tone row


tone row

R0222700 (rō)n. Music An ordering of notes employing all 12 pitches of the chromatic scale.

tone row

or

tone series

n (Classical Music) music a group of notes having a characteristic pattern or order that forms the basis of the musical material in a serial composition, esp one consisting of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale. Also called: note row See also serialism, twelve-tone

twelve′-tone` row′

(roʊ)
n. the 12 chromatic tones of the octave arranged by a composer in a particular sequence and used more or less as the fixed melodic and harmonic basis for a piece. [1940–45]
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