The piano, created by Bartolomeo Christofori in 1709, has influenced our society by becoming a popular instrument and a popular means for musicians to create musical masterpieces. Also called a piano, the piano is one of the most beautiful sounding instruments, the sound of which can range from as low as a gust of wind, to as high as the shrill sound of a bird. It has evolved over time and become an amazing tool. The piano has been very well accepted throughout history and has generated many changes in the music industry. The piano has also been widely used in society and many applications have arisen from it. Without it, many classical masterpieces and modern songs would not have been possible. There are many instruments that led to the invention of the piano. The first was the zither. Located in Africa and Southeast Asia, the zither was a stringed instrument found around 3,000 BC during the Bronze Age. There were many different types of zither, including the floor zither, the bar zither, and the table zither. All the lyres were plucked. After the zither came the monochord. It was a scientific instrument in the 6th century BC. It was used by the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who used it to try to prove that all the laws of music are based on ratios. Originally it had only one rope, but over time others were added. When many strings were added, the monochord became the polychord. These two instruments were also plucked (Crombie 4-5). The first instrument with strings designed to be struck was the dulcimer. It had a trapezoidal shape and was played with two padded hammers. It is still played in popular music today. The hurdy-gurdy, or organistrum, was the first stringed instrument with a keyboard. It was created in the 10th century...... middle of paper ......ks CitedBego, Mark. Billy Joel: the biography. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press, 2007. Crombie, David. Piano. San Francisco: Miller Freeman Books, 1995.Gaines, James R. The Lives of the Piano: A Consideration, Celebration, History, and Genealogy of Pianos and Their Friends. New York: Holt, Rineheart and Winston, 1981. Grover, David S. The Piano: Its History from Zither to Grand. New York: The Sons of Charles Scribner, 1978. Healy, Nick. The piano. Mankato: Creative Education, 2006.McCombie, Ian. The piano manual. New York: Charle's Scribner's Sons, 1980. On a Roll with a Steinway reproduced piano. October 28, 2008 .Oringer, Judith. Passion for the piano. Los Angeles: Jeremy P. Tarcher, Inc., 1983. Rosenthal, Elizabeth J. His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John. New York: Wilson-Guptill Publications, 2001.