Manual (music)

The console of the Great Organ at the Church of St Sulpice built by Aristide Cavaillé-Coll in 1862.

The word "manual" is used instead of the word "keyboard" when referring to any hand-operated keyboard on a keyboard instrument that has a pedalboard (a keyboard on which notes are played with the feet), such as an organ; or when referring to one of the keyboards on an instrument that has more than one hand-operated keyboard, such as a two- or three-manual harpsichord. (On instruments that have neither a pedalboard nor more than one hand-operated keyboard, the word "manual" is not a synonym for "keyboard".)

Music written to be played only on the manuals (and not using the pedals) can be designated by the word manualiter (first attested in 1511, but particularly common in the 17th and 18th centuries).^[1]

^ Williams, Peter (2001). "Manualiter". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.‎

[1] Williams, Peter (2001). "Manualiter". In Sadie, Stanley; Tyrrell, John (eds.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2nd ed.). London: Macmillan Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5.‎

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