pantonal

9.9

Music that uses all musical keys without a single main key

adjective
/pænˈtoʊnəl/

Specialized

: pantonal

The experimental piece was pantonal, as it moved fluidly through all tonalities without settling on one central key.

Examples

In her composition, the musician decided to explore a pantonal approach, using every key to create a unique sound.
Composers often experiment with pantonal music to challenge traditional notions of harmony and structure.
Patients in both groups who had a pantonal type of hearing loss achieved a significantly higher relative gain than did those whose hearing loss was mainly in the medium to high frequencies (p < 0.05).

Academic text (2001)
Moreover, in both groups of patients, the treatment response was better in those whose hearing loss was pantonal and in those who had severe hypoacusis (PTA: >70 dB).

Academic text (2001)
On the other hand, we found no statistically significant difference in improvement in either group between those who had pantonal sensorineural hypoacusis and those who had hypoacusis mainly at the low frequencies (upward-rising curve).

Academic text (2001)

Synonyms

atonal

vspantonal

Specialized

3 9.1

Music that has no key and avoids normal chords

uses all tonalities without a single central key

unkeyed

vspantonal

Specialized

9.8

Music that does not have a clear main note or usual harmony

uses all tonalities rather than avoiding traditional tonality

How Tonal

tonal

Specialized

7 6.9

pantonal

Specialized

9.9

atonal

Specialized

3 9.1

Surface Forms

pantonal positive

Morphology

pantonal = tonal (transparent) = pan + ton + al

The prefix 'pan-' meaning 'all' is transparently added to 'tonal', indicating the use of all tones.

Etymology

The word pantonal comes from pan- meaning 'all' and tone meaning 'sound' or 'musical key', as in panorama where pan- means 'all'. So pantonal describes music that uses 'all tones' or avoids a single key.