<P> In modern usage, "harpsichord" can mean any member of the family of instruments . More often, though, it specifically denotes a grand - piano - shaped instrument with a roughly triangular case accommodating long bass strings at the left and short treble strings at the right . The characteristic profile of such a harpsichord is more elongated than a modern piano, with a sharper curve to the bentside . </P> <P> The virginal is a smaller and simpler rectangular form of the harpsichord having only one string per note; the strings run parallel to the keyboard, which is on the long side of the case . </P> <P> A spinet is a harpsichord with the strings set at an angle (usually about 30 degrees) to the keyboard . The strings are too close together for the jacks to fit between them . Instead, the strings are arranged in pairs, and the jacks are in the larger gaps between the pairs . The two jacks in each gap face in opposite directions, and each plucks a string adjacent to the gap . </P> <P> The English diarist Samuel Pepys mentions his "tryangle" several times . This was not the percussion instrument that we call triangle today; rather, it was a name for octave - pitched spinets, which were triangular in shape . </P>

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