atonal

/eɪˈtoʊnəl/

Atonal music doesn't follow the usual rules of melody, and it's not in a particular key. Sometimes very experimental atonal music sounds a lot like noise.

Most music is written in a particular key, and it centers on a tone from which notes rise and fall in a familiar way. In the early 20th century, some adventurous composers wrote pieces that were atonal, such as Arnold Schoenberg, whose atonal compositions are among the most well known, although he objected to the term itself. The word atonal combines a-, "not," and tonal, from the Greek tonos, "pitch, accent, or key."

Definitions of atonal

1. adjective

   characterized by avoidance of traditional musical scales
   synonyms: unkeyed

   antonyms:

   tonal

   having tonality; i.e. tones and chords organized in relation to one tone such as a keynote or tonic

   keyed

   set to a key or tone

   diatonic

   based on or using the five tones and two semitones of the major or minor scales of western music

   polytonal

   using more than one key or tonality simultaneously

   toned

   having or characterized or distinguished by tone or a specific tone; often used in combination

   tonic

   relating to or being the keynote of a major or minor scale