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Glite Dictionary
🎼 A harmony musician 🎨 A tone-based artist
tonalist

tonalist

8.5
A musician or composer who writes music in traditional keys and harmony
  • noun
  • /ˈtoʊnəlɪst/
  • Specialized
translation icon : tonalista
  • Many 20th-century composers rejected atonality and identified as tonalists.

Examples

  • Her music teacher, a dedicated tonalist, emphasized the importance of key signatures in every lesson.

  • Many tonalists focus on traditional harmonic structures.

  • The young tonalist received an award for his symphony rooted in classical harmony.

  • The tonalist presented a beautiful piece at the concert.

  • The young tonalist received an award for his symphony rooted in classical harmony.

  • Her music teacher, a dedicated tonalist, emphasized the importance of key signatures in every lesson.

  • Many 20th-century composers rejected atonality and identified as tonalists.

Synonyms

harmonist
vstonalist
6.9

A person who arranges notes or voices to sound good together

focuses on traditional keys and tonal harmony rather than broad harmonic technique

How Tonal

tonalist
  • Specialized
8.5
atonalism
  • Specialized
9.9

Surface Forms

tonalist singular
tonalists plural

Morphology

tonalist = tonal (semi-transparent) = tone + al + ist

The word is built regularly from 'tone' + '-al' + '-ist', but the musical term 'tonal' is somewhat technical, so the meaning is only partly obvious.

Etymology

Tonalist comes from tone ('a musical note or key') and the ending -ist ('a person who does or believes in something'). So, a tonalist in music is someone who works with musical 'tones' and prefers traditional keys and harmony.