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key

The gravity field of a scale: one note is home, and every other note is heard by its distance from home.

The gravity field a scale creates once one note becomes home. In a key every note has a job defined by its distance from the tonic, and endings on home feel finished while endings off it feel suspended. In C major means C is where gravity points, not merely that you use the white notes.

Learn it: Keys

The one-sentence definition at the top is the same one the Theory Aide extension shows as a tooltip inside Ableton Live. Hover any dotted term for its own.