OVER 4 MILLION Readers Weekly Nationwide!
of North Central Arkansas
May 26 2015 Ozark Life Publishing, LLC
The Neatest Little Paper Ever Read®
Your Only Homegrown Plant Source
for Ad Quotes call: (870) 421-7898
Vol 1 Issue 8
jacklb@tidbitsofnorthcentralarkansas.com
TIDBITS® PLAYS
PIANO by Janet Spencer
Camp’s Plants now proudly offering Tidbits Family Friendly Paper at these Arkansas locations! Family Harrison ~ Mountain Home Owned and Operated Midway ~ Highland
Julieanna’s
Restaurant & Catering ~ Yelleville, Ar
We proudly offer “Family Friendly” FREE Tidbit’s paper each week!
Family Owned and Operated
In May 27, 1796, the first U.S. patent for a piano was issued in the U.S. to James McLean of New Jersey, for “an improvement in piano fortes.” Although there were many patents on improved designs for pianos over the years, this was the first piano patent awarded in the U.S. Come along with Tidbits as we play the piano! A LONG HISTORY • The piano’s ancestors include the harp, the hammered dulcimer, and the psaltery, which is a boxtype instrument with strings that were either plucked or bowed. When a new design allowed strings to be plucked when keys were depressed, the harpsichord was born and it quickly became a popular instrument in the 1600s. From there came similar but slightly different instruments: the clavichord and the spinet, which led to the invention of the piano. • On a harpsicord, the strings are plucked when the musician’s fingers hit the keys. It has a higher pitch than the piano, the notes cannot be sustained, and there’s no way to vary how loudly the instrument plays. The piano, by contrast, has strings that are hit by hammers, meaning the musician can play either softly or loudly. “Piano” is the Italian word for soft and “forte” is the Italian word for loud. The piano’s original name was “pianoforte” meaning “soft/loud” and was then shortened to just piano. NEW DEVELOPMENTS • An Italian man named Bartolomeo Cristoforti built the first practical piano in 1700. He originally called it a “gravicembalo col piano e forte” (the “great harpsichord with soft and loud capabilities”). Three Cristofori pianos survive today. They were made in the 1720s, making them the oldest pianos in existence. • The piano replaced the harpsichord in popularity by the end of the 1700s. Piano building began in America in 1775. The Industrial Revolution made high-quality piano wire readily available. In England, John Broadwood developed machines to manufacture pianos, reducing the cost. By 1870, Steinway & Sons were in business. By 1911, there were 301 piano builders in the U.S. Production peaked in the 1920s and declined during the Great Depression. • Today, there are approximately 15 piano manufacturers in the United States, but more pianos are built in Japan than any other country. • The piano has the largest range of volume of any acoustic instrument, as well as the widest range of notes, from below the lowest note of the double bassoon to above the top note of the piccolo. It allows more notes to be played simultaneously than any other instrument and is the only instrument (aside from the organ) that can play both the melody and the accompaniment at the same time. It’s also the largest instrument. The piano’s design has not changed for nearly 100 years. IT’S A FACT • Pianist Arthur Rubinstein was in the lobby of the concert hall, watching the capacity crowd come in to hear him play when the ticket agent put out the “Sold Out” sign. The agent, mistaking Rubinstein (Continued next page)
Awesome Farm Fresh Produce
OPEN MONDAY - SATURDAY 9:00 - 6:00 pm
(870) 404-5757
AWESOME PRODUCE on Facebook !
1 LB. FREE TOMATOES TO FIRST 25 SHOPPERS ON TUESDAY AFTER 1:00 PM THAT SAY....... ”Tidbits Free Weekly” 2.5 miles east of Mtn. Home Walmart 5591Hwy. 62E. on Right
PGW Collectibles
Hog Heaven Leathers is, “THE FUN PLACE TO SHOP”
MOTORCYCLES, LEATHER APPAREL, JEWELRY, ANTIQUES, COLLECTIBLES, GUNS, AMMO KNIVES, CAMPING GEAR, TACTICAL CLOTHING, PATCHES, MOTORCYCLE ACCESSORIES and much more...
VENDOR BOOTHS
Sell or Buy Motorcycles? LARGE DISPLAY Check our Consignment Shop OF GUNS
Custom Jewelry by Local Artisans
YOU HAVE TO EXPERIENCE THIS STORE YOURSELF TO BELIEVE IT ! OPEN MONDAY THRU SATURDAY - 9:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. SUNDAY 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M.
Hwy 178 West Lakeview, Arkansas
(870) 431-8599 www.pgwcollectibles.com
We proudly offer “Family Friendly” FREE Tidbits paper each week!
Family Owned and Operated