12-tone music

/toʊn ˌmjuzɪk/
IPA guide

Definitions of 12-tone music
  1. noun
    a type of serial music introduced by Arnold Schoenberg; uses a tone row formed by the twelve semitones of the chromatic scale (and inverted or backward versions of the row)
    synonyms: 12-tone system, twelve-tone music, twelve-tone system
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    type of:
    serial music, serialism
    20th century music that uses a definite order of notes as a thematic basis for a musical composition
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