值得一提的是大键琴在法国的发展与历史,当代著名的大键琴音乐家例如巴赫、韩德尔以及多梅尼科·斯卡拉蒂都不是来自法国,但是法国当地一直都有作曲家专门为大键琴写作,包括最早的尚博尼埃(Jacques Champion de Chambonnières,1601–1672)[26][27][28]、库普兰(1668–1733)[29][30]与杜菲(Jacques Duphly,1715–1789)[31][32]等人。由于自身独特发展的历史缘故,法国大键琴音乐的装饰音非常多,其种类可达十数种之多,最早的法国大键琴音乐尤其有很多琶音[i]。
大键琴声音较现代钢琴略小(范围约 p – f[k]),而且此种发音机制无法控制音量,不像现代钢琴这样可以依手指力量的大小,弹出不同强度或持续较久的音,更无法弹奏出渐强或渐弱的效果。至于音域方面(见右下方图),大键琴的键盘大约维持在四个半至五个8度音阶[57],而两组键盘的实际音域,则大约为五个半至七个8度[l]。由于工业革命以前的西方乐器,例如古小提琴(vielle)和古大提琴(viola de Gamba)等的琴弦由羊肠线制成[59],因此比现代同类的乐器音律较为低,所以以前的大键琴大多都维持在4个半至5个8度音阶左右,其声音频率为415赫兹[60]。现在制作的大键琴已有移位440赫兹的装置[61],故此可以同时满足与古乐器以及现代乐器乐队合作演奏的要求。
Marla Hammel Bach: The Figured-bass Accompaniment in Bach's Time: A Brief Summary of Its Development and An Examination of Its Use, Together With a Sample Realization, Part I, Vol. 8, No. 3 (JULY, 1977), pp. 26–31, Published by Riemenschneider Bach Institute
The art of Accompaniment, or A new and well digested method to learn to perform the Thorough Bass on the Harpsichord with Propriety and EleganceMusic theory online : figured bass. Dolmetsch Organisation. [2018-12-23]. (原始内容存档于2021-02-11) (英语).
Peter Williams The Musical Quarterly:The Harpsichord Acciaccatura: Theory and Practice in Harmony, 1650–1750 Vol. 54, No. 4 (Oct., 1968), pp. 503–523 Published by Oxford University Press
David Emil Mungello, The Great Encounter of China and the West, 1500–1800 Fourth Edition pp. 79–80 Published by Rowman & Littlefield (2013) ISBN 1442219750, ISBN 9781442219755
Combaluzier, F. (1957) "Theodoric Pedrini, lazariste, missionaire, apostolique: Pékin 2 octobre 1727 (Theodoric Pedrini, Apostolic Lazariste Missionary)" Neue Zeitschirft für Missionswissenschaft (New Journal of Mission Studies), Vol.13, 1957, pp. 139–147 Schöneck, Switzerland: Bruder-Klausen-Seminar
Members of the early American upper class often mastered the harpsichord(早期美国上流社会阶级的成员都善于弹奏大键琴)Peter Redstone Builds a Barton Portable. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. [2018-12-22]. (原始内容存档于2021-03-04) (英语).
Both George III and Queen Charlotte were regular and competent players of the harpsichord (英皇乔治三世和夏洛特女王善于弹奏大键琴)BURKAT SHUDI (1702–73) Two-manual harpsichord 1740. Royal Collection Trust. [2018-12-22]. (原始内容存档于2020-02-24) (英语).
J. Lambrechts-Douillez: Documents dealing with the Ruckers Family and Antwerp Harpsichord Building and J.H. van der Meer: More about Flemish Two-Manual Harpsichords, both in Keyboard Instruments: Studies in Keyboard Organology, ed. E.M. Ripin (Edinburgh, 1971)
Sibyl Marcuse, The Musical Quarterly Transposing Keyboards on Extant Flemish Harpsichords, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Jul., 1952), pp. 414–425 Published by Oxford University Press
A History of the Harpsichord (大键琴历史), Kottick, E.L., 2003, Indiana University Press, based of a table on page 166, showing the known members of the Denis family
William Dowd: The Surviving Instruments of the Blanchet Workshop; The Historical Harpsichord: a Monograph Series in Honor of Frank Hubbard i, ed. Howard Schott (Stuyvesant, NY, 1984)
Charles Mould: The Development of the English Harpsichord, with Particular Reference to the Work of Kirkman (英国大键琴的发展,特别关于柯克曼的作品研究) (dissertation, Oxford University, 1976年)
Skowroneck, Martin (1974) Das Cembalo von Christian Zell, Hamburg 1728, und seine Restaurierung. ("The harpsichord of Christian Zell, Hamburg 1728, and its restroration"). Organ Yearbook 5:79–87.
Skowroneck, Martin, Tilman Skowroneck transl. (2002) 'The Harpsichord of Nicholas Lefebvre 1755': the Story of a Forgery without Intent to Defraud. The Galpin Society Journal, Vol. 55, (Apr., 2002), pp. 4–14+161.
(英文) Boalch, Donald H. (1995) Makers of the Harpsichord and Clavichord, 1440–1840, 3rd ed., with updates by Andreas H. Roth and Charles Mould, Oxford University Press, ISBN0-19-318429-X. A catalogue, originating with work by Boalch in the 1950s, of all extant historical instruments.
(英文) Dearling, Robert (编). The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Musical Instruments. London: Carlton. 1996. ISBN 1-85868-185-5.
(英文) Hubbard, Frank. Three Centuries of Harpsichord Making 2. Harvard University Press. 1967. ISBN 0-674-88845-6. An authoritative survey by a leading builder of how early harpsichords were built and how the harpsichord evolved over time in different national traditions.
(英文) Kottick, Edward (1987)The Harpsichord Owner's Guide. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
(英文) Kottick, Edward (2003) A History of the Harpsichord, Indiana University Press, ISBN0-253-34166-3. An extensive survey by a leading contemporary scholar.
(英文)The New Grove: Early Keyboard Instruments. Macmillan, 1989 ISBN0-393-02554-3. (material from here is also available online in Grove Music Online)
(英文) O'Brien, Grant (1990) Ruckers, a harpsichord and virginal building tradition, Cambridge University Press, ISBN0-521-36565-1. Covers the innovations of the Ruckers family, the founders of the Flemish tradition.
(英文) Russell, Raymond (1973)The Harpsichord and Clavichord: an introductory study, 2nd ed., London : Faber and Faber, ISBN0-571-04795-5
(英文) Skowroneck, Martin (2003) Cembalobau: Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse aus der Werkstattpraxis = Harpsichord construction: a craftsman's workshop experience and insight, Fachbuchreihe Das Musikinstrument 83, Bergkirchen : Bochinsky, ISBN3-932275-58-6. A study (written in English and German) of harpsichord building by a leading figure in the modern revival of historically authentic methods of building.
(英文) Zuckermann, Wolfgang (1969) The Modern Harpsichord: twentieth century instruments and their makers, New York : October House, ISBN0-8079-0165-2