a keyboard instrument, unlike the piano which uses hammers to strike the strings or the harpsichord that plucks the strings, the clavichord puts pressure on the strings from below - as a result the clavichord has a much softer tone
A clavichord is a musical instrument rather like a small piano. When you press the keys, small pieces of metal come up and hit the strings. Clavichords were especially popular during the eighteenth century. a musical instrument like a piano, that was played especially in the past (clavichordium, from clavis + chorda ). Early keyboard instrument, an important forerunner of the piano. It flourished 1400-1800, especially in Germany. It is usually rectangular, with the keyboard inset. The strings are struck by metal tangents, rather than plucked as on the harpsichord. The tangent becomes the endpoint of the vibrating string; thus the point where it strikes determines the pitch. So-called fretted clavichords permit more than one tangent to strike a single pair of strings (which somewhat limits the notes that can be sounded simultaneously); unfretted clavichords use only one tangent per pair of strings. The player's touch can produce dynamic variation; variation in finger pressure can even produce vibrato. Its tone is silvery and soft, best suited for intimate music
an early keyboard musical instrument having strings struck by tangents attached directly to the key ends