polytonal

[pol-ee-tohn-l]

adjective

Music.

1. marked by or using polytonality.

Other Word Forms

• polytonally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of polytonal¹

First recorded in 1920–25; poly- + tonal

Example Sentences

It’s six minutes of deep-bottomed polytonal funk — topped with synthesizer jabs and horn lines, goaded by a hard-rock guitar riff — that veers between disenchanted verses and a conditionally optimistic chorus.

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“Deep Blue” touches on Minimalism, psychedelia and traditional jazz, with a steady backbeat, a polytonal piano lick, electric sitar and back-talk from trumpet, clarinet and violin.

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The sparse acoustic guitar at the beginning is deceptive; soon she’s in a polytonal tangle of horns, guitars and cross-rhythms, living up to her admonishment: “Bite off as much as you can chew.”

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Pentatonic arpeggios pile up in multiple keys; a polytonal roar escalates and evaporates.

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The chorus of “Nice,” sung by its co-producer Pharrell Williams, is “I can do anything,” but the song pours on sarcasm in a track full of edgy, shifty polytonal chords.

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