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tonal pattern

tonal pattern

1 6.2
A repeating group of musical notes that sounds pleasant
  • noun
  • /ˈtoʊnəl ˈpætərn/
: patrón tonal
  • The composer structured the song using unique tonal patterns that created a rich harmony.
  • rhythm and tonal pattern
  • sing tonal patterns
  • teaching tonal patterns

Examples

  • Students echo, improvise, and read tonal patterns in major, minor, and other tonalities, such as Dorian and Mixolydian.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Model different rhythms, styles, dynamics, and tonal patterns, all taken from the music that will be rehearsed that day.

    Academic text (2007)
  • An example is asking students to work from a particular rhythm or tonal pattern.

    Academic text (1999)
  • Play or sing tonal patterns on two open strings.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Play tonal patterns by ear and then have the students write the notation for these patterns.

    Academic text (1992)
  • Students who have weak music backgrounds often have not developed a strong "memory bank" for pitch and tonal patterns.

    Academic text (1991)
  • From there, children are prepared to start tonal patterns within a specific tonal structure.

    Academic text (2009)
  • Once most students can audiate resting tone and accurately imitate tonal patterns, they are ready to perform a specific "right" note on their instruments.

    Academic text (2003)
  • Tonal learning sequence activities, in which the structure of tonality is taught through tonal pattern echoes, are powerful tools for improving these skills.

    Academic text (1999)
  • If a line of music introduces a new pitch, preparatory activities can include melodic echoes, tonal patterns, or songs learned aurally.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

melody
vstonal pattern
138 1.8

A series of musical notes that form the main tune of a song

focuses on a pleasant arranged sequence rather than being primarily the main tune
melodic line
vstonal pattern
  • Specialized
1 4.5

A line of musical notes that forms the main tune

emphasizes harmonious, pleasant arrangement rather than just being the main tune

How Harmonious

tonal pattern
1 6.2
discordance
1 8.4

Surface Forms

tonal pattern singular

Morphology

tonal + pattern

The meaning is compositionally derived from 'tonal' (relating to tone/key) plus 'pattern' (a recurring arrangement), so a learner who knows both words can infer 'a sequence or arrangement of musical tones.' This is a non-idiomatic, regular noun+noun combination found across languages, so it is transparently interpretable rather than metaphorical or unpredictable.

Etymology

Tonal pattern creates the picture of a line of sounds like a row of colored tiles: tonal means tone or sound and pattern means a repeating design. So a tonal pattern is a repeating 'sequence' of notes that makes a song sound 'pleasant' or easy to recognize.