Toy piano facts for kids
The toy piano, also known as the kinderklavier (which means child's keyboard), is a small musical instrument that looks a lot like a regular piano. Most modern toy pianos make sound using round metal rods instead of the strings found in a full-sized piano. The U.S. Library of Congress even recognizes the toy piano as a special instrument. One of the most famous pieces written just for the toy piano is the "Suite for Toy Piano" from 1948 by John Cage.
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What Makes Toy Pianos Special?
Toy pianos come in many different shapes. Some look exactly like smaller versions of upright or grand pianos. Others just have keys and don't look much like a piano at all.
Size and Materials
Toy pianos are usually not much wider than 50 centimeters (about 20 inches). They are often made from wood or plastic. The very first toy pianos were created in the mid-1800s. These were usually shaped like upright pianos. Today, many toy pianos are designed to look like grand pianos.
How They Make Sound
Unlike a standard piano, which uses hammers to hit strings, a toy piano makes sound differently. Its hammers hit metal bars or rods that are fixed at one end. This creates the unique sound of a toy piano. The way the hammers are connected to the keys is similar to how a celesta works.
Musical Notes and Tuning
Toy pianos are supposed to use the same musical scale as full-sized pianos. However, on most models, the tuning isn't perfect. It's usually very close, but not exact. Also, the pitch (how high or low the notes sound) is rarely tuned to the standard 440 Hz for the A note above middle C.
A typical toy piano can play notes over one to three octaves. The cheapest models might not even have black keys. Sometimes, the black keys are just painted on. This means these pianos can only play a fixed diatonic scale (like the notes of a C major scale). They cannot play the full chromatic scale (all the notes, including sharps and flats). They also can't play diatonic scales in other keys.
Most simple diatonic toy pianos have only eight keys. These can play just one octave. Some toy pianos might have non-working black keys between every white key. These might look like they play quarter tones, but they either don't make a sound, play the same note as a nearby white key, or make a special sound effect. Some high-quality toy pianos can cost hundreds of dollars.
