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Keyboard
(Fr. clavier; Ger. Klaviatur, Tastatur; It. tastiera, tastatura).
A set of levers (keys) actuating the mechanism of a musical instrument such as the
organ, harpsichord, clavichord, piano etc. The keyboard probably originated in the
Greek hydraulis, but its role in antiquity and in non-European civilizations appears
to have remained so limited that it may be considered as characteristic of Western
music. Its influence on the development of the musical system can scarcely be
overrated. The primacy of the C major scale in tonal music, for instance, is partly
due to its being played on the white keys, and the 12-semitone chromatic scale,
which is fundamental to Western music even in some of its recent developments,
derives to some extent from limitations and requirements of the keyboard design.
The arrangement of the keys in two rows, the sharps and flats being grouped by
two and three in the upper row, already existed in the early 15th century.
1. History.
2. Layout.
3. Experimental keyboards.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
NICOLAS MEEÙS
Keyboard
1. History.
The earliest European keyboards were simple contrivances, played with the hands
rather than the fingers. Praetorius (2/1619) and others after him stated that some
primitive organs were played with the fists, the wrists or even the knees, but there
is little confirmation of this in medieval documents. The spacing between the organ
keys remained that which separated the pipes, sometimes over 10 cm, until an
abridgment mechanism was invented. Up to the 13th century the keyboards were
usually diatonic except for the inclusion of B . They often showed a C as first key.
This seems surprising, considering that the musical system was then based on
Guido’s gamut, the lowest note of which was G (Gamma ut). But the solmization
system represented no more than a series of intervals, the theoretical compass of
which had to be reduced, by transposition of some of the melodies, when played
on an instrument of fixed sounds as an accompaniment to voices. The addition of
the B to the early diatonic keyboard was not intended merely for the playing of
melodies including that note, but also permitted transpositions by which the
Gamma ut, for instance, could be played on the apparent c key. These
transpositions compressed the total compass of plainchant to less than two
octaves, and, so long as keyboards were used only for the playing of plainchant
melodies, no wider range was needed, nor any chromatic degree other than the B
. The medieval practice of transposition must have caused some difficulties in
using the same notation for both vocal and keyboard music, since a given note on
the staff may have been played at different places on the keyboard; and in fact it
seems that the medieval keyboard repertory usually remained unnotated. For
theoretical discussions, a special alphabetical notation was often preferred to the
Guidonian terminology; the notation, which has since been dubbed ‘organ
notation’, consisted in attributing the letters A to G to the modern C major scale.
By the beginning of the 14th century, however, the development of polyphony had

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caused a widening of keyboard compass and the progressive addition of chromatic

keys. Johannes de Muris (first half of the 14th century) mentioned keys for f and g
, and Jacques de Liège (c1330) wrote that on the organ ‘the tone is almost
everywhere divided into two semitones’. The late 14th-century organ of Norrlanda
in the Statens Historiska Museum in Stockholm still possesses its manual
keyboard covering one octave and a 6th, from c to a', fully chromatic, and a pedal
keyboard of eight keys, probably from C to B with B . The chromatic keys are
placed at a higher level and are differently coloured than the diatonic ones, with the
exception of the b and B , which are ranged among the diatonic ones, as shown
in fig.1 (for an illustration of the complete instrument see Organ, fig.30). The
Robertsbridge Codex (c1320), the earliest surviving keyboard music, testifies to the
advanced level of keyboard playing sometimes reached in the 14th century; the
rapid and flexible melodies, together with a few three-part chords, imply a highly
developed finger technique. The range covered is two octaves and a 3rd, from c to
e'' (fully chromatic above f). The addition of chromatic keys to the late medieval
keyboards may not at first have been intended to permit transpositions other than
those involving only one flat in the key signature; it seems that the added chromatic
degrees may have been used primarily to gain a certain number of perfect or
virtually perfect 3rds in polyphony, and that this function was underlined by their
being placed at a different level. The chromatic degrees were in fact sometimes
tuned as pure or nearly pure 3rds to some of the diatonic ones, thus foreshadowing
the mean-tone temperaments of the Renaissance (see Temperaments and
Pythagorean intonation).
Before the second half of the 15th century the lowest part of keyboard
compositions was often based on plainchant, or written in plainchant style. Owing
to the limited number of transpositions then performed, there was no need for
chromatic degrees other than the B in the bass of the keyboard. This explains why
pedal or bass manual keyboards remained diatonic up to a late date. As late as the
17th century, even manual keyboards sometimes lacked the first chromatic
degrees when they were provided with a Short octave (sometimes some of the
missing chromatic notes were supplied in a short octave keyboard by dividing the
lowest raised keys; see Broken octave (i)). In the first half of the 15th century
keyboards often began at F or B. The B keyboard was only a slight extension of
the medieval c one. The significance of the F keyboard is more complex. The
following hypothesis provides a possible explanation: the apparent c key had
sometimes been used to play the Gamma ut; when solmization names were given
to the keys, it may have seemed more convenient to call Gamma ut the c key (this
was feasible at a time when the pattern of raised keys was not yet complete). One
note, F fa ut, was then added below the Gamma ut. The F keyboard would thus
have been, in effect, a variant of the B one, producing virtually the same pitches.
Later in the 15th century, however, some B keyboards were enlarged down to F,
so that two types of F keyboards may then have been in existence, about a 4th
apart in pitch. This difference of pitch, the origin of which could be traced in the
medieval practice of transposition with only one flat, survived for almost two
centuries. As late as the 17th century keyboards a 4th apart were sometimes
combined in a single instrument, a practice exemplified by the Ruckers transposing
harpsichord (see Harpsichord, §3(i) and Transposing keyboard).
The most common keyboard compass in the second half of the 15th century and
the first half of the 16th century was from F to a'', often without F or G . In Italy,

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upper limits of c''' or even f''' were common. The instruments reaching f''' were
perhaps made at a lower pitch standard. The low limit was extended to C, often
with short octave, in the 16th century. From then, the compass of string keyboard
instruments increased more rapidly than that of the organ, as the latter had a pedal
and octave stops that made a wide compass less necessary. However, organs with
a ‘long compass’ keyboard, extending below C, were common in countries which
had a tradition of single-manual organs, e.g. England and Italy from the 15th to the
18th centuries. Harpsichords reached five octaves, usually from F' to f''', about
1700. Pianos attained six octaves, often from F' to f'''', by 1800 and seven octaves,
from A'' to a'''', by 1900. Pianos now usually cover seven octaves and a 3rd from A''
to c''''' and some reach eight octaves. Modern organ keyboards rarely cover more
than five octaves.
In the 18th and 19th centuries keyboard instruments gained a leading position in
European musical practice. This led to attempts to provide all types of instrument
with a keyboard mechanism. The most successful of these attempts were the
harmonium and the celesta, and very many of the electric and electronic
instruments produced in enormous numbers since the 1930s are controlled by
means of a keyboard (see Electronic instruments); but keyboard harps, keyboard
guitars or the numerous bowed keyboard instruments (see Sostenente piano) have
remained mere curiosities. The keys of the hurdy-gurdy often have been given an
arrangement similar to that of the ordinary keyboard. The treble keyboard of the
accordion is often fitted with piano-style keys; the bass usually has a button
keyboard. Carillons are often equipped with a ‘baton’ keyboard (see Carillon, §1,
esp. fig.1). Attempts to give certain wind instruments a keyboard fingering through
a rearrangement of the keys or valves generally met with little success.
Organs with more than one keyboard have been built at least since the 15th
century, allowing contrasts either of compass, pitch or timbre. Transposition on a
single manual might also be facilitated by a shifting keyboard (see Transposing
keyboard). The advent of electric and electronic technology has made possible
several adaptations of these devices. Electronic organs and synthesizers
frequently have keyboards that can be split at a fixed point or in some cases at
various points, into parts sounding different timbres. Transposition can be achieved
by electric or electronic switching.
Whether a keyboard is sensitive to finger velocity or pressure depends on the
associated mechanism. Organ and harpsichord mechanisms are almost
insensitive; pneumatic and electric tractions in the organ often eliminate whatever
limited sensitivity the mechanism might have had otherwise. Pianos are velocity-
sensitive; clavichords are sensitive to both velocity and pressure, even after the
key has been depressed (see Bebung). The earliest electric and electronic
keyboards acted as mere on/off switches, but later instruments have been made
pressure-sensitive or velocity-sensitive. In addition, while the sensitivity of
mechanical keyboards mainly affected the dynamics of the sound produced,
electronic technology allows any parameter to be controlled by pressure or velocity
variations.
Keyboard
2. Layout.
Both for playing comfort and aesthetic appearance, it is desirable to have all
natural key heads of equal width; each head should thus have one-seventh of the
octave span. At the same time, it would seem desirable that the natural key tails

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(i.e. the parts of the natural keys between the sharps) and the sharps all be of
equal width, but this is incompatible with the first requirement. Each octave may be
considered as divided into two sections separated by straight lines between B and
C and between E and F. The section from C to E, which includes three heads and
five tails and sharps, should thus also ideally comprise three-sevenths and five-
twelfths of an octave; and the section from F to B, which includes four heads and
seven tails and sharps, should comprise four-sevenths and, at the same time,
seven-twelfths of an octave. Modern keyboards offer a sophisticated solution: the
keys look equal in width, but actually present minute discrepancies. In former times
the discrepancies were more visible. Arnaut de Zwolle (c1440) avoided the
problem by making a step in the line between the E and F keys (see Harpsichord,
fig.2). Italian keyboards often showed a relatively wide key tail for D, while the
instruments belonging to the Flemish tradition had wider tails for E and F and for B
and C.
Wide keys, as in the early keyboards, suit simple and slow melodies, but make the
playing of more than one part in each hand difficult. Narrow keys permit more
velocity and an easier playing of chords, but require more precision on the part of
the player. In order to account for possible discrepancies in the key widths, it is
usual to measure keyboards in terms of the octave span (seven naturals) or the
three-octave span (21 naturals). The main source of information on the
measurement of medieval keyboards is Praetorius’s Syntagma musicum (2/1619),
which is perhaps less reliable than is often thought. Praetorius mentioned keys
about 8 cm wide for the Halberstadt organ of 1361 (see fig.2). 15th-century octave
spans, however, seem closer to about 18 cm. In the 16th and 17th centuries an
octave span of about 16.7 cm was common, which is surprisingly close to the
modern span of 16.5 cm. Narrower keys were often made in the 18th century, with
octave spans of about 16 cm or sometimes even 15.5 cm. The shape of the keys
varied during the Middle Ages. Some were spade-shaped, as in the Halberstadt
keyboards depicted by Praetorius. Others, particularly in portative organs, were T-
shaped, somewhat like the keys of the hurdy-gurdy. These forms were superseded
by rectangular plates in the 15th century, when the keys were often so stubby as to
be almost square, and the surface slightly convex (for illustration see Portative).
The natural heads remained quite short, about 3.5 cm, up to the 18th century.
Modern piano key heads are 5 cm, the tails and sharps 10 cm long. Short keys are
particularly needed in instruments with more than one keyboard, where they
facilitate shifting from one keyboard to the other. Longer keys seem preferable for
playing music with many sharps or flats. The depth of touch, the height of the
sharps above the naturals and, to some extent, all key measurements, depend
heavily on the hand position and the finger technique used, which in turn are
dependent on the type of mechanism actuated by the keys. Pianos, which call for
more muscular force than harpsichords or organs, have a deeper touch. In some
modern electronic instruments, the ‘keyboard’ is but a continuous touch- or
pressure-sensitive strip on which the outline of keys are traced (i.e. with no moving
parts).
The colour of the keys is a matter of taste and usage, the only requirement being
that the pattern of lower and raised keys be underlined by contrasting colours. In
the past the naturals were often white and the sharps black, as they are now, but in
the 17th and 18th centuries these colours were often reversed. Italian makers
generally used brown boxwood naturals with black sharps, and tortoiseshell,
mother-of-pearl, or rare precious woods of various colours have also been

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employed.
Keyboard
3. Experimental keyboards.
The ‘sequential keyboard’, invented by William A.B. Lunn under the name of Arthur
Wallbridge in 1843, aimed at reducing the supremacy of the C major scale. Each
octave included six lower keys, for C , D , F, G, A and B, and six raised ones, for
C, D, E, F , G and A . A similar arrangement was advocated by the Chroma-
Verein des Gleichstufigen Tonsystems in 1875–7. Paul von Janko’s keyboard
(1887–8) is a later application of the same principle. As shown in fig.3 the two rows
of keys were triplicated, providing a total of six rows, each slightly higher than the
other and each including six keys in the octave. This arrangement permitted the
same fingering in all tonalities. Jozef Wieniawski designed a piano with reversed
keyboards, patented by E.J. Mangeot in 1876, which was actually made of two
superposed pianos, one with the treble at the right as usual and the other with the
treble at the left. The purpose was to permit the same fingering for the same
passages in both hands. This arrangement is reminiscent of some medieval
representations of keyboard instruments where, for reasons that remain unclear,
the treble is shown at the left. In 1907 F. Clutsam patented a keyboard with keys
arranged in the shape of a fan according to a principle already conceived by
Staufer and Heidinger in 1824 and supposed to facilitate playing in the extreme
bass and treble. Another important group of experiments concerns the Enharmonic
keyboard. The fact that the majority of the keyboard repertory has been written for
the standard keyboard militates against the success of experiments with its design.
For further discussion of unusual keyboards, see Microtonal instruments.
Keyboard
BIBLIOGRAPHY
MGG1 (‘Klavier’; F.W. Riedel)
PraetoriusSM, ii
G. Le Cerf and E.-R. Labande: Instruments de musique du XVe siècle: les traités
d’Henri-Arnaut de Zwolle et de divers anonymes (Ms. B. N. latin 7295) (Paris,
1932/R)
F. Ernst: Der Flügel Johann Sebastian Bachs: ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des
Instrumentenbaues im 18. Jahrhundert (Frankfurt, 1955)
K. Bormann: Die gotische Orgel zu Halberstadt (Berlin, 1968)
J.C. Schuman: ‘“Reversed” Portatives and Positives in Early Art’, GSJ, xxiv
(1971), 16–21
E.M. Ripin: ‘The Norrlanda Organ and the Ghent Altarpiece’, Festschrift to Ernst
Emsheimer, ed. G. Hilleström (Stockholm, 1974), 193–6, 286–8
N. Meeùs: ‘Some Hypotheses for the History of Organ-Pitch before Schlick’, Organ
Yearbook, vi (1975), 42–52
C. Page: ‘The Earliest English Keyboard: New Evidence from Boethius’ De
musica’, EMc, vii (1979), 308–14
J.H. van der Meer: ‘Der G-orientierte Fünfoktavenumfang bei Saitenklavieren’, Zur
Entwicklung der Tasteninstrumente in der zweiten Hälfte des 18.
Jahrhunderts: Blankenburg, Harz, 1985, 7–13
N Meeùs: ‘The Origin of the Chromatic Keyboard Layout’, FoMHRI Quarterly,
no.46 (1987), 43–6

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For further bibliography see Clavichord; Harpsichord; Organ; and Pianoforte.

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