It might seem that the main reason for inventing non-acoustic pianos was to explore a wider range of sounds than was possible on a conventional acoustic one, with its simple dependence on strings struck by hammers attached to keys.
But there was a practical reason for the move – portability. The Hammond organ, invented in the mid-1930s as a portable version of a church organ, was popular with travelling preachers, and became a powerful contributor to jazz, R&B, gospel and blues a little later. The first electric keyboard widely used in jazz, invented by Benjamin F. Meissner, weighed only 75 pounds. It used an assortment of steel reeds, struck by hammers and with the vibration captured by electronic sensors similar to guitar pickups. Most pianists, however, disliked the sound and the touch of the instrument – though it had some early fans, notably Joe Zawinul and Sun Ra.
