Keyboard+Instruments+-+Natalie+Cheng

A Keyboard Instrument is any instrument that is played by using a musical keyboard. The most common keyboard instrument is piano. There are usually two rows arranged on the musical keyboard, white keys for natural notes, and black keys for flats and sharps. There are four types of keyboard instruments, chordophones, aerophones, idiophones and electrophones.

Chordophones keyboard instruments have a resonating body with a rack of strings inside. When you press a key, the strings will vibrate and produce sounds.

Clavichord is one of the chordophone keyboard instruments. Sound is by striking brass or iron strings with small metal blades. [] Electric piano create sound electronically when a key is pushed.

Harpsichord creates sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed. It is widely used in Baroque music. The most familiar instrument is piano, when a key of a piano is pressed, it causes hammer to hit the strings. [] Aerophones is the oldest keyboard instrument, mainly used for performance of classical music, scared music and secular music. Pipe organs are one of the examples. Sound is created by pushing air through a metal slit, which causes the metal to vibrate and create a sound. It can be played by using hands or feet. [] Idiophones have creates sound primarily by way of the instrument vibrating itself, without the use of strings. The only idiophone that actually uses a keyboard is the celeste. It looks like a very small upright piano, and metal bars are struck by felt-covered hammers when the keyboard is played. It provides an interesting and unusual sound and it is often played by a percussionist rather than a keyboard player. Electrophones usually specializes in playing sounds specifically associated with pianos and organs. A synthesizer is one of the electrophones that can produce many sorts of sounds including both imitations of other instruments and sounds that other cannot produce.