Question

What did Cage do to the piano for his prepared piano pieces? A. He held the pedals down with tape so he could use a violin bow on the strings. B. He hung bells on each string to create percussion sounds. C. He put two sets of strings on it so each note struck a double set of strings. D. He placed bolts, screws, bamboo, and other objects in the strings to create a percussion sound.

Answer 1

The Correct answer is "D".

John Cage is known for introducing the concept of a "prepared piano". Which consists of placing different objects o or between the strings in order to alter the original sound caused by them and create new sounds. He first applied this while writing the music for the dance "Bacchanale", in 1938. Cage believed that it was possible to "place in the hands of a single musician the equivalent of an entire percussion orchestra".