The Piano Deconstructed – Glossary of Terms

 About the Glossary Author

Long five university and academic works! This glossary is part of a much larger resource about the piano, called the “The Piano Deconstructed” and which was developed by Christopher Smit as part of the fulfillment of a Masters Degree in Music Technology at Indiana University in Indianapolis.  Again a piano glossary that pays much attention to finding the appropriate presentation of the terms.

Christopher – I have no doubt that your professors loved your work, and do I so too!

Here is what Christopher had in mind for his website:

“Many pianists seem to have no idea how the instrument functions – and several factors may contribute to this lack of knowledge. The action of the piano is almost completely hidden from the sight of the pianist – if the pianist can’t even see the action, they probably do not spend much time thinking about how it works. The piano is also one of the most complicated musical instruments, which may contribute to why pianists do not understand how it works. “The Piano Deconstructed” will present information about the history, physics, and construction of the modern grand piano in order to educate musicians about how the instrument functions.”

Glossary Description

If it was only for the 91 terms and there rather short definitions, I guess I wouldn’t praise this glossary as much it is my pleasure to do here. Each of the terms is linked to another page offering in-depth  information and beautiful illustrations and animations. What a great way to have a look inside a piano!

Example Term: Wippen

– the part of the action that is lifted by the key.

Note: As said the definitions are really very short but here is a screen shot of what you can expect to get, when clicking the link underneath the term “Wippen”:

Glossary / Dictionary Details

Title: The Piano Deconstructed – Glossary of Terms	Terms: 91
Link:  http://www.piano.christophersmit.com/glossary.html	Language: English
Quote as:  The Piano Deconstructed – Glossary of Terms. ©2004 Christopher Smit [+link]	Last visited: November 09, 2011