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atonal

"atonal" is also a: user

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(thing) by Footprints (6.9 hr) (print)   ?   (I like it!) Sat Jul 29 2000 at 23:06:01

Atonal music is music that is written with the avoidance of a sense of key. This is usually accomplished by the repeated use of dissonance.
Classical music began to dissolve conventional tonality in the beginning of the 20th century, and this idea was imported into jazz music.

(idea) by Alpheus (6.7 d) (print)   ?   (I like it!) Sat Jan 27 2001 at 9:31:07

A more literal definition of atonal from a compositional standpoint would be "without relying on the tonal center that diatonic harmony provides."

In diatonic harmony, a C major scale revolves around the C. With atonality there is no starting tone or baseline to work from. And I meant baseline, not bass line. Wiseacre.

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atonal, dodecaphonic, serial, twelve-tone Dissonance Wiseacre Arnold Schoenberg
Alban Berg Jazz Terms twelve-tone music dodecaphonic
Atony twelve-tone scale art-rock Diatonic
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Carl Ruggles Trent Reznor in a duet with Alanis Morissette George Washington's 1794 State of the Union Address Home designs and styles
self-extracting executable David and Goliath big Music for percussive and other atonal instruments
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