Romanian pianist hits piano key 500 times in 30 seconds, breaking world record

31 October 2024, 12:11

Thurzó Zoltán during his record breaking attempt.
Thurzó Zoltán during his record breaking attempt. Picture: Facebook video

By Will Padfield

A pianist with lighting-fast fingers has broken a world record...

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A Romanian concert pianist has unofficially broken a Guinness World Record for the most notes hit on the piano in 30 seconds, hitting the highest note on a piano a staggering 500 times.

Thurzó Zoltán made his record-breaking attempt in Biharia village, Romania on 23 October, a year after the death of his mother, Thurzó Margit Terézia, who died on the same date in 2023.

Despite producing a sound that is reminiscent of a jackhammer, there have been other attempts to hit as many notes as possible in 30 seconds.

Keita Hattori, a Japanese musician, currently holds the record, hitting a staggering 495 keys in 30 seconds back in December 2023.

Watch Zoltán’s record-breaking performance below.

Read more: This piano doesn’t have any black keys. How will it sound?

VIDEO 👉 OFFICIAL Guinness World Record – Most piano key hits in 30 seconds 🎹The most piano key hits in 30 seconds is 500 and was achieved by Thurzó Zoltán concert pianist (Nagyvárad-Oradea) in Biharia village, Bihor county (Romania) on 23 october 2024, in the memory of his mother (Thurzó Margit Terézia) who passed away in 23 october 2023, at age of 77. 👇Other current official Guinness World Records Title Holder results of Thurzó Zoltán: ⭐️ 2022 – Highest altitude grand piano performance On 13 june 2022, at the base camp of Mount Everest Base Camp, in Nepal, Zoltán broke the Guinness World Record in the category “The highest altitude grand piano performance”. He performed the piano concert entitled “HYMN ON HIGHTS” at an altitude of 5325.77 meters, at a temperature between +1.0°C and +3.0°C, and it lasted 132 minutes. During which he played 37 pieces of classical music, as well after that the national anthems of 26 different nations such as: Romania, Hungary, Szekler, Ucraine, Russia, USA, United Kingdom of Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Slovenia, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Norway, Danmark, Finland, Croatia, Spain, Greece, Japan, Nepal, UAE. ⭐️ 2022 – Longest marathon playing keyboard / piano by an individual This second Guinness commitment made by Zoltán was only 105 days after the previous one. Between 19-25 september 2022, in Nagyvárad/Oradea, he successfully broke the Guinness World Record of the “Longest marathon playing keyboard / piano by an individual” too, and thus became the top performer in this category as well. ⭐️ 2024 – Highest altitude grand piano performance On June 12, 2024, he broke his own 2022 record at the top of the Umling La Pass in India, Ladakh region, with the title “Hymn on high 2. – Genesis”. Held on top of the world’s highest ,motorable road at a height of 19,024 feet / 5798.51 meters, now his piano concert lasted for 31 minutes and 42 seconds, during which he played 9 works of classical music, as well as the anthems of 4 different nations. This extraordinary performance in freezing conditions took place at -10 / -13 degrees Celsius. As part of the classical piano music mini-concert, he performed piano works by Vaja Azarashvili, George Enescu, Arno Babadjanyan, Edward Elgar, Frédéric Chopin, Amy Beach and Franz Liszt.

Posted by Thurzó Zoltán - concert pianist, zongoraművész on Monday, October 28, 2024

Zoltán is no stranger to record attempts, previously achieving the Guinness World Record for the piano performance at the highest altitude, at a daunting 19,024 feet. Additionally, he holds the record for the longest marathon playing keyboard or piano by an individual, at 130 hours.

Zoltán is hoping to add to his extreme piano playing record. As we speak, evidence from this daring attempt is being submitted to Guinness World Records for official review.