Tonality

Tonality is a system of writing music according to certain hierarchical pitch relationships around a "center" or tonic. The term tonalit? was borrowed from Castil-Blaze (1821, Fran?ois Henri Joseph Blaze) by Fran?ois-Joseph F?tis in 1840 (Reti, 1958; Judd, 1998; Dahlhaus). The term is often used synonymously with major/minor tonality; however, in more recent theory, the term is used more broadly to encompass a number of systems of musical organization.

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What is now known as tonality originated through centuries of musical practice, during which it was not known by any name, and was defined, and its features compiled, by theorists such as Heinrich Schenker in reaction to music which broke with tradition (nontonal music). Arising from sometimes disparate practices over a large area and period of time, tonality may thus be defined in various ways:

Music: Music is a natural intuitive phenomenon operating in the three worlds of time, pitch, energy, and under the three distinct and interrelated organization structures of rhythm, harmony, and melody....

Hierarchical: REDIRECT hierarchy...

Pitch: Pitch may refer to:...