Music Library Association Best Practices for key of expression

Record the element in bibliographic records if deemed useful for identification or access.

Do not record the element in authority records intended to represent more than a single expression.

Until further guidance is developed, this element should be considered to apply only to music conforming to Western tonal harmony. Other pitch organization systems, including non-Western systems, Western ecclesiastical modes, jazz modes, atonal pitch systems, pentatonic or whole-tone systems, etc. should be considered out of scope for the time being.

In MARC: Record as a structured description using field 384 subfield $a. Use first indicator 0 or 1 as appropriate if the Work: key of representative expression is known.

Use the LC-PCC string encoding scheme below as the basis for a structured description, with the following addition: If a pitch center is given or apparent but the mode is variable or ambiguous, record only the pitch center and omit the word major or minor.

Generally do not apply the option unless directed by local policy. This recommendation will be reevaluated at a future date.