The first composition written specifically for the piano was Giustini's 12 Sonatas "for soft and loud harpsichord" in 1732.

The first book about piano technique was written by C.P.E. Bach, son of J.S. Bach, in 1753.

Jonas Chickering began as a cabinetmaker in Ipswich, New Hampshire. In 1818, at the age of 20, he sought his fortune in Boston by becoming an apprentice in one of the town's few piano-making shops. Three years later, he was in the piano-making business with a partner. He later went on to be one of the most successful piano-builders in America.

The first performances of piano solos in concert were by J.C. Bach (one of J.S.Bach’s sons) in London and Henry Walsh in Dublin, Ireland in 1762.

Beethoven played and wrote music for pianos that couldn’t fulfill his need for powerful expression. Essentially, he was composing for pianos that didn’t yet exist.

The first Japanese pianos were built in 1885 by Nishikawa and Sons.

Franz Liszt “invented” the solo recital in about 1839. He originally called his recitals “musical soliloquies” saying “I do not know what other name to give to this invention of mine.”

In the 1920's, before the radio became the main source of entertainment in American households and long before television, there were more player pianos in the US than regular ones.

In 1930, Koichi Kawai left his job at Yamaha to start his own piano building company.

A recording of a Bach prelude played by pianist Glenn Gould was placed onboard the Explorer mission to prove the existence of intelligent life on earth.

Louis Braille, an organist, originally invented Braille as a way for blind people to read music.

The first classical record to sell 1 million copies was a performance of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #1 by Van Cliburn, recorded in 1958.

Yamaha in Japan started making upright pianos in 1900 and made its first grand in 1903.

Printed collections of music for home use became fairly common in the 1730's.

Jan Ladoslas Dussek is credited with being the first concert pianist to perform with his right side to the audience (sometime in the 1780's). He was apparently quite handsome and wanted his admirers to have the best view of his profile.

Many advertising campaigns have catchy slogans. For years, music publishers used "brilliant, but not difficult" to describe their sheet music selections - mostly to appeal to the female pianists who were never supposed to play really well. The phrase first appeared in a music newsletter in 1801.

On some of the pianos of the early 1800’s (both uprights and grands), there were as many as seven pedals, including a buzzing bassoon stop, a muting moderator, a thumping and jingling military stop, as well as the damper and una corde (soft) pedals.

Early upright pianos were called “giraffes” and were about 7 1/2’ tall!

Pianist/comedian Victor Borge originally started using comedy in his concerts to cover up stage-fright.

In 1868, Paris, France had about 20,000 people involved in teaching piano.

To create the rim of a grand piano, it takes six strong people to bend the wood of the frame. They have to bend it gently, but quickly because they have only about twelve minutes until the glue starts to adhere.


To the best of my knowledge, the music trivia and "factoids" within Pianotes are true, but I can’t guarantee it.