microtonal

9.1

About music that uses notes smaller than a piano's half step

adjective
/ˌmaɪkroʊˈtoʊnəl/

Specialized

: microtonal

In her latest album, the artist incorporated microtonal elements to deepen the emotional impact of her songs.

Examples

The composer experimented with microtonal scales to create a unique sound.
Traditional notation does a poor job of representing atonal and microtonal music.

Academic text (1997)
Many musicians are embracing microtonal music to explore new harmonic possibilities.

How Wide

octave

Specialized

16 4.8

fifth

Specialized

5.8

fourth

Specialized

1 4.4

interval

Specialized

2 5.7

semitone

Specialized

1 7.0

microtonal

Specialized

9.1

unison

Specialized

7 5.4

Surface Forms

microtonal positive

Morphology

microtonal = tonal (semi-transparent) = micro + tone + al

The word is transparently formed by adding micro- to tonal, with the expected meaning of something involving smaller-than-usual tonal intervals.

Etymology

Microtonal comes from the parts micro- meaning 'small' and tone meaning 'sound' or 'note'. So microtonal music uses very 'small' steps between notes, smaller than a semitone, the usual smallest step on a piano.