The piano arrived on the scene in the early 18th century.
The first predecessor of the piano is the harpsichord, where little quills pluck the strings as they pass by.
The next development was the Viennese fortepiano which had little hammers that struck the strings.
One of the great turning points for the piano came when one influential composer was losing his hearing. Beethoven was totally deaf, and the modern pianos being developed by John Broadwood & Sons enabled him to write some of the most popular and influential piano music ever written.
