tonality
n.
relations between the tones of a musical scale, key; color scheme
Tonality
Tonality is a system of
music in which certain
hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a
key "center" or
tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre Choron (1810) and was borrowed by
François-Joseph Fétis in 1840 (Reti, 1958; Simms 1975, 119; Judd, 1998; Dahlhaus 1990). Although Fétis used it as a general term for a system of musical organization and spoke of types de tonalités rather than a single system, today the term is most often used to refer to
Major-Minor tonality (also called diatonic tonality or functional tonality), the system of musical organization of the
common practice period and most popular music in much of the world today.
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tonality
Noun
1. any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music
(synonym) key
(antonym) atonality, atonalism
(hypernym) musical notation
(hyponym) major key, major mode
Tonality
(n.)
The principle of key in music; the character which a composition has by virtue of the key in which it is written, or through the family relationship of all its tones and chords to the keynote, or tonic, of the whole.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter.
About
tonality
Synonyms and related words:
French pitch, Klangfarbe, arc lighting, black and white, chiaroscuro, clang color, classical pitch, color, coloring, contrast, decorative lighting, depth, direct lighting, dominant, dulcetness, electric lighting, enlightenment, festoon lighting, floodlighting, fluorescent lighting, gaslighting, glow lighting, height, high pitch, highlights, illumination, incandescent lighting, indirect lighting, irradiation, key, key signature, keynote, light and shade, lighting, low pitch, major, major key, mediant, mellifluence, mellifluousness, melodiousness, melody, minor, musical quality, musical sound, musicality, new philharmonic pitch, note, overhead lighting, pedal point, philharmonic pitch, philosophical pitch, pitch, radiation, register, spot lighting, stage lighting, standard pitch, strip lighting, subdominant, submediant, subtonic, supertonic, sweetness, timbre, tone, tone color, tone quality, tonic, tonic key, tune, tunefulness
Source: Moby Thesaurus, which is part of the
Moby Project created by Grady Ward. In 1996 Grady Ward placed this thesaurus in the public domain.