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Hello, everyone,

I am not sure if this topic was discussed in the past, but my short search did not give me any results, so I would like to start this thread.

Why are natural keys white and accidental keys black?

I recently realized that some early 19th-century antique pianos have white accidentals and black naturals instead.

So when did the standardization, if not the restriction of the freedom, of the color of piano keys begin to form?

Also, when did the arrangement of these piano keys take its shape? I do know that the invention of piano is mainly attributed to Bartolomeo Cristofori of Italy, who improved harpsichord's design.

So I am perhaps safe to suppose that a harpsichord already had such arrangement of keys that we see today.

Why are pianos' accidental keys shorter and taller than natural keys? Why not otherwise?

I would like to listen to your knowledge and guesses about these questions, so please feel free to leave any comments.

Please kindly excuse my curiosity, too.

Thank you.

Sorry, could not resist!

Good question, though, but I'm afraid I'll have to wait for others to chime in.

Avantgardenabi,
I never have thought about this, though i think it should peak some interest here. I just don't have the answers.

Horowitzian,
Is this the first time you've posted pictures of your Steinway? Nice piano and i'm GREEN with envy! :p They are making green houses for the enviroment now days,why not green pianos.there has to be a market for them! :rolleyes:


Be well and happy,
Terry C.

It's to do with ivory. Clavichords and harpsichords had wooden surfaces. That picture makes me feel sick.

On one hand, I wish it was mine, since it's a D. On the other, I wouldn't have such a nasty looking monstrosity in the house... :rolleyes:

Good thing that was a one off piano, huh?

Good ol' ebony for me, thank you very much. :p

Dang, that bilious color made me think of one of those Gibson-era custom Baldwins.

Steven

Seasick green, I call it.

Ghastly, is it not?

BTW, check your messages.

That is interesting. Ebony is a very hard wood which can withstand the impact, the same reason why violin fingerboards are (should be) made of ebony. Kbk, do you know what wood they used for the black keys? When and why was there a transition, do you know?
I'm wondering whether it's right to call them natural and accidental. In C# major all the keys are black except for E# and B#, and an accidental would lead you to a white key.

Keystring, to your question: I believe in C major all the natural keys (without any exceptions) are white.

Why couldn't piano makers just use ivory for accidental keys? Better yet, why ivory?

They used ebony for naturals though sometimes cheated for the top notes (as they were not used that much) and dyed a different wood. My experience would say ivory allowed for a technique more suited to piano.

Here's my Theory:

Many organ, harpsichord, and general keyboard instruments of the pre-fortepiano era had black naturals and white sharps/flats. This eventually got changed, so there had to have been a reason right?

My thought, is that, due to shadow, there is a dark spot between notes. If a natural is black, it could be hard to see where the key 'seam' is. so solution? invert colors. Make sense?

Or a black key if you have a harpsichord like mine
I believe the correct terminology when you're talking about the actual bits of wood rather than the musical sounds produced by pressing them, is "sharps" and "naturals". My harpsichord has ebony naturals and bone-topped sharps.

Thanks, everyone. I never realized that those keys were called anything other than black and white keys. :p Wouldn't it be better if the black ones were called "accidentals" since the sharps are also used to play flats?

Kbk, I'm wondering how the ivories are better suited to the playing of the fortepiano. I was imagining the smoother texture, perhaps.

I suppose that ivory would not mould well to the shape of the sharps, plus they would want to preserve the contrasting colours.

A very interesting question.

My theory is that the black naturals made it hard for the eye to easily distinguish one key from another peripherally because the black had so little contrast with the black gaps between the keys. From a sensory standpoint I can see how having white naturals would make a piano easier to play.

Maybe it was cost.
Solid ivory sharps would be much more expensive than those thin ivory covers for the naturals.
Just a guess.

Good point, but there is another consideration: most of the instruments I know have bone or ivory-topped sharps (as Currawong mentioned), rather than solid.

So if cost was the main objective, it seems pianos would have ivory-topped sharps and wood naturals.

I think keyboardklutz has the right idea: ivory naturals are harder than wood, and it is more suited to the heavier blows required on a modern piano action. The sharps seem to get less wear-and-tear so it seems only 'natural' to make them of wood.

I think many of the older pianos had ebony wood, which is naturally black, for sharps and flats.

Ivory for the naturals..

It would be interesting to see some history as to why it has ended up this way.

I think some builders still use ebony. I know it is used in new pipe organs.

Decided to change your post, Mr whippen?

Many builders still do use ebony. And no, it is not always black, though the finest ebony is. I've seen guitars with rather brown ebony fingerboards. I imagine that piano keys tend to get the blackest ebony, though.