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definitions

twelve-tone

[ twelv-tohn ]
/ ˈtwɛlvˈtoʊn /

adjective Music.

based on or incorporating the twelve-tone technique: twelve-tone music.
using or advocating the twelve-tone technique: a twelve-tone composer.

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Nearby words

  1. twelve tables,
  2. twelve-inch,
  3. twelve-mile limit,
  4. twelve-step,
  5. twelve-string guitar,
  6. twelve-tone row,
  7. twelve-tone technique,
  8. twelvefold,
  9. twelvemo,
  10. twelvemonth

Origin of twelve-tone

First recorded in 1935–40
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for twelve-tone

twelve-tone

adjective

of, relating to, or denoting the type of serial music invented and developed by Arnold Schoenberg, which uses as musical material a tone row formed by the 12 semitones of the chromatic scale, together with its inverted and retrograde versions. The technique has been applied in various ways by different composers and usually results in music in which there are few, if any, tonal centresSee serialism
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