Shire Library
1 primary work
Book 491
Before the piano dominated stringed keyboard instruments, there were a host of earlier types that were popular both in households and as performance instruments. The best known of these was the harpsichord that was the concert keyboard for nearly two centuries. Closely related to this instrument were the virginal, popular during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and the spinet. Later developments produced the clavichord, which used quills to stroke the strings and the fortepiano which used hammers to strike the strings.