With roots in antiquity, the piano was invented around 1700 by the Italian musical instrument maker Bartolomeo Cristofori in Pardua, Italy. Originally it was actually called pianoforte, but was later shortened to piano. It is an acoustic instrument with strings that are struck by hammers, when the keys of the piano's keyboard are pressed.

After the piano and its mechanical diagram was popularized through an article in 1711, Gottfried Silbermann, and organ builder, started making pianos with an important new feature: the sustain pedal, which makes the sustains sound while pressed. Ultimately, Silbermann introduced Johann Sebastian Bach to his pianos, and later made him his agent.

Our modern-day piano was developed during the Industrial Revolution. Its octaves were increased from five to seven and its sound was made more powerful and sustained.

In the context of my personal history, the piano is the foundation of my musical journey. It was the first intsrument I was truly inclined to learn and I waited three years until I was allowed to do so. Although it was only a stepping stone that later enabled me to make my voice my primary instrument, the piano is very special to me. Regradless of whether I'm playing or just listening to it, it calms me in a way that no other forms of music does. Composing pieces on the piano also allows me to express more melancholic sentiments and elements of my fantasy, which I am not able to do on any other instrument. Developing my piano skills is always a priority of mine, both in accompaniments and pieces.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano

The ukulele is a four stringed instrument that resembles the guitar, but is significantly smaller and has a softer and higher sound. Although the ukulele is known as the 'tiny guitar', not all ukuleles are that small, since there are four different sizes: the soprano, the concert, the tenor and the baritone. The bigger the ukulele the deeper and louder the sound, which generally leads to the biggest version of the ukulele, the baritone, being confused with the guitar, as that often has six strings and is tuned like a guitar.

The ukulele is part of the lute family and it was developed in Hawaii in the 1880's, when the Portuguese immigrated into Hawaii and brought in their small-sized guitar look-alike instruments: the machete, the cavaquinho, the timple, and the rajão. Due to the Hawaiian King Kalākaua, who was a music lover and a ukulele player himself, the instrument was soon popularized and incorporated in Hawaii's music and culture. The word 'ukulele' translates to 'jumping flea', perhaps because of the way it is played. In the year 1915, the Royal Hawaiian Quartet performed at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, debuting the ukulele in the US. Its popularity has been growing ever since. In 1929 it was introduced to Japan when a Japanese, born in Hawaii, returned to his home country. At the time there was a growing enthusiasm for Western music, so the ukulele was spread so much around the country, that it was played secretly during World War II, even though it was banned, since it was a Western instrument. Nowadays Japan is the second home of the ukulele. Later, in the 1960's the ukulele was used for school music programs in Canada, because of its low price and practicality, which led to the promotion of the ukulele in Canada. Around the same time in the UK, the ukulele started gaining more and more fans due to stars like George Formby, Tessie O'Shea or George Harrison playing it.

The ukulele, for me, is a social instrument that has greatly contributed to my experiences with friends. Carrying it around is never difficult and learning a new piece or teaching someone how to play is always fun. Even though it is not my primary or secondary instrument, I value the ukulele a lot becaused it helped me ease my way into the world of string instruments. It gave me the necessary basis and experince to understand how a guitar or a bass works and how I should play.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukulele

The voice is the only instrument, that is not man-made and is therefore the oldest instrument that is currently known, as old as humanity itself. It was used as the primary way of communication and expression of emotions long before any kind of language was invented. This special instrument is the sound of breath, a sign of life used by every human culture to ever exist. Of course, at the time it was used in very different ways from those, in which we use it in our modern world, however, its significance has remained the same.

The singing voice is separated into four main types or ranges: From Soprano, which is the highest, followed by Alto and Tenor until Bass, which is the lowest. In between there are various subcategories like Mezzo-Soprano, Coloratura Soprano and Baritone. Female voices are usually in the Soprano and Alto range, while male voices are Tenor and Bass, however there have been some rare exception in the past.

Singers use their larynx, also known as "the voice box", their abdominal and back muscles, their lungs, their rib cage and many more parts of their body in order to produce the sound of a properly used singing voice. In short, the whole body needs to be working when singing. What enables us to actually produce sound are the vocal chords or vocal folds, which work by snapping together through air pressure. The more forceful they're snapped the louder the sound they produce and the faster they open and close, the higher the pitch in which the voice comes out.

Developing the voice as a personal instrument often needs vocal coaching in order to avoid damaging it, but also to improve vocal skills, just as any other instrument. The only difference between the voice and every other instrument that exists is that everyone has it and anyone can try it, wherever and whenever.

When I found my love for singing, a whole new side of music opened up to me. For the first time I sensed that I was capable of doing something properly. Singing soon became my primary instrument, simply because it felt very natural to me; like an extension of myself. For a long time, before that, I doubted my musical abilities because, even though I was very successful in my piano lessons, I never sensed that it was my special talent. However, when I discovered singing I immediately knew it was my own personal talent and if I look back at my evolution as a musician now, I see that my musical skills prevail most in singing. I can immdiately find harmonies to songs, I can improvise melodies without reluctance and my musical ear in general functions much better when I use my voice. Above all my instruments I prioritise my voice the most and I try to experiment with it. I enjoy trying out differnt styles of singing, different techniques of vocal placement and different ways of using it when I produce my own songs. Without a doubt, I have a long future ahead in my life as a musician and my voice will occupy a central role in it.

Sources: https://www2.lawrence.edu/fast/KOOPMAJO/antiquity.html https://www.liveabout.com/the-voice-as-musical-instrument-2457012 http://voicestudio.kristinaseleshanko.com/VocalAnatomy.htm