC with hydraulic organs during the Greco-Roman era, but they only gained significance in Western civilization.

Ancient instruments had different keyboard layouts and playing techniques. They featured only the keys we now call “white”, and musicians did not use their fingers but rather their wrists to play. The “black” keys gradually emerged from the 12th century onwards, and only in the early 15th century did the keyboard take the form we recognize today.