KEY (AS cmg, carpe, OFries. kni, kei: prob ably connected with OHG. kil, Ger. Keil, Icel. kciler, wedge. peg). A common heraldic bearing in the insignia of sees, seats of learning, and re ligious houses, particularly such as are under the patronage of Saint Peter. Two keys in saltire are frequent. and keys are sometimes interlaced or linked together at the bows—i.e. rings. Keys indorsed are placed side by side, the wards away from each other. In secular heraldry. keys some• times denote office in the State. See HERALDRY.
KEY. In music, all the tones of any given scale considered collectively and in their har monie rather than their melodic relations. The term is not at all synonymous with scale, but has a much broader meaning. A scale consists only of single tones in melodic succession, whereas a key comprises not only the tones of the scale itself, but all chords eonstructeil upon those tones. Each key is named after the keynote or tonic, i.e. the lowest tone of the scale belong ing to that key. There are as many keys as there are scales, i.e. twelve major and twelve minor. The major and minor scales differ in the position of the semitone, the former having this semitone between the third and fourth, the latter between the second and third degrees. The semitone lead ing into the octave, and known as the leading tone, is common to both major and minor seales, and is found between the seventh and eighth de grees. For the major scales the one beginning on C is regarded as the fundamental scale. Because all the tones appear without any chromatic alter ation, it is also called the: natural scale. This is really a misnomer. since all major scales are exactly alike as regards the succession of tones and semitones: there is only a difference in pitch. The only reason why this scale is called natural is. that on instruments having a keyboard all the tones are played on the white keys, while all other scales require the use of a number of black keys. For instance. if the major scale is begun on D the F must be sharpened. no as to preserve the semitone between the third and fourth de grees; for the same reason the C must also he sharpened. Among the minor keys that of A bears the same relation to all the others as the key of C bears to the other major keys. Every composition is. written in a definite key, which can be determined at once by glancing at the key-signature. Instead of marking each sharp or dot required in the composition, it is custom ary to indicate at the beginning of a piece all the notes which require chromatic alteration. Whether the mode is major or minor can gen erally be determined by the opening elnird, for, as a rule, compositions begin with the tonic chord. The keys of C major and A minor, requiring no chromatic alterations, have, therefore, no signa ture. The number of sharps or fiats for the other keys is determined by the circle of fifths. (See TEMPERAMENT.) Taking the key of G, whose tonic lies a tilth above C, one sharp is required; the Key of I). whose tonic lies a tifth above G. requires two sharps, etc. The number
of tlats is determined by proceeding from C iu fifths The signatures of minor keys are determined in the same manner. Since the key of A minor lies a minor third below the cor responding major key of C. it follows that all other minor keys ate found a minor third below the corresponding major keys. The following is a complete table of all the key-signatures: 'The keys printed in capitals are the only ones in practical use. Owing to the equal temperament (q.v.) now in use for all instruments, enharmonic changes cause no difficulty. On keyed instru ments, like the pianoforte ur organ, the tones F;'; and Gb arc identical. being both played oil the saute key. It is, therefore, immaterial for such instruments whether a piece is written in Ft; or GY. It certainly is much simpler to write in Db with only tire flats than in the enharmonic key of with seven sharps. In the above tables the keys printed in small letters are such as cor respond to those in large letters above or below. They are given only to show that by going through the circle of fifths we again come to the starting-point.
An easy way of determining the names of the major Ice}: according to the key-signatures is, in the ease of sharps, to take the note above the last sharp, and in the ease of flats. the flat before the last. For i»stance, if there are four sharps, the last one will be d and the note above it e, or the name of the key of four sharps. If there are four fiats the last will he d, the one before the last a, or the name of the key of four flats. The names of the minor kcys are determined by taking the note below the last sharp in sharps, and the st cum/ note above the last fiat in llats.
dust as the several tones of a seals bear a certain to one another, so there exists also a similar relationship among the keys. A rclatirc ur parallel key is a minor key having the same signature as its corresponding major key or vice versa. Thus C major and A minor, C minor and EY major, A major and Ft minor are relatirc or parotid keys. belated keys are those whose tonic tones stand in some relation one another. G and F are closely related to C because the tonic of the former key is the fifth above, that of the latter key the fifth below •. Jtemote or c.etr( me keys are those whose tonic tones stand in no or some very distant relation to one another. See MAJon: MINOR; MODES; TONALITY.
In another sense the word key is used to de note a series of levers composing the keyboard of keyed instruments. In the pianoforte these keys are manipulated by the fingers. They cause the hammers to strike the strings. The organ has a similar set of keys, which open valves for the passage of the wind into the pipes. There is also a. set of keys manipulated by the feet and called pedal. In the instruments of the wood wind class the levers; lying on the outside of the tube and covering the air-holes are also called keys. They differ from the valves of brass in struments, which latter are inside of the tube. SIT KEYBOARD : VALVE.