Whats the difference between and harpsichord and a clavichord?
A harpsichord is a stringed keyboard instrument, differing from the clavichord and the piano in having plucked, rather than struck, strings. Sometimes the name harpsichord is used to refer to the spinet and virginal as well as the harpsichord proper. The first known reference to the instrument appeared in 1397, and it became an important solo instrument, as well as being used in chamber music, orchestral music, and opera. Because the sound is produced with a different mechanism, the plucking of the plectrum, it is not surprising that a harpsichord’s sound is quite different from a piano’s. First, a harpsichord may have two keyboards or manuals rather than one, as a piano does. Second, the harpsichord has a smaller range, typical modern instruments having five octaves from F1 to F6, to the piano’s seven-plus octave range, A0-C8. In addition, the harpsichord’s maximum dynamic is softer than a piano’s—making crescendos, decrescendos, and accents impossible—and its notes have very little s
