The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument that plucks its strings. It looks like a small, narrow grand piano. Its sound is bright and crisp, with a ping at the start of each note. It was the main keyboard instrument from the 1500s to the late 1700s, and it plays in almost all Baroque music for groups.
Quick facts
- Family: keyboards, with plucked strings
- Sound is made by: a small pick that plucks a string
- Keyboards: one or two
- Main years: the 1500s to the late 1700s
- Loud and soft: not by touch
How it makes sound
Press a key, and the far end of the key rises. It lifts a thin strip of wood called a jack. A tiny pick sticks out from the side of the jack. As the jack rises, the pick plucks the string.
Let go of the key, and the jack falls. The pick slips back past the string, and a piece of felt stops the sound.
In old harpsichords, the pick was cut from a bird’s feather. Makers today often use plastic.
Why it cannot play loud and soft by touch
On a piano, a hammer hits the string. Press harder, and the hammer hits harder.
On a harpsichord, the pick plucks the same way however hard the key is pressed. The player cannot play louder or softer with the fingers.
Harpsichord players shape the music in other ways:
- More strings. Many harpsichords have two keyboards and several sets of strings. Levers switch sets on and off.
- Ornaments. Trills and turns add weight to a note.
- Timing. A tiny wait before a note makes it stand out.
- Spread chords. The notes of a chord are rolled from the bottom up.
The piano was invented in Italy in about 1700 by Bartolomeo Cristofori. Its first name meant “harpsichord with soft and loud.” Read the piano for kids.
Its job in Baroque music
In a Baroque orchestra, the harpsichord often sits in the middle. It plays the bass line with the left hand and fills in chords with the right. A cello often plays the same bass line. This team is called the continuo.
The harpsichord player often led the group from the keyboard, before conductors were common.
Read Baroque music for kids.
Pieces to hear
The Aria from the Goldberg Variations, by Bach. A slow, decorated tune, and the start of a long set of variations.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 5, first movement, by Bach. Near the end, the other players stop, and the harpsichord plays a long, wild solo. See the Brandenburg Concertos guide.
“The Harmonious Blacksmith,” by Handel. A tune and five variations, each one busier than the last.
Sonata in E major, K. 380, by Domenico Scarlatti. Scarlatti wrote 555 keyboard sonatas. This one copies the sound of horn calls and drums.
“The Hen,” by Rameau. The harpsichord clucks.
“Les Barricades Mystérieuses,” by François Couperin. A rolling piece in which the tune hides inside the pattern.
Read Bach for kids and Handel for kids.
Relatives
- Virginal and spinet: smaller plucked keyboards for the home.
- Clavichord: a quiet keyboard in which a small metal blade strikes the string and stays on it.
Where did it go?
By about 1800, the piano had taken the harpsichord’s place. In the 1900s, players such as Wanda Landowska brought it back to the concert stage. Today, groups that play Baroque music on instruments of the period use it.
Can a child learn it?
A child who wants to play the harpsichord starts on the piano. Few homes have a harpsichord, and the finger skills carry across. Some music schools and universities own one and let piano students try it. Some digital pianos have a harpsichord sound. Try a Bach minuet on it.
Things to do together
Same piece, two keyboards. Play a Bach minuet on a harpsichord recording and then on a piano recording. Ask what is different.
Pluck and strike. Stretch a rubber band over a box. Pluck it with a fingernail, and then tap it with a pencil. The harpsichord plucks. The piano strikes.
Find the harpsichord. Play the first movement of a Brandenburg Concerto. Ask your child to raise a hand when the bright, plucked keyboard is easy to hear.
Look at the keys. Find a picture of an old harpsichord. On some of them, the colors of the keys are swapped: the long keys are dark and the short keys are light.
Print and play
Find Bach and Handel on the composer timeline. Slide to 1720, and see who else was alive. For the other keyboards, read keyboard instruments for kids and the pipe organ for kids.
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Use it with your kids
Print a listening page, a practice chart, or a composer fact sheet. Or try a tool, such as the composer timeline or the piece picker.