Compare the Difference Between Similar Terms

Difference Between

Home / Life Style / Entertainment / Music / Instruments / What is the Difference Between Keyboard and Piano

What is the Difference Between Keyboard and Piano

January 19, 2023 Posted by Sethmini

The key difference between keyboard and piano is that keyboard is an electronic instrument with a variety of volume options, whereas piano is an acoustic instrument whose sound is produced and amplified physically.

Pianos and keyboards are two similar musical instruments. Unlike keyboards, pianos should be tuned several times a year, depending on their usage and age. Generally, keyboards are small, light, and portable, whereas pianos are large, heavy, and difficult to move. In addition, pianos have more keys than keyboards.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is a Keyboard 
3. What is a Piano
4. Keyboard vs Piano in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Keyboard vs Piano

What is a Keyboard?

A keyboard is an electronic musical instrument that creates sound through synthesizers. Keyboards have low-wattage power amplifiers and small loudspeakers. They can be used to play a wide range of music such as from classical to rock. They have short 61 keys.

Keyboards are lighter and more portable musical instruments, and they do not have weighted keys. These have a wide variety of sounds since they enable you to customize sounds. They offer sounds that can be easily used in the recording or production industry.

Keyboard and Piano - Side by Side Comparison

They are also ideal for beginners and multi-instrumentalists who like to experiment with various sounds. There are various types of keyboards other than basic keyboards. For example, arranger keyboards have more features and a USB port, which can record and save music on a computer, while workstation keyboards come with composing, recording, and production features. Electronic organs that produce sounds similar to traditional pipe organs are also a type of keyboard.

What is a Piano?

A piano is a stringed keyboard instrument whose sound is created through strings and hammers. When you press the keys, a small wooden hammer strikes the respective strings and makes a sound. The piano has three pedals: the damper or sustain pedal, which prolongs a sound when a key is hit, the sostenuto pedal, which acts as a selective damper, and the una corda or soft pedal, which shifts and hits the hammers to one of each note’s string. Upright pianos only have two pedals. Unlike grand pianos, which are visually attractive, upright pianos are not very attractive and do not need much space. But grand pianos are capable of adding more subtle expressions to the notes.

Pianos have several ancestry instruments, including harpsichord and monochord, but it is believed that pianos mainly descend from monochords. A piano is a string instrument, and the sound is created by vibrating the strings when they are hit by wooden hammers. But, it can also be described as a percussion instrument since the strings are hit by a hammer.

Keyboard vs Piano in Tabular Form

The piano was invented in 1709 by Bartolomeo Cristofori, and it was named piano e forte. It was shortened to the pianoforte and eventually became the piano. Early pianos were made from ebony and ivory. The ivory turned yellow and became chipping after some years, so later, since the 1970s, modern pianos were made from plastic.

Normally, a piano has about 220-230 steel strings, and they all hold around 168 tons of tension. This has about 88 keys, but some modern pianos have 92-102 keys. Out of these, more keys are found in the Bass section. In 2018, Stuart and Sons introduced the world’s first piano with 108 keys.

Generally, a new piano is tuned 3-4 times per year but after a few years, tuning once or twice a year is enough.

What is the Difference Between Keyboard and Piano?

The key difference between keyboard and piano is that the keyboard is an electronic instrument that has a variety of volume options, while the piano is an acoustic instrument whose sound is produced and amplified physically. Generally, keyboards are small, light, and portable, whereas pianos are large, heavy, and difficult to move.

The following table summarizes the difference between keyboard and piano.

Summary – Keyboard vs Piano

A keyboard is an electronic musical instrument that creates sound through synthesizers. Keyboards are lightweight, portable, cheaper, and capable of producing a wide variety of sounds. A piano, on the other hand, is a stringed keyboard instrument whose sound is created through strings and hammers. These are heavy, less portable, and expensive. So, this is the summary of the difference between keyboard and piano.

Reference:

1. “Electronic Keyboard.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation.
2. “Piano.” Wikipedia. Wikipedia Foundation.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Piano” By knownaa (CC BY-SA 2.0) via Flickr
2. “Person Playing Electronic Keyboard” (CC0) via Pexels

Related posts:

Difference between Acoustic Guitars and Classical GuitarsDifference Between Acoustic Guitars and Classical Guitars Difference Between Fender and Squier Difference Between Piano and Harpsichord Difference Between Violin and CelloDifference Between Violin and Cello Difference Between Saxophone and TrumpetDifference Between Saxophone and Trumpet

Filed Under: Instruments

About the Author: Sethmini

Sethmini is a graduate in English with B.A.(Honours) in English and English Language Teaching. She is interested in languages and is an experienced teacher of English. She enjoys writing on topics like art, music, dancing, travel, nature, and food.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request Article

Featured Posts

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and Cold Symptoms

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and SARS

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Influenza

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

Difference Between Coronavirus and Covid 19

You May Like

What is the Difference Between Butachlor and Pretilachlor

What is the Difference Between Butachlor and Pretilachlor

Difference Between RSS and Atom

Difference Between Debentures and Shares

Difference Between Prime Rib and Ribeye and Sirloin

Difference Between Prime Rib and Ribeye and Sirloin

Difference Between Structural Isomers and Stereoisomers

Difference Between Structural Isomers and Stereoisomers

Latest Posts

  • What is the Difference Between Squalane and Hemi-squalane
  • What is the Difference Between Anencephaly and Microcephaly
  • What is the Difference Between Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome and Serotonin Syndrome
  • What is the Difference Between Resolutions and Goals
  • What is Difference Between Tay-Sachs Disease and Niemann-Pick Disease
  • What is the Difference Between Enucleation and Marsupialization
  • Home
  • Vacancies
  • About
  • Request Article
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2010-2018 Difference Between. All rights reserved. Terms of Use and Privacy Policy: Legal.