Key

(kē.) [A.S. cæg.] (Mus.) The fundamental note or tone, to which the whole piece is accommodated, and in which it usually begins and always ends. There are but two species of keys: one of the major and one of the minor mode, all the keys in which we employ sharps or flats being deduced from the natural keys of C major and A minor, of which they are mere transpositions. The keys of an organ or pianoforte are movable projecting levers, made of ivory or wood, so placed as conveniently to receive the fingers of the performer, by which the mechanism is set in motion, and the sounds produced. The whole together form the key-board or clavier. [s. 515]