the first note of the scale upon which a piece of music is based
Key note
Related Dictionary Terms
Key Center
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Theory
A key center organizes harmonic tension and release around a tonic. Identifying key center helps performers shape phrasing, c…
Key signature
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an arrangement of sharps or flats placed on the far left hand side of each line of the staff, indicating scale of the piece S…
Intonation
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the degree to which the pitch of a note heard is what is correct but not to the degree that the note heard is the wrong note
Cancrizans
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Latin
a tune repeated so that the original order of notes is reversed the last note become the first, the penultimate note becomes…
Changing notes
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non harmonic notes; two notes, one that leaves the chord note by a tone or semitone, then leaps to the next non harmonic note…
Circle of fifths
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chain of intervals. each interval a fifth, after passing through every note of the scale returns to a note, several octaves d…
Clos
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a cadence in which the last note sounds conclusive; that note, termed the 'final', which is the central note of the melody; t…
Diatonic scale
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any scale of the major, natural minor, melodic minor or harmonic minor scales based on a particular key note