In Jane's novels, we see many characters skilled in the pianoforte - Jane Fairfax, Marianne Dashwood, Georgiana Darcy, Mary Bennet, Anne Elliot, among others. A lady was thought of as accomplished if she could play the pianoforte and playing at a party increased a young ladies chances of finding a husband, which is perhaps how Frank Churchill fell in love with Jane Fairfax at Weymouth in Emma.

 

The pianoforte was first constructed around the early 1700s in Italy. Piano meaning soft and forte loud, as the emphasis of the notes could be exhibited by putting less or more pressure on the keys. However, the harpsichord, a similar instrument, dates from around the end of the 14th century. The pianoforte is different from the harpsichord in that it was shorter and wider and gave a slightly different sound due to the number of strings.

In Jane Austen's time, the pianoforte was the most popular instrument in middle class society and it is the instrument played most in all her novels. They didn't have gramophones (or mp3 players!) at that time so the pianoforte was the best way of enjoying music in a small party. Harpsichords were displaced by pianofortes in most public venues by the Regency period.

 

Jane Austen herself played the pianoforte, and owned a small one at various points throughout her lifetime. When she did not have her own, she rented one. At the Jane Austen House Museum where she lived in Chawton, there is one of Jane's pianoforte's, a Clementi, believed to be around 1810.

Sheet music was expensive so friend's would copy each other's sheet music (much like copying CD's or sharing digital music these days). There are eight books held by the Jane Austen Memorial Trust in Chawton, penned in Jane's own hand.

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In the days of no internet, Jane tended to like whatever music was popular at that time, and therefore easy to get hold of. She liked to play folk songs, Scotch and Irish airs, songs from the popular stage, Piccinni, Sterkel, Bach and many others.