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tonal pattern

tonal pattern

6.2
A repeating group of musical notes that sounds pleasant
  • noun
  • /ˈtoʊnəl ˈpætərn/
translation icon : 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
146 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
6.2

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.