Essentials of Music

ONLINE GLOSSARY

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karaoke "Empty orchestra"; popular nightclub style from Japan where customers sing the melody to accompanying prerecorded tracks.

kettledrums See timpani.

key Defines the relationship of tones with a common center or tonic. Also a lever on a keyboard or woodwind instrument.

key signature Sharps or flats placed at the beginning of a piece to show the key of a work.

keyboard instrument Instrument sounded by means of a keyboard (a series of keys played with the fingers). The most commonly recognized keyboard instruments are the piano, organ, harpsichord and synthesizer, a recent invention.

keynote See tonic.

Klangfarbenmelodie Twentieth century technique in which the notes of a melody are distributed among different instruments, giving a pointillistic texture.

koto Japanese plucked-string instrument with a long rectangular body, thirteen strings and movable bridges or frets.

Click on a letter above to look up terms in the online glossary