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Jankó keyboard

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A Janko keyboard.

The Jankó keyboard is a musical keyboard layout for a piano designed by Paul von Jankó in 1882.[1]

Based on the premise that the hand can barely stretch more than a 9th on the piano, and that all scales are fingered differently, Jankó's new keyboard had two interlocking 'manuals' with three touch-points for each key lever. Instead of the traditional row of white and black keys, the keyboard has an array of keys.

Each vertical column of keys is a semitone away from its neighboring columns, and on each horizontal row of keys the interval from one note to the next is a whole step. This key layout results in all chords and scales having the same "shape" on the keyboard with the same fingerings regardless of key, unlike a traditional keyboard.

For an 88 note (full size) keyboard, there would be 264 keys in total, with each note playable by 3 keys in vertical alignment. In the picture, the white keys have been coloured to show how the keys are interconnected.

At the time of its invention, the Jankó keyboard was hailed as revolutionary. Arthur Rubinstein said of the Jankó piano, "If I were to begin my career anew it would be on this keyboard." Franz Liszt said "This invention will have replaced the present piano keyboard in fifty years' time!"

Despite Liszt's prediction and Rubinstein's endorsement, the Jankó keyboard never caught on, mainly because few were prepared to relearn their repertoire on a new unestablished keyboard with totally new fingering. Also, since cast-iron framed pianos were not very portable, Jankó pianos would not have been available for musicians on the move. It may have rivaled the traditional piano had it been invented at an earlier period when keyboards were more portable due to the lighter wooden frame, and when the traditional keyboard was not quite as favoured as it was after the romantic era. Finally the pedagogical advantage of the traditional keyboard pattern, allowing beginners to start playing in a tonality (C major) without having to understand the tonal and harmonic principles isn't to be underestimated. Playing on the Janko keyboard would have required quite an insight into the structures of tonality.

Many embodiments of this keyboard have appeared since its conception. Jankó himself (in German patent 25852, dated 14 Jan 1884) originally chose a key shape which resembled the slim, black keys on the familiar piano keyboard. A year later (in German patent 32138, dated 1 Jul 1885) the keys became wider and shorter. Other inventors have filed patents for keyboards which are substantially similar to his design, differing most often in key shape or instrument to which those keyboards are affixed. (For example: Edgar [U.S. Patent 119335, 26 Sep 1871], Cramer [U.S. Patent 152726, 7 Jul 1874], McChesney [U.S. Patent 161086, 6 Apr 1875], Stewart [U.S. Patent 497426, 19 Jan 1886], Adams [U.S. Patent 682014, 3 Sep 1901], Nordbö [U.S. Patent 1202882, 31 Oct 1916], Barnett [U.S. Patent 1958227, 8 May 1934], Reuther [U.S. Patent 2203393, 4 Jun 1940], Firestone [U.S. Patent 2417639, 11 Jun 1945], and Reuther [U.S. Patent 2557690, 5 Apr 1950].) The most recent patents are for MIDI compatible instruments, including the 'Bilinear Chromatic Keyboard' to José A. Sotorrio (who also devised a new notation to accompany the layout) and the Japanese 'Chromatone' keyboard. There are also other layouts based on alternative 6-6 configurations used on accordions.

Janko Keyboard layout.

References

  1. ^ Dolge, Alfred (1911). Pianos and Their Makers (book). Vol. 1 ((fulltext on Google Books link) ed.). Covina/Dover. pp. 78–83. ISBN 0486228568.

See also

Isomorphic keyboard

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