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I am working on a project for which I need the dimensions of piano keys. The width is addressed in

Is there a standard width for piano keys?,

but what about the length?

Aaron
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Jordan
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  • Welcome to the site, Jordan. This sort of question doesn't sit well on this site - if you read some of the other questions, you'll understand why. Apart, they vary a little, and far better sources for an answer are all around 'Google'. – Tim Feb 27 '17 at 17:08
  • also depends on the piano, they're not all absolutely identical – Tetsujin Feb 27 '17 at 17:16
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    I don't see why the fact that dimensions vary couldn't be incorporated into a reasonably concise answer..? – Нет войне Feb 27 '17 at 22:04
  • @topomorto well, for one thing, because it's trivial to find out and very rare that any performer would care. – Carl Witthoft Feb 28 '17 at 12:58
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    It does in fact seem that there's a question on this very site: http://music.stackexchange.com/questions/20290/is-there-a-standard-width-for-piano-keys. That one was pretty well-received... – Нет войне Feb 28 '17 at 14:13
  • @Tim you even answered that one - http://music.stackexchange.com/a/20301/18896 – Нет войне Feb 28 '17 at 15:26
  • @topomorto - the older question has more depth than this, and if it's already answered, we don't need this question, do we? – Tim Feb 28 '17 at 15:33
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    @Tim sure, for the reason that it's a duplicate (IMO). *Apart* from that though, I was just wondering where the other concerns raised about this question come from w.r.t our on-topic rules. – Нет войне Feb 28 '17 at 16:04
  • @topomorto - what's 'w.r.t'? And, it took me all of 25 secs to google an answer, so why would someone pose such a question and have to wait for prospective answers? – Tim Feb 28 '17 at 16:09
  • @Tim With Regard To/With Reference To. – Нет войне Feb 28 '17 at 16:22
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    It's not clear what the OP means by "dimensions of piano keys". The part of the key inside the piano is usually longer than the part that you play on, for example. –  Feb 28 '17 at 16:50
  • This question is on topic -- being about the design and construction of musical instruments -- and not a dupe since the OP is asking for *all* dimensions, not just width (if I'm interpreting him/her correctly). The only mark against it (unclear what you're asking?) is that he/she is a bit vague in not specifying which actual dimension he/she needs. – Dave Feb 28 '17 at 22:01
  • I vote it's a duplicate. – General Nuisance Mar 01 '17 at 03:48
  • @Tim I'm not sure where you were going with the mention of finding an answer with Google in 25 seconds, but I think this might be edifying in terms of the vision on SE/SO for questions that could be answered with a Google search (TL/DR, we want to be the top hit on future Google searches, so we want the question and answer): https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/8724/how-should-we-deal-with-google-questions – Todd Wilcox Mar 12 '17 at 20:04
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    This is not a duplicate of https://music.stackexchange.com/q/20290/79479 since that question only discusses the width of keys, and not the length. – vindur Jun 08 '21 at 13:55
  • @vindur is correct. I've voted to reopen this question. – phoog Aug 21 '22 at 17:39

1 Answers1

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A Kawai studio model acoustic piano vintage 1980 or so that I have access to where I work has the following key dimensions (visible portion only, if you need the hidden part, which is much larger, let me know):

White key width = exactly 7/8 inch. Visible length = 6 in., including a 1/16" "lip" on the top surface that sticks out beyond the end of the key proper. Visible height when not depressed = 7/8 in.

Black key width at white key level = 15/32" tapering up to 7/16" at the top, which is 1/4 in. above white key level. Length at white key level 3 15/16" tapering back to 3 5/8" at the top.

Horizontally across the width of the keyboard there is approximately 1/16" gap between keys.

When I get home tonight I'll measure my Panasonic 88-note electronic and see if it differs. (For one thing I know it does not have the 'lip' on the white keys.) If it is substantially different from the above I'll post a comment to this answer.

EDIT: Well, I was wrong about the lip on the white keys. My electronic piano has them too! I had never noticed that. The white keys are exactly 1/8 in. shorter in length than on the acoustic, but otherwise identical. The black keys are 1/16 in. wider and 3/16 in. taller, but otherwise identical. So all in all the two pianos are so extremely similar as to be almost identical. Certainly the 88 note keybed (where the notes are placed) is within 1/8" of being exactly the same length. I have no idea what you needed all this for, but have fun with it!

L3B
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