Where does this come from, and can I check it?

That range developed in the nineteenth century as composers asked for more. The figure is taken from Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a music fact?

Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

A modern piano has 88 keys

That range developed in the nineteenth century as composers asked for more The standard spans just over seven octaves, from A0 to C8. Earlier keyboards had fewer keys and shorter ranges, and composers wrote within them. The number settled once builders agreed on a full frame width. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Britannica

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Music trivia

More facts like this

A harpsichord plucks strings instead of striking themQuills catch the string, and volume stays fixed regardless of touch The piano was invented in Florence around 1700Bartolomeo Cristofori built the first one for the Medici court A piano has about 230 stringsIts 88 keys span just over seven octaves A grand piano carries around 20 tonnes of string tensionA cast iron plate holds the load so the case does not fold A piano hammer strikes and drops away instantlyThe escapement lets the felt head fall back so the string can ring freely MIDI 1.0 let rival synthesizers finally talkSequential Circuits and Roland agreed the specification in 1983

Tags: piano, keyboards, standards

A modern piano has 88 keys: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: That range developed in the nineteenth century as composers asked for more. The figure is taken from Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a music fact?: Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.