Queen Elizabeth I was known for, and took great pride in, her exquisite playing on the virginal, a single-keyboard plucked-string instrument, small enough to be picked up and carried around. By the way, keyboard and plucked-string are by no means an impossibility - the early keyboard instruments (other than organs, which are a whole different breed) were played by a plucking mechanism, activated by striking a note on the keyboard. There was little subtlety of dynamics or speed available, lest the "jack" become discombobulated and fly away, leaving the instrument in the silent mode. As a rule, the virginal had only one set of strings for each note, and a four-octave range.
Following the virginal, came the spinet, the clavichord, and finally the harpsichord, all of them played from a keyboard, yet producing a plucked sound through their mechanical system. The harpsichord was the first to allow dynamics or volume control. Piano was soft, forte was loud, achieved through dampers. Their cabinets were primarily constructed of woods, although the strings were usually metal. In the late 1700s, several inventors worked on a different system of producing sound, by connecting a series of hammers to produce a "striking" sound, allowing for rapid repetition of notes.
Because of this development, stronger wires were required to withstand the hammering, and cast steel proved to be just such a sturdy substance. Finally, due to the extra stress, it was discovered that the wooden framework supporting the mechanical portions needed re-working as well, and the first successful iron frames were designed in the 1820s. This led to the piano as we know it today, whether in an upright or vertical fashion or flat as in the concert grand. (Note: Although the terms "pianoforte" and "fortepiano" are seemingly interchangeable, they really denote two separate instruments. The fortepiano is a smaller, softer-voiced instrument, developed between the harpsichord and the piano. It is a fortepiano that was used in the recent splendid BBC/A&E production of Pride and Prejudice, played by its foremost proponent,
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