tonal

[tohn-l]

adjective

Music.

1. pertaining to or having tonality.

tonal

/ ˈtəʊnəl /

adjective

1. of or relating to tone

2. of, relating to, or utilizing the diatonic system; having an established key Compare atonal

3. 1. (of an answer in a fugue) not having the same melodic intervals as the subject, so as to remain in the original key

   2. denoting a fugue as having such an answer Compare real 1

Other Word Forms

• tonally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of tonal¹

1770–80; < Medieval Latin tonālis . See tone, -al ¹

Example Sentences

That makes the richest takeaway from this mostly breezy if tonally jumbled film the utterly winning pairing of Teller and Randolph.

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And Stone seamlessly balanced these elements in a production that was as tonally assured as a John Ashbery poem.

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But tonally, there’s just not enough rage, gore or fun.

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It was an important tonal balance to get right because the story couldn’t become so wild that it felt unbelievable.

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Shot on 35mm VistaVision, “One Battle After Another” will be a rare chance to see Anderson bring his sly digressions, oddball humor and tonal whiplash to a canvas usually reserved for Bayhem.

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