A spinet is a small type of keyboard instrument, similar to a harpsichord but more compact. In the 1600s and 1700s, when most keyboard instruments were large and expensive, spinets fit perfectly in smaller homes. They had a distinctive angular shape, with strings running diagonally instead of straight back like a piano's strings. When you pressed a key, a small plucking mechanism called a jack would pluck the string to make sound.

Spinets were especially popular with families who loved music but didn't have space for a full-sized harpsichord. Many young musicians practiced on spinets before moving on to larger instruments. The spinet's sweet, delicate tone made it perfect for intimate performances in parlors and small rooms.

In the 1900s, piano makers borrowed the name for a different kind of instrument: small upright pianos designed for apartments and modest homes. These later spinets were actual pianos with hammers hitting strings, not plucking instruments like the originals. Today, you're most likely to see antique spinets in museums or hear their distinctive sound in recordings of Baroque music, that elaborate, ornamental style of classical music popular in the 1600s and early 1700s.