Bösendorfer is an Austrian piano manufacturer and, since 2008, a wholly owned subsidiary of Yamaha Corporation. Bösendorfer is unusual in that it produces 97- and 92-key models in addition to instruments with standard 88-key keyboards.
Bösendorfer 185 piano, built in 2006
The oldest preserved square piano by Bösendorfer, dating to 1828
A Bösendorfer piano, model 214CS
The removable capo d'astro bar is located across the upper two (treble) sections of the cast-iron plate
The piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, through engagement of an action whose hammers strike strings. Most pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, representing each note of the chromatic scale as they repeat throughout the keyboard's span of seven and a quarter octaves. There are 52 white keys, known as “naturals”, and 36 black keys, known as “sharps”. The naturals repeat a pattern of whole steps and half steps unique to any given starting note. These patterns define a diatonic scale. The 36 sharps repeat a pattern of whole steps and minor thirds, which defines a pentatonic scale.
Image: Steinway Vienna 002
Image: Piano droit Weinbach (2)
Image: Piano Range
The 1726 Cristofori piano in the Musikinstrumenten-Museum in Leipzig