The history of modern musical keyboards dates back to at least the first century AD, as Vitruvius work on architecture during the same era provided information about an organ that had balanced keys. It is a well-known fact that in 757 AD, Emperor Constantine sent a musical instrument with keys as a gift to King Pepin of France.

The evolution of the musical keyboard continued with music genius Guido of Arezzo, who applied the keyboard to stringed musical instruments in the 11th century. Even as modern musical keyboards have undergone many changes over the last few decades, the basic key layout has not been much different from the traditional concept.

Most of the latest models of musical keyboards play certain compositions automatically. These compositions have been recorded in the memory of these keyboards. By pressing a particular key, the keyboard starts playing these compositions. In some of the keyboards, you can save new music compositions also. Musicians often use such musical keyboards to create and record their music.

Some musical keyboards produce sounds of a particular musical instrument, but some may produce sounds of several musical instruments. The latter are more popular among common people and music lovers as well as musicians.

Musical keyboards are very popular as gift items. They come in various sizes. Portable musical keyboards, specially designed for children, are also available. The price of a musical keyboard varies according the sound quality and the number of functions it can perform.

Most musicians in todays world rely on musical keyboards for creating music. Compared to traditional musical instruments, musical keyboards often prove to be more cost-effective and timesaving. Many top electronics manufacturers provide a wide range of musical keyboards at affordable prices.