BOOK 1 THE PIANO HANDBOOK In this book...

BOOK 1: THE PIANO HANDBOOK In this book McCombie explains how Bartolomeo Cristofori changed a Harpsichord in to a piano over three hundred years ago. McCombie goes on describing how when Cristofori was angry and frustrated he banged on the keys of the Harpsichord. Cristofori found that they didn’t respond with satisfactory crashing chords. By the year 1700 Cristofori changed the Harpsichord so that he could use two strings for each note and a set of leather covered hammers to strike them. He then developed a key mechanism to control the force of the hammers. McCombie uses a lot of illustrations to describe the mechanisms within a Harpsichord and a piano. In the next chapter talks about buying a†¦show more content†¦Closson in the following chapter talks about how the piano came from two geniuses; Cristofori and Erard. He explains how they perfected the Clavichord and the Harpsichord into an instrument of greater sonority, one that could be heard in larger rooms. The Clavichord is basically a dulcimer with a keyboard and the Harpsichord came from the psaltery, which is like the Dulcimer, but its strings are plucked by the fingers rather than being struck. Closson uses a few illustrations to describe the different mechanisms in the Harpsichord, Clavichord and the piano but mostly uses photographs to show each instrument and the way that they have developed throughout the years. I think that this book is aimed at people that have some basic knowledge on the piano. It has got pieces of music for readers to try on the piano, although I did not find quite as useful as Book 1. BOOK 3: GREAT PIANIST SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES This book is about thirteen pianists’. The author writes predominantly about their lives and how they first got interested in the piano. The article is written in a journalistic manner. The first pianist that the author interviews is Claudio Arrau. She spends much of the time telling the reader how she was greeted at the door and ushered down a short flight of stairs. She goes into great detail in trying to set the scene in the