tonality

[toh-nal-i-tee]

See more synonyms for tonality on Thesaurus.com

noun, plural to·nal·i·ties.

Music.
1. the sum of relations, melodic and harmonic, existing between the tones of a scale or musical system.
2. 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.

Origin of tonality

First recorded in 1830–40; tonal + -ity

Related formsto·nal·i·tive, adjectivenon·to·nal·i·ty, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for tonality

timbre, stress, strength, force, modulation, inflection, accent, emphasis, resonance, intonation

Examples from the Web for tonality

Historical Examples of tonality

Yet it was in one tonality; there was no harmony, no melody.
Melomaniacs
James Huneker
The tonality of the music of the ancients was wholly artificial and unreal.
A Popular History of the Art of Music
W. S. B. Mathews
Regarding the tonality of these scales there is not very much to be said.
The Modes of Ancient Greek Music
David Binning Monro
The episode you quote moves evidently in the tonality of G minor.
Piano Playing
Josef Hofmann
For by this principle of tonality, melody and harmony as we know them became possible.
The Galaxy, June 1877
Various

British Dictionary definitions for tonality

tonality

noun plural -ties

music
1. the actual or implied presence of a musical key in a composition
2. the system of major and minor keys prevalent in Western music since the decline of modesCompare atonality
the overall scheme of colours and tones in a painting

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for tonality

1824; see tonal + -ity.