(adj. tonal) : System of music composition that establishes relationships through use of a tonal center (the tonic) and a major or minor key built from it. Much of the stack "Scales, Keys, etc." deals with issues of tonality.
A system of composition in which one tone is established as central and all other tones are related to it. Although the term can be used to describe any system that follows this prescription, people usually use the term in a more restricted sense to mean music written in a key.
tonal A harmonic system in which triads are arranged hierarchically around a central triad called the tonic.
Principle of organization around a tonic, or home, pitch, based on a major or minor scale. Tonality is perceived here as a strong pull to the tonic (G); when the melody finally reaches a cadence on this pitch (at the end of this excerpt), there is a sense of finality. Example: Bach, Minuet in G Real Audio: 28K | 56K | About this album
In music, the quality of an instrument's tone, often related to the key in which the music is written. In audio, mistakenly used in place of "tonal quality."
music with a center which employs tones which relate to that center or tonic in a predictable manner
the pitch that is the tonal center, which is the tonic
The harmonic relationship of tones with respect to a definite center or point of rest; fundamental to much of Western music from ca. 1600.
any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music
a system of music which creates a relationship of tones around a definite pitch center
Arrangement of colors; the scheme connecting the color tones in a work of art such as a painting or photograph; how the light values in the scene are mapped to shades of grey on the print.
the recognition of a specific key within a musical work
Principle of organization around a tonic, or home, pitch, based on a major or minor scale. Example: Bach, "Minuet in G" Real Audio: 28k | 56k | About this album Tonality is perceived here as a strong pull to the tonic (G); when the melody finally reaches a cadence on this pitch (at the end of this excerpt), there is a sense of finality.
Denotes the presence of a central key in a musical composition. If the music moves to a different key (see modulation), it is expected to return to the original key (called the tonic). Tonality gives the ear a "center," providing a context in which melody and harmony have "meaning." Atonality (prevalent in some 20th century music) is music without any central key.
A feeling in melody and harmony that one pitch, the tonic, is the pulling force or center of a piece of music.
the sense we have that a section or piece of music is in a certain key; an arrangement of melody and harmony so as to stress one pitch as the most important tone.
1. A system for interpreting pitches or chords through their relationship to a reference pitch, dubbed the tonic. The relationships are designated using scale-degree names or numbers. 2. Any musical system in any culture that relates scale tones to a final or reference pitch. 3. The major/minor system of pitch organization that has dominated Western music since the 16th century (contrasts with modality and atonality). 4. A broad-ranging interrelated system of musical organization that includes cadences, modulations, thematic key areas, and long-term key closure. See also scale degree.
The feeling of centrality of one note (and its chord) to a passage of music; as opposed to atonality.
The gradations of light and dark of a subject or photo, from highlights to shadows. Tonality can be hard, with a strong difference between tones, or soft, meaning a more gentle transition of tones.
A system of tones (ex: tones of major scale) used in such a way that one tone becomes central and the remaining tones assume a hierarchy based on this interval relationship to the central tone or tonal center.
The relationship of tones within a definite center, sometimes synonymous with key.
The tonal center of a composition.
The concept of adherence to a certain key throughout a composition.
The term used to describe the organization of the melodic and harmonic elements to give a feeling of a key center or a tonic pitch.
Tonality is a system of writing music according to certain hierarchical pitch relationships around 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.