:: Welcome to A History of Western Music

Gustav Klimt. Die Musik (detail). 1895. Neue Pinakothek, Munich.
Photo: © Joachin Blauel/ARTOTHEK

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key In TONAL music, the hierarchy of NOTES, CHORDS, and other pitch elements around a central note, the TONIC. There are two kinds of keys, major and minor.

kithara Ancient Greek instrument, a large LYRE.

Klangfarbenmelodie (German, "tone-color melody") Term coined by Arnold Schoenberg to describe a succession of tone colors that is perceived as analogous to the changing pitches in a MELODY.

Kyrie (Greek, "Lord") One of the five major musical items in the MASS ORDINARY, based on a BYZANTINE litany.