What is 12-tone scale technique?

Twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition devised by Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951). All 12 notes are thus given more or less equal importance, and the music avoids being in a key.

What is the 12-tone row?

The all-interval twelve-tone row is a tone row arranged so that it contains one instance of each interval within the octave, 0 through 11. The “total chromatic” (or “aggregate”) is the set of all twelve pitch classes. An “array” is a succession of aggregates. The term is also used to refer to lattices.

What are the principles of 12-tone composition?

The basic premises of twelve-tone music are as follows: All twelve notes of the chromatic scale must occur. No note can be repeated in the series until the other 11 notes of the chromatic scale have occurred (exceptions include direct repetition of a note, trills, and tremolos)

Who uses 12-tone scale?

The method was used during the next twenty years almost exclusively by the composers of the Second Viennese School—Alban Berg, Anton Webern, and Schoenberg himself.

How do you make 12-tone rows?

Create a Twelve-Tone Melody With a Twelve-Tone Matrix

1. Introduction: Create a Twelve-Tone Melody With a Twelve-Tone Matrix.
2. Step 1: Write Numbers in the Top Row.
3. Step 2: Populate the First Column.
4. Step 3: Fill in the Second Row.
5. Step 4: Fill in the Remaining Rows.
6. Step 5: Translate the Numbers to Pitches.
7. Step 6: Write Music!

What are the 12-tone system by Arnold Schoenberg?

The basic order for any one composition came to be known as its basic set, its 12-tone row, or its 12-tone series, all of which terms are synonymous. The basic set for Schoenberg’s Wind Quintet (1924) is E♭–G–A–B–C♯–C–B♭–D–E–F♯–A♭–F; for his String Quartet No. 4 (1936) it is D–C♯–A–B♭–F–E♭–E–C–A♭–G–F♯–B.

What else can a tone row be called?

noun Music. a series of tones in which no tone is duplicated, and in which the tones generally recur in fixed sequence, with variations in rhythm and pitch, throughout a composition. Also called note row, twelve-tone row.

How does Arnold Schoenberg organize the 12 tones?

Instead of the old tonal hierarchy, or his short-lived experiment in harmonic free-for-all, Schoenberg specified that the 12 pitches be put in an order, or row. Once a pitch was sounded, it was not to be repeated until the entire row had unfolded.

When a 12-tone row is played backwards and upside down this is called?

The inversion form is the melodic inversion of the original, all intervals written upside down, all interval directions changed. The Retrograde inversion is created by writing all of the notes of the inversion in reverse order. One can use modulo 12 arithmetic to describe any form of a row.

Why did Schoenberg create 12-tone?

Seized with excitement over his breakthrough, Schoenberg predicted that the 12-tone technique would assure the supremacy of Germanic music for another hundred years. He could not have been more wrong. His system spread well beyond Germany, but with far less impact than he had hoped.

What is another term for twelve-tone music quizlet?

Serialism is another term for the twelve-tone method.

When to use a twelve tone row in music?

There are some general rules for using a twelve-tone row, though as I said, individual approaches are always different: 1. Pitch classes are played in order; 2. Once a pitch class has been played, it isn’t repeated until the next row. A twelve-tone row might be used as a theme or as a source for motives.

How is the pitch of a 12 tone work derived?

The pitch material of a strict 12-tone work is entirely (or nearly entirely) derived from a single 12-tone row. A row is an ordered set of the twelve pitch classes of the chromatic scale.

Which is an example of a twelve tone music?

Twelve-tone music is based on a series of pitches (row) that contains all twelve pitch classes with no recurrences. Any pitch can be reiterated until the next pitch class in the series occurs. Example 1 is a row extracted from Schoenberg’s first twelve-tone composition.

Which is the retrograde form of the twelve tone row?

This form of the row is called a Retrograde, or simply R: Twelve-Tone Technique Page 3 By Dan Román We can also flip the tone row as if we put a mirror right below it: the direction of the intervals is inverted so that, for example, an ascending minor third becomes a descending minor third.