Oldest form of stringed keyboard instrument, a predecessor of the piano. The clavichord was popular from the 1400s to the early 1800s and underwent a revival in the 20th century. It has a rectangular case with the keyboard lengthwise to the left and the soundboard at the right end. The strings run from tuning pins at the right end of the case, over a bridge set on the soundboard, to hitchpins at the back and left end of the case. When the player depresses the front of the key, a small upright brass blade at the rear of the key strikes the string, producing a sound.