It is not known exactly when Cristofori first built a piano. An inventory made by his employers, the Medici family, indicates the rat race of a piano by the university year 1700; another document of doubtful authenticity indicates a date of 1698. The three Cristofori pianos that survive today date from the 1720s.

Small studio upright acoustical pianos with only 65 keys have been manufactured for end by roving pianists. Piano Lessons Known as "gig" pianos and still containing a cast inflexible harp, these are comparatively lightweight and can be easily transported to and from engagements by only two men. As their harp is longer than that of a spinet or console piano, they have a stronger bass sound that to some pianists is well worth the trade-off in range that a reduced key-set offers.