tonality

to·nal·i·ty

noun \tō-ˈna-lə-tē\

plural to·nal·i·ties

Definition of TONALITY

1

: tonal quality

2

a : key 7

b : the organization of all the tones and harmonies of a piece of music in relation to a tonic

3

: the arrangement or interrelation of the tones of a work of visual art

First Known Use of TONALITY

1838

Rhymes with TONALITY

anality, banality, brutality, carnality, causality, centrality, extrality, fatality, feudality, finality, formality, frontality, frugality, legality, lethality, locality, mentality, modality, morality, mortality, nasality, natality, neutrality, nodality, orality, plurality, primality, rascality, reality, regality, rurality, sodality, totality, venality, vitality, vocality

tonality

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Organization of music around a single pitch; more specifically, the Western system of keys that grew out of the modal music of the Renaissance in the 17th century. The term is often used to refer to the network of relationships implicit in the seven principal tones of a given key, each of which has the potential to become the tonic temporarily by means of modulation, whereby a new network of relationships arises. Because of its capacity to extend pitch relationships to remote lengths in an audibly comprehensible way, the tonal system permits the composition of music of great complexity.