Welcome to Living Pianos! I’m Robert Estrin. When examining the various components of a piano, you might wonder which part is the heaviest. Is it the wooden case, which certainly has considerable mass, or perhaps the action mechanism that comprises thousands of moving parts for each key?
The Heaviest Component: The Cast Iron Plate
The heaviest part of a piano is the cast iron plate, also known as the frame. In fact, in some pianos, this plate can weigh as much as the rest of the piano combined! After graduating from music conservatory, I ventured into piano sales to meet the demand from students seeking lessons who didn’t own pianos. This endeavor led me to start rebuilding pianos. I vividly recall a time when a few of us moved a baby grand piano without its plate, and it was surprisingly manageable. However, attempting to lift the piano’s plate is another story. Engine hoists are utilized to lift them out of pianos!
The History Behind the Weight
To understand why the piano plate is so heavy, it’s important to look at the instrument’s history. Early pianos, created by Bartolomeo Cristofori, did not include cast iron plates. In fact, other than the strings and tuning pins, there was practically no metal at all. Over time, more metal was added to enhance the instrument’s capabilities.
During Beethoven’s lifetime, the evolution of piano design saw a significant increase in the amount of metal used. As the string tension increased—sometimes reaching up to 40,000 pounds—piano makers recognized the necessity of a sturdy cast iron plate to withstand this immense pressure. So the cast iron plate is indeed the heaviest part of the piano. How many of you would have guessed that? Let us know in the comments here at LivingPianos.com and on YouTube! I’m Robert Estrin here at LivingPianos.com, Your Online Piano Store. Thanks for joining me, and I’ll see you next time!
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