[Listening extract audio not available in printed QP] What Baroque keyboard instrument whose strings are plucked by a mechanism rather than struck by hammer...
Question 1 Report
[Listening extract audio not available in printed QP]
What Baroque keyboard instrument whose strings are plucked by a mechanism rather than struck by hammers. [1]
Answer Details
The correct answer is a harpsichord. [1]
The harpsichord is a keyboard instrument in which the strings are plucked by small quills (plectra) attached to jacks, rather than being struck by hammers as in a piano. When a key is pressed, the jack rises and the plectrum plucks the string, producing a bright, incisive tone. Because the plucking mechanism produces a relatively uniform volume regardless of how hard the key is pressed, the harpsichord cannot produce the gradual dynamic changes (crescendo and diminuendo) that the later piano can achieve. This is one reason Baroque music relies on terraced dynamics rather than gradual volume changes. The harpsichord was the primary keyboard instrument of the Baroque period (approximately 1600-1750) and served both as a solo instrument and as the harmonic foundation of the basso continuo.
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