Meanings
- uncountableentertainmentThe fault of continuing to press down too hard on the keys of a keyboard instrument after the initial key depression that creates the sound, thus holding the keys against the keybed with excessive force beyond that needed to produce the sound and keep the keys from rising.
"Key-bedding," as a fault, arises when you mis-time the action intended to produce a tone, and mis-apply this force to the pads under the Keys instead of carefully timing its culmination and completion during key-descent and with the tone, and its cessation forthwith.
1932, Tobias Matthay, “Section Section XI”, in The visible and invisible in pianoforte technique, 1964 edition, Oxford University Press, page E 411 more example
"Keybedding" simply denotes the misapplication (or mistiming on to the pads under the keys) of the force intended to PRODUCE SOUND. In other words, the force (weight, or muscular work) is here applied too late during key-descent to be effective in producing the intended key-movement and tone. As a result, the tone-intended force is "buried" on the keybeds, instead of creating tone.
1932, Tobias Matthay, The visible and invisible in pianoforte technique, 1964 edition, Oxford University Press, page 94
Origin
From keybed + -ing. Coined by Tobias Matthay (see quotations below).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
keybedding. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keybedding
“keybedding.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keybedding. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “keybedding,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keybedding.
Source: keybedding on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.