The first piano was invented in Florence, Italy in 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori (1655 – 1732), a craftsman who repaired harpsichords for Italy’s royal court. Cristofori’s invention was a simple keyboard that he called a gravecembalo col piano et forte, “keyboard instrument with soft and loud,” named for the strings that produced different dynamic levels upon vibrating when struck by small wooden hammers covered with deerskin. Cristofori