tone row

noun

, Music.

1. a series of tones in which no tone is duplicated, and in which the tones generally recur in fixed sequence, with variations in rhythm and pitch, throughout a composition.

tone row

noun

1. music a group of notes having a characteristic pattern or order that forms the basis of the musical material in a serial composition, esp one consisting of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale Also callednote row See also serialism twelve-tone

Word History and Origins

Origin of tone row¹

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

Michael Kennedy, a biographer and friend, recalled that he liked to pronounce “tone row,” impishly, as if it rhymed with “cow.”

From New York Times

“They’re just more fun. When you have the whole arsenal of the tone row in your head, you can just have a lot more freedom to mess around with it.”

From New York Times

The tone row I used in my composition was F#-A-E-D-C#-F-B-G-G#-A#-D#-C.

From Scientific American

The first interval in my tone row, F#-A, is an ascending minor third or a descending major sixth, depending on whether the composer chooses the A to be higher or lower than the F#.

From Scientific American

The full sequence of intervals in my tone row is 3-7-10-11-8-6-1-2-5-9.

From Scientific American