twelve-tone music

Definitions of twelve-tone music
  1. noun
    a type of serial music introduced by Arnold Schoenberg; uses a tone row formed by the twelve semitones of the chromatic scale (and inverted or backward versions of the row)
    synonyms: 12-tone music, 12-tone system, twelve-tone system
    see moresee less
    type of:
    serial music, serialism
    20th century music that uses a definite order of notes as a thematic basis for a musical composition
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago

Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘twelve-tone music'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family