Piano and 'Casablanca's' Sam

The piano holds some remarkable secrets. Bartolomeo Cristofori invented it around 1700, and modern versions contain over 12,000 parts bearing roughly 18 tons of string tension. You might also be surprised to learn that Casablanca's beloved piano man, Sam, never actually played a note — actor Dooley Wilson was a drummer who simply mimed the keys while an uncredited musician played off-screen. There's plenty more fascinating detail waiting for you ahead.

Key Takeaways

• Bartolomeo Cristofori invented the piano around 1700, replacing the harpsichord's plucking mechanism with hammers, allowing volume control through key pressure.
• A modern piano contains over 12,000 parts and approximately 230 strings, generating nearly 18 tons of combined string tension.
• "As Time Goes By," composed in 1931, became Casablanca's iconic leitmotif and ranked number two on the AFI's greatest movie songs list.
• Dooley Wilson, who played Sam, was actually a drummer and singer who mimed the piano playing throughout the entire film.
• Every piano note heard in Casablanca was played off-screen, with recording credits pointing to either Elliot Carpenter or Jean Plummer as the real performer.

Bartolomeo Cristofori and the Invention of the Piano

Bartolomeo Cristofori was born on May 4, 1655, in Padua, Republic of Venice, and he'd already built a reputation as a skilled harpsichord maker before he changed music history forever.

In 1688, he joined the Florentine court of Grand Prince Ferdinando de' Medici, caring for its instrument collection and building innovative keyboards. His greatest achievement was replacing the harpsichord's plucking action with a hammer mechanism that let players control volume through key pressure.

By 1700, his invention appeared in a Medici inventory, and four instruments existed by 1711. The Cristofori legacy extends beyond Italy, as Queen Maria Barbara de Braganza later purchased five of his pianos, and his work likely influenced Domenico Scarlatti's compositions.

He died in Florence on January 27, 1731. Today, three surviving pianos attributed to Cristofori are preserved at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Musical Instruments in Leipzig, and the Museum of Musical Instruments in Rome.

The earliest music published specifically for the piano was Lodovico Giustini's 12 Sonate, released in Florence in 1732, and it notably included dynamic markings to guide performers in varying their touch. Much like wine, which became central to religious and social life across ancient cultures after spreading from the South Caucasus region, the piano rapidly transcended its Italian origins to become a cornerstone of musical culture worldwide.

12,000 Parts, 230 Strings, and 18 Tons of String Tension

While Cristofori's hammer mechanism set the piano's foundation, the modern instrument has grown into a marvel of mechanical complexity. You're looking at over 12,000 total parts, with 10,000 of them moving — a demonstration to piano mechanics that demands precision engineering.

Inside, 230 strings work under remarkable tension. String metallurgy explains the variation: copper-wound bass strings handle lower frequencies, while steel treble strings often run in triple sets per key.

Each string averages 160 pounds of tension, pushing the combined total to an extraordinary 18 tons — equivalent to a large vehicle's weight pressing down continuously. Concert grands push this even further, with close to 30 tons of string tension exerted on the frame.

That tension never rests. Even when you're not playing, strings constantly pull against the iron frame. Regular tuning prevents drastic tension shifts that would otherwise stress and weaken the entire structure over time. Experts recommend annual tuning at minimum, regardless of how often the piano is played or how well it sounds to the ear.

The Records That Define the Piano's Legacy

The Chopin influence runs equally deep. His invention of the piano ballade and his 21 nocturnes redefined emotional expression in Romantic music, legitimizing small-scale chamber pieces and infusing Polish spirit into Western harmony.

Even jazz milestones like Dave Brubeck's Take Five expanded what you'd expect from piano-driven composition. Together, these recordings prove the piano's reach across classical, jazz, and electric traditions. The Rhodes electric piano extended that electric tradition further, appearing on landmark recordings by Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, and Stevie Wonder, with its legacy now preserved in the Rhodes Anthology Series plug-in. Harold Rhodes first developed his instrument in 1942, building the Army Air Corps Lap Piano from aluminum tubing salvaged from B-17 bombers to aid wounded servicemen in therapy. This therapeutic mission aligned with broader wartime efforts, as military medical evacuation systems expanded on 9 October 1942 to improve survival rates and accelerate care for injured soldiers through increased air transport capacity.

Why the Piano Became the 'King of Instruments'

Few instruments have left fingerprints across so many genres, but what truly earned the piano its royal title goes beyond its greatest recordings. Its expressive range alone sets it apart — 88 keys spanning over seven octaves, matching everything from the lowest double bassoon to the highest piccolo.

You can play melody, harmony, and bass simultaneously, making it a one-instrument orchestra.

Then there's its cultural status. You'll find it in homes, concert stages, and university practice rooms worldwide. Composers and performers have centered entire careers around it. Online tools like fact-finding resources by category can surface surprising historical details about the piano's rise to cultural dominance across countries and eras.

Its visual key layout makes it the ideal starting point for beginners, teaching theory and performance together. Add its dynamic control, genre versatility from reggae to jazz, and ability to accompany any instrument, and the title "King of Instruments" stops sounding like flattery. For beginners especially, simply pressing a key produces sound immediately, meaning early audible feedback supports progress in ways that fretting a guitar or mastering a brass embouchure simply cannot.

Many of the world's most celebrated musicians learned piano before picking up any other instrument, a pattern that highlights its reputation as the foundational instrument from which all other musical study benefits most.

How 'As Time Goes By' Made the Piano Casablanca's Emotional Core

Nostalgia does heavy lifting in Casablanca, but no single element carries more emotional weight than "As Time Goes By." Herman Hupfeld composed it in 1931, long before the film existed, yet it fits Rick and Ilsa's story so precisely it feels written for them.

Composer Max Steiner initially resisted using it, but once integrated, he transformed it into a melodic leitmotif woven through every emotional turn. He shifted it from major chords during Paris flashbacks to minor keys at the tragic train station, letting the melody mirror each character's shifting feelings. This technique achieves emotional anchoring, making you feel Rick's bitterness, Ilsa's longing, and their shared loss without a single word. Simple chords carry enormous weight when placed precisely within the right story.

At the film's final farewell, Steiner slowed the theme and scored it mostly for strings, returning it to its original harmonies and creating what many consider the most romantically devastating moment in the entire picture.

The song's cultural reach extended far beyond the film, with artists across virtually every genre recording their own versions, from Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra to an unexpected cover by ZZ Top in 2003. The American Film Institute later ranked "As Time Goes By" number two among the greatest movie songs of the 20th century, cementing its place as an enduring standard that appeared in over 60 films after Casablanca.

The Truth About Dooley Wilson's Piano Performance in Casablanca

Behind the piano that made "As Time Goes By" so unforgettable sits a carefully kept Hollywood secret: Dooley Wilson couldn't actually play it. Wilson was a drummer and singer who'd spent years leading his own band through London and Paris nightclubs, but piano was never part of his skill set.

His entire on-screen performance was a faked performance. While Wilson convincingly mimicked the keys during filming, an off-screen musician handled every note you hear. Recording credits point to either Elliot Carpenter or Jean Plummer as the actual performer behind the dubbed audio.

What makes this remarkable is how seamlessly the illusion worked. Wilson's confident physical presence and powerful vocals distracted audiences completely, making one of cinema's most beloved musical moments the product of pure collaborative deception. The very piano central to this illusion later sold for $3.4 million at Bonhams auction house in New York.

The famous salmon-coloured piano featured in Rick's nightclub was specially altered so that its lid opened from the rear, allowing it to conceal stolen transit papers hidden within.