Leonardo da Vinci’s keyboard string instrument was the viola organista.
Leonardo designed the viola organista in the late 15th century. It combined a keyboard with strings and a mechanism in which rotating wheels or bows rubbed the strings to produce sound. Pressing keys selected the notes, while the moving friction elements acted somewhat like the bow of a bowed string instrument.
Several versions appear in Leonardo’s notebooks, showing that he continued refining the idea. The instrument was never known to have been completed by Leonardo, and no surviving original instrument has been identified. Modern builders have created reconstructions based on his drawings.
The viola organista is not simply an early piano. A piano produces sound when hammers strike strings, while Leonardo’s mechanism used continuous friction. It is also different from a conventional organ, which produces tones through pipes. The invention demonstrates Leonardo’s interest in mechanical systems that could reproduce the expressive qualities of live musical performance.