Why are a many grand pianos painted black?

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BTW, One of my favorite piano players is Errol Garner.

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I love "Concert by the Sea" or "Misty" by Erroll Garner. High notes are very impressive.

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satt_fs wrote:

Young ladies sometimes favor playing the crystal grand piano. :wink:

That sounds af if it may be indelicate (and therefore piqued interest)

Could you explain it please, if it's not too rude?

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satt_fs wrote:

patiodog wrote:
Quote:
"gravicembalo col piano e forte"

I wondered where the term pianoforte came from, since it's made up of two antonyms...

With the pianoforte you can play both piano and forte on a score. :wink:

Yes. The forerunners of the modern piano (up to the fortepiano at least) could not be played loud & soft and that was why the pianoforte was developed.

I like Errol Garner too...big rolling chords, very inventive, impressive technique, and swings like a good 'un.

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Btw, The Virtual Piano Museum is another great site.

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McTag..
It is nothing but an association with the Cinderella's crystal Slipper. :wink:

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Walter..
Thank you, it's a great site and very instructive.
But my link to the MET clearly shows that an Italian was an inventor of the grand piano.

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satt_fs wrote:

McTag..
It is nothing but an association with the Cinderella's crystal Slipper. :wink:

I feel I'm being hoodwinked, but I don't know how. Smile

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satt_fs wrote:

Walter..
Thank you, it's a great site and very instructive.
But my link to the MET clearly shows that an Italian was an inventor of the grand piano.

"My" link as well as "your" link say both that Cristofori invented the grand piano :wink:

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MrTag..
No, there are no tricks, simply I feel like that. And you will understand what I mean if you take a young lady to a show room where a crystal piano is placed.

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Walter Hinteler wrote:

"My" link as well as "your" link say both that Cristofori invented the grand piano :wink:

Yeah, and I feel that Italians are great inventors of many of musical instruments. :wink:

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Global Trees website
The Global Trees website has a list of all of the different woods used for pianos, the only listing for ebony is for the sharps.

http://www.globaltrees.org/proj.asp?id=45

Anyone else have any theories as to why black grand pianos became so common? Most photos of early pianos seem to be every color but black.

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Re: Global Trees website

archguywi wrote:

The Global Trees website has a list of all of the different woods used for pianos, the only listing for ebony is for the sharps.

http://www.globaltrees.org/proj.asp?id=45

Anyone else have any theories as to why black grand pianos became so common? Most photos of early pianos seem to be every color but black.

Here is one of my posts in this thread..

satt_fs wrote:

This is in ebony.

This is a limited edition piano from Steinway.

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Seems sacrilegious to make a piano out of an ebony tree.

What's wrong with medium density fibreboard MDF anyway?

Anyone seen the modern player pianos Roland make? Amazing.

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Interesting....
I thought only keys would have been made out of ebony, it seems like a rather rare wood to make entire piano frames out of, especially for the 19th and early 20th century. I was thinking they used other woods for the frames and just stained them black, but why black i havent quite figured that one out. Most early pianos seem to be stained a more traditon wood color, and alot of them are guilded, which makes me wonder how a black frame would be more elegant than a wood and gold frame. It would'nt seem likely that things would get "less" ornate in the 19th century.

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Liberace never played a black piano when he could get a lighter one.

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Maybe its because they want to look slim.

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It is quite simple why grand pianos were coloured black to make a grand you have to make the rim form layers of veneer and then the top layer would have been a quality veneer. However, veneers are expensive so it was and is cheaper to use sub quality Mahogany veneer and stain it black, Ebony is very expensive as a veneer BTW

Quality piano did and do use exotic veneers on some models but the massed produced pianos are manly in black

Barrie

Why are a many grand pianos painted black?

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