What is a Piano key made of?
What is a Piano key made of?
A spruce or basswood lever with an acrylic top and a plastic sharp — ivory has been out of use for decades.
Ivory keytops were standard until the international trade ban under CITES took effect in 1990, and the practical consequence today is that selling or shipping an old piano with ivory keys across borders is legally complicated even when the instrument is a century old. Ivory was prized because it absorbs a little moisture and stays grippy under a sweating finger, and modern synthetic keytops are engineered to reproduce that rather than to look convincing. The weights inside the keys are the part almost nobody knows about: a technician balances an action by adding or removing small lead plugs so the touch weight is consistent from the bass to the treble.
Component by component
| Part | Material | Why that material |
|---|---|---|
| key body | quartersawn spruce, or basswood | It has to be light, straight-grained and stable in humidity, because a warped key binds against its neighbours. |
| keytop | acrylic or a moulded plastic with a slightly textured surface | Modern keytops mimic the grip ivory had when a finger is damp, which is the one property plastic struggled to match. |
| sharps | moulded plastic, or ebony on fine instruments | Sharps need to be dark, slightly grippy and dimensionally stable; ebony is dense enough to feel right and is now itself restricted. |
| key weights | lead plugs let into the side of the key | They balance the action so every key needs the same force, which is the difference between an even instrument and an uneven one. |
| bushings and felts | wool felt at the balance rail and front pin | Felt silences the wood-on-metal contact and takes up the sideways play; worn bushings are what makes old keys rattle. |
Other musical instruments objects
- Guitar string A high-carbon steel core with a wrap of nickel or bronze — or, on a classical guitar, nylon.
- Violin bow A pernambuco or carbon fibre stick strung with horsehair, which grips the string only because of rosin.
- Drum head A polyester film tucked into an aluminium hoop with epoxy — plastic replaced calfskin in the 1950s.
Common questions
- What is a Piano key made of?
- A spruce or basswood lever with an acrylic top and a plastic sharp — ivory has been out of use for decades.
- What is the key body of a Piano key made of?
- Quartersawn spruce, or basswood. It has to be light, straight-grained and stable in humidity, because a warped key binds against its neighbours.
- What is the keytop of a Piano key made of?
- Acrylic or a moulded plastic with a slightly textured surface. Modern keytops mimic the grip ivory had when a finger is damp, which is the one property plastic struggled to match.
Related pages
- Guitar string A high-carbon steel core with a wrap of nickel or bronze — or, on a classical guitar, nylon.
- Violin bow A pernambuco or carbon fibre stick strung with horsehair, which grips the string only because of rosin.
- Drum head A polyester film tucked into an aluminium hoop with epoxy — plastic replaced calfskin in the 1950s.
- Pencil Stationery and paper
- Tennis ball Sport and games
- Banknote Around the house
- Golf ball Sport and games
- Paper Stationery and paper
- Glass Building materials
Sources
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place