tonality
Americannoun
-
tonalities
plural
-
Music.
-
the sum of relations, melodic and harmonic, existing between the tones of a scale or musical system.
-
a particular scale or system of tones; a key.
-
-
(in painting, graphics, etc.) the system of tones or tints, or the color scheme, of a picture.
-
the quality of tones.
noun
-
music
-
the actual or implied presence of a musical key in a composition
-
the system of major and minor keys prevalent in Western music since the decline of modes Compare atonality
-
-
the overall scheme of colours and tones in a painting
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tonality
Vocabulary lists containing tonality
Music - Middle School
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Music - High School
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
To craft the score, Romer went back to research he had done for the 2017 medieval comedy “The Little Hours” about the tonality of string instruments from that time period.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
“It’s a change of tonality without a change of policy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 15, 2026
“This time, however, we did it the wrong way. We lacked sensitivity around an incredibly serious tragedy, and our tonality was completely inappropriate. We are so sorry.”
From Seattle Times ● May 23, 2023
But this production imbues modern vernacular in its tonality, and in a way that the audience understands.
From Salon ● May 18, 2023
Of all his impressionable Viennese pupils, none embraced this dismantling of tonality quite as enthusiastically as Arnold Schoenberg.
From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall
His special Gulf Coast mix of country, pop, folk and rock added instruments and tonalities more commonly found in the Caribbean, like steel drums.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 2, 2023
This piano music — laced as it is with those recognizable tonalities — doesn’t simply resolve there.
From New York Times ● May 28, 2023
“So, I was looking forward just learning from him and hearing new songs and new tonalities that were going to inform the work,” Kitt said.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 2, 2022
But of all the music being composed today, hers might be the clearest expression of the American experiment, in all its varied hues and tonalities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2022
Although it will be a low-budget number, the script itself is chock-full of disturbing truths and has the most fascinating tonalities and ironies.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
