TONALITY

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

Meaning:

Any of 24 major or minor diatonic scales that provide the tonal framework for a piece of music

Synonyms:

key; tonality

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("tonality" is a kind of...):

musical notation ((music) notation used by musicians)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tonality"):

major key; major mode (a key whose harmony is based on the major scale)

minor key; minor mode (a key based on the minor scale)

home key; tonic key (the basic key in which a piece of music is written)

Antonym:

atonality (the absence of a key; alternative to the diatonic system)

Derivation:

tonal (having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic)