Harpsichord

A harpsichord is the general term for a family of European keyboard instruments, including the large instrument nowadays called a harpsichord, but also the smaller virginals, the muselar virginals and the spinet. All these instruments generate sound by plucking a string rather than striking one, as in a piano or clavichord. The harpsichord family is thought to have originated when a keyboard was affixed to the end of a psaltery, providing a mechanical means to pluck the strings.

Action

The action is fairly similar in all harpsichords:

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• The keylever is a simple pivot which rocks on a pin passing through a hole drilled through it.
• The jack is a thin, rectangular piece of wood which sits upright on the end of the keylever, held in place by the guides (upper and lower) which are two long pieces of wood with holes through which the jacks can pass.
• In the jack, a plectrum juts out almost horizontally (normally the plectrum is angled upwards a tiny amount) and passes just under the string. Historically, plectra were normally made of crow quill or leather, though most modern harpsichords use a plastic (delrin or celcon) instead.
• When the front of the key is pressed (2), the back is lifted up, the jack is raised, and the plectrum plucks the string (3).
• Upon lowering the key, the jack falls back down under its own weight, and the plectrum pivots backwards to allow it past the string (4). This is made possible by having the plectrum held in a tongue which is attached with a hinge and a spring to the body of the jack.
• At the top of the jack, a damper of felt sticks out and keeps the string from vibrating when the key is not depressed (1).