Music Library Special Collections: Piano Rolls

Piano rolls are continuous rolls of paper with holes punched throughout used to operate player pianos. When the paper rolls over a player piano's tracker bar, the holes in the paper give instructions to the piano on which notes and rhythms to play. The UofL Music Library's piano roll collection consists of approximately 95 rolls, chiefly produced in the early 1900s. These rolls contain performances of various popular songs of the 1910s and 1920s. A complete finding aid for the collection, which lists song titles, composers, lyricists, and publisher information can be found on the left column of this page.