Which instrument was the early form of the keyboard used before the piano called?

• A. Harpsichord
• B. Organ
• C. Clavichord
• D. Fortepiano

Answer: (A)

Before the piano, keyboard instruments produced sound in a few different ways, but the harpsichord is the classic example of a pre-piano keyboard instrument. When you press a key, a small mechanism plucks the string with a quill, delivering a bright, articulate tone that doesn’t vary much with how hard you press. This characteristic made the harpsichord the dominant keyboard instrument in much of the Renaissance and Baroque periods, long before the piano’s hammer action was developed.

The fortepiano is an early piano, using hammers to strike strings, and thus it comes after the harpsichord in the history of keyboard instruments. The clavichord also predates the piano and offers expressive control, but its sound is very soft and less projection-friendly. The organ, while an ancient keyboard instrument as well, operates on a different mechanism (pipes and air pressure) and isn’t the instrument typically referred to when talking about the pre-piano keyboard tradition.