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• ANALYTICAL ENGLISH 解析英語(常春藤)

  Why Does a Piano Have Precisely 88 Keys? 為什麼鋼琴有88個鍵？

  • By 常春藤解析英語 Mark Darvill
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  Have you ever counted the number of keys on a piano? On a standard modern piano, the number of keys is 88. So, why is this the case?

  The piano is believed to have been invented around the beginning of the 18th century. It was first created as a modified version of the harpsichord. Most harpsichords at the time had 60 keys—covering five octaves, with each octave comprising seven white keys and five black keys. That’s why the earliest pianos also had 60 keys. The white keys on a piano are called natural keys and correspond to the musical notes A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. The black keys, known as sharp or flat keys, represent notes that fall between pairs of natural keys in terms of pitch.

  As the years went by and composers became more experimental in their work, many desired to compose pieces for piano that contained notes beyond the lower and upper boundaries of the 60-key piano. Accordingly, composers began to order larger pianos from piano makers, and by the mid-19th century, seven-octave pianos were common. It was in the late 1880s that piano manufacturer Steinway created the first 88-key piano. This model, consisting of 52 white and 36 black keys, spanned seven octaves plus four additional notes. Other manufacturers soon followed suit, and this form became the standard that we know today.

  

  Photo: AdobeStock I 照片：AdobeStock

  The adoption of the 88-key piano was also influenced by practical considerations. At the extremes of the piano keyboard, especially in the lowest and highest octaves, the human ear generally has trouble distinguishing between notes of different pitch. This is also one of the reasons why the 88-key piano has been widely adopted as the industry standard.

  你有數過鋼琴上有幾個琴鍵嗎？在一架標準的現代鋼琴上，琴鍵的數目是八十八個。那麼，為什麼會是這樣呢？

  鋼琴被認為是在十八世紀初期左右發明的。它最初是作為大鍵琴經改造而成的版本來創造的。當時大多數的大鍵琴有六十個琴鍵──涵蓋五個八度，每個八度包含七個白鍵和五個黑鍵。那就是為什麼最早的鋼琴也有六十個琴鍵。鋼琴上的白鍵被稱為自然鍵，相當於A、B、C、D、E、F和G這些音符。黑鍵則被稱為升鍵或降鍵，其代表就音高而言，介於兩個相鄰自然鍵之間的音。

  

  Photo: AdobeStock I 照片：AdobeStock

  隨著年月的流逝，作曲家在其作品中變得更加有實驗性，許多人渴望用含有超出六十鍵範圍之音符的鋼琴來譜曲。因此，作曲家開始向鋼琴製造商訂購更大的鋼琴，到了十九世紀中葉，七個八度的鋼琴變得普遍。而在1880年代晚期，鋼琴製造商史坦威創造出第一架八十八鍵鋼琴。這種鋼琴包含五十二個白鍵和三十六個黑鍵，橫跨七個八度，加上四個額外的音符。很快地，其他製造商紛紛仿效，這種形式成為了我們現今所熟知的鋼琴標準。

  八十八鍵鋼琴的採用也受到實際考量的影響。在鋼琴鍵盤的兩端──特別是在最低和最高的八度──人耳通常難以分辨不同音高的音符。這也是八十八鍵的鋼琴被廣泛採用為業界標準的原因之一。

  Words in use

  

  Photo: AdobeStock I 照片：AdobeStock

  1. precisely adv. 恰恰，正（用於強調）

  I’m buying precisely three cups of coffee, so you can have one each.

  我正好買三杯咖啡，所以你們一人一杯。

  

  2. modified a. 改造的；修改的

  The modified sports car moves at an incredible speed.

  這款改良的跑車馳騁速度驚人。

  3. comprise vt. 包含，由……組成

  The committee comprises representatives from various departments.

  這個委員會由各個部門的代表組成。

  4. correspond vi. 相當，符合

  correspond to N 相當於……，和……相符

  Shelly’s story of what happened didn’t correspond to what I saw.

  雪莉對事情經過的說法和我看到的不相符。

  5. pitch n. 音高

  Dogs can perceive sounds too high in pitch for humans.

  狗狗能察覺到人類無法聽到的高音。

  Practical Phrases

  1. in terms of... 就……而言

  The twin brothers are very different in terms of personality.

  這對雙胞胎兄弟在性格上迥然不同。

  2. follow suit 仿效，跟進

  Whatever his elder brother does, Henry will follow suit.

  無論哥哥做什麼，亨利都會仿效。

  3. have trouble V-ing 做……有困難

  Mr. Jones had trouble sleeping because he was worried about his finances.

  瓊斯先生因為擔心財務問題，所以晚上睡不好。

  聽文章朗讀及講解: https://ivy.pse.is/455bfu

  本文出自常春藤解析英語雜誌: www.ivy.com.tw
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