se which sprang from pure
emotionality. The tone was produced by a blow against the string,
delivered by a bit of brass set in the farther end of the key. The
action was that of a direct lever, and the bit of brass, which was
called the tangent, also acted as a bridge and measured off the
segment of string whose vibration produced the desired tone. It was
therefore necessary to keep the key pressed down so long as it was
desired that the tone should sound, a fact which must be kept in mind
if one would understand the shortcomings as well as the advantages of
the instrument compared with the spinet or harpsichord. It also
furnishes one explanation of the greater lyricism of Bach's music
compared with that of his contemporaries. By gently rocking the hand
while the key was down, a tremulous motion could be communicated to
the string, which not only prolonged the tone appreciably but gave it
an expressive effect somewhat analogous to the vibrato of a violinist.
The Germans called this effect _Bebung_, the French _Balancement_, and
it was indicated by a row of dots under a short slur written over the
note. It is to the special fondness which Bach felt for the clavichord
that we owe, to a great extent, the cantabile style of his music, its
many-voicedness and its high emotionality.

[Sidenote: _Quilled instruments._]

[Sidenote: _Tone of the harpsichord and spinet._]

[Sidenote: _Bach's "Music of the future."_]

The spinet, virginal, and harpsichord were quilled instruments, the
tone of which was produced by snapping the strings by means of plectra
made of quill, or some other flexible substance, set in the upper end
of a bit of wood called the jack, which rested on the farther end of
the key and moved through a slot in the sounding-board. When the key
was pressed down, the jack moved upward past the string which was
caught and twanged by the plectrum. The blow of the clavichord tangent
could be graduated like that of the pianoforte hammer, but the quills
of the other instruments always plucked the strings with the same
force, so that mechanical devices, such as a swell-box, similar in
principle to that of the organ, coupling in octaves, doubling the
strings, etc., had to be resorted to for variety of dynamic effects.
The character of tone thus produced determined the character of the
music composed for these instruments to a great extent. The brevity of
the sound made sustained melodies ineffective, and encouraged the u