Keyboards

Keyboard instruments are those played using a keyboard interface, though with a variety of tone-producing mechanisms. The first keyboard instruments were organs, in which air was pumped to pipes, routed via the keyboard mechanism, to produce a sound. These were followed in the medieval period by stringed keyboard instruments, including those that plucked or struck the strings, such as harpsichords and clavichords. Pianos, which strike the strings with hammers, increased in popularity and influence during the 18th century. Finally, the keyboard format has been applied to electric musical instruments in the 19th and 20th centuries, comprising electrophones that both amplify acoustically produced sounds, or fully generate their tones electrically. The layout of keyboards generally follows the pattern of the 12-note western scale found on the contemporary piano, as employed in such instruments beginning in the medieval period, but other formats have also been developed, such as the Janko keyboard, which was intended to have better ergonomics.