View source for Tack piano

{{Short description|Musical instrument}}
[[File:Pinezki-K.WasilewskiSka.jpg|thumb|[[Thumbtack]]s such as these are sometimes pushed in the hammers of a piano to give the instrument a more percussive sound.]]
[[File:Marteaux piano bastringue.jpg|thumb|right|Piano hammers to which metal strips have been glued to give the special sound]]

A '''tack piano''' (also known as a '''harpsipiano''', '''jangle piano''', and '''junk piano''') is an altered version of an ordinary [[piano]], in which objects such as [[thumbtack]]s or [[Nail (fastener)|nails]] are placed on the felt-padded hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings, giving the instrument a tinny, more percussive sound. It is used to evoke the feeling of a honky-tonk piano.<ref name="Everett">{{cite book|last=Everett|first=Walter|author-link=Walter Everett (musicologist)|title=The Foundation of Rock: From "Blue Suede Shoes" to "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" |year=2009|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-531023-8|page=70}}</ref>

Tack pianos are commonly associated with [[ragtime]] pieces, often appearing in [[Western (genre)|Hollywood Western]] [[Western saloon|saloon]] scenes featuring old [[upright piano]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Malvinni|first=David|title=Experiencing the Rolling Stones: A Listener's Companion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SEaLCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA89|year=2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-8108-8920-0|page=89}}</ref> The instrument was originally used for [[classical music]] performances as a substitute for a [[harpsichord]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Leta|editor=Harrison Lou|title=Selected Keyboard and Chamber Music: 1937–1994|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c82agE6TZWoC&pg=PR41|year=1998|publisher=A-R Editions|isbn=978-0-89579-414-7|page=41|chapter=Incidental Music for Corneille's Cinna (Suite for Tack Piano)}}</ref>

==Honky-tonk piano==
A '''honky-tonk piano''' has a similar tone as a tack piano; however, the method of obtaining its sound is different, and simply involves one or more strings of each key being slightly detuned, without the use of tacks. The resultant sound produces [[Beat (acoustics)|acoustic beats]] in a manner similar to [[Voix céleste|undulating organ stops]].<ref name="Everett"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{American frontier}}
{{Extended techniques}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American frontier]]
[[Category:Piano]]
[[Category:Gilded Age]]
[[Category:Victorian era]]
[[category:Belle Époque]]

{{OldWest-stub}}
{{Zither-instrument-stub}}