Piano Guides and Resources

In a sense, yes. Often people will use the terms “piano” and “keyboard” interchangeably. The distinction comes into play when you’re talking about the instrument you’re using itself. A piano is technically the entire instrument, whether it’s acoustic or electric/electronic – it’s the keys, the strings, the body, the components inside, etc. A keyboard actually refers to the actual bed of keys on the piano. Also, people often refer to digital pianos and MIDI pianos as keyboards, since they work differently than acoustic and electric pianos.

Not always. In fact, probably not most people who play piano. Indeed, piano players will have more control than the average person over their non-dominant hand, but usually it’s mostly in the context of piano. They likely still have trouble doing other tasks with their non-dominant hand.

Any sort of repetitive movement with improper technique can lead to injury. It’s important to stretch your hands, fingers and wrists while also letting them rest enough to protect the health of your limbs. If you ever start to feel pain while playing, check your technique and take a break. Maybe do some stretching as well.

Although the concepts used in modern pianos have been around since the antiquity (with pipe organs and such), the invention of the piano is credited to Bartolomeo Christofori in 17th century Italy. We know for sure that a modern style piano was definitely around by the year 1700.