值得一提的是大鍵琴在法國的發展與歷史,當代著名的大鍵琴音樂家例如巴赫、韓德爾以及多梅尼科·斯卡拉蒂都不是來自法國,但是法國當地一直都有作曲家專門為大鍵琴寫作,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]與杜菲(Jacques Duphly,1715–1789)[31][32]等人。由於自身獨特發展的歷史緣故,法國大鍵琴音樂的裝飾音非常多,其種類可達十數種之多,最早的法國大鍵琴音樂尤其有很多琶音[i]。
大鍵琴聲音較現代鋼琴略小(範圍約 p – f[k]),而且此種發音機制無法控制音量,不像現代鋼琴這樣可以依手指力量的大小,彈出不同強度或持續較久的音,更無法彈奏出漸強或漸弱的效果。至於音域方面(見右下方圖),大鍵琴的鍵盤大約維持在四個半至五個8度音階[57],而兩組鍵盤的實際音域,則大約為五個半至七個8度[l]。由於工業革命以前的西方樂器,例如古小提琴(vielle)和古大提琴(viola de Gamba)等的琴弦由羊腸線製成[59],因此比現代同類的樂器音律較為低,所以以前的大鍵琴大多都維持在4個半至5個8度音階左右,其聲音頻率為415赫茲[60]。現在製作的大鍵琴已有移位440赫茲的裝置[61],故此可以同時滿足與古樂器以及現代樂器樂隊合作演奏的要求。
^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).
^Viljoen, W French ornamentation in organ and harpsichord music of the Baroque Ars Nova, Volume 11, 1979 - Issue 1, pp. 34–37
^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
^John Koster, 'Arnaut de Zwolle, Henri', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy [2018年12月24日]
^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(早期美國上流社會階級的成員都善於彈奏大鍵琴)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 (英皇喬治三世和夏洛特女王善於彈奏大鍵琴)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).
^Françoise Petit: Sur l'œuvre de Jacques Duphly, Courrier musical de France, 23 (1968), pp. 188–90
^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
^J. Lambrechts-Douillez, eds.: De familie Couchet/The Couchet Family (Antwerp, 1986)
^Jeannine Lambrechts-Douillez: 'Dulcken'The harpsichord. Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy. [2018-12-22]. (原始内容存档于2007-07-21) (英语).
^ A History of the Harpsichord (大鍵琴歷史), 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 (英國大鍵琴的發展,特別關於柯克曼的作品研究) (dissertation, Oxford University, 1976年)
^E Halfpenny: Shudi and the "Venetian Swell", Music & Letters XXVII (1946)
^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.
^Skowroneck, Martin (2003) Cembalobau/Harpsichord Construction. Bergkirchen: Bochinsky.
(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