tone cluster

A tone cluster is a musical chord comprising at least three adjacent tones in a scale. Prototypical tone clusters are based on the chromatic scale and are separated by semitones. For instance, three adjacent piano keys (such as C, C♯, and D) struck simultaneously produce a tone cluster.

In the 1910s, two classical avant-gardists, composer-pianists Leo Ornstein and Henry Cowell, were recognized as making the first extensive explorations of the tone cluster. During the same period, Charles Ives employed them in several compositions that were not publicly performed until the late 1920s or 1930s.

Seeking new sonorities, he developed “tone clusters,” chords that on the piano are produced by simultaneously depressing several adjacent keys (e.g., with the forearm). Later he called these sonorities secondal harmonies - i.e., harmonies based on the interval of a second in contrast to the traditional basis of a third.

Tone cluster. a chord made up of tones only a half step or whole step apart. It can be produced on a piano by striking a group of adjacent keys with the fist or forearm. Polytonality.

Under one definition of tone, the word “tone” is synonymous with “pitch.” For instance, “the tone G” can mean the same thing as “the note G.” However, while "note" always refers to pitch, the word "tone" can take multiple meanings, including intervals, specific pitches, and timbre.

A musical tone is characterized by its duration, pitch, intensity (or loudness), and timbre (or quality). The notes used in music can be more complex than musical tones, as they may include aperiodic aspects, such as attack transients, vibrato, and envelope modulation.

Later on, Cowell adapted the idea of tone clusters to other instruments; they are especially prominent in both the solo piano and orchestral accompaniment of the Concerto for Piano (1928). Henry Cowell, composer.

A cluster is a chord built by at least three adjacent tones of a scale. In this form they are similar to chords by seconds as the adjacent tones usually correspond to second intervals as clusters can be based on chromatic, diatonic or pentatonic scales.

3 Different Types of Harmony in Music

• Diatonic harmony. This is music where the notes and chords all trace back to a master scale.
• Non-diatonic harmony. Non-diatonic harmony introduces notes that aren't all part of the same master scale.
• Atonal harmony.

harmony, in music, the sound of two or more notes heard simultaneously. In practice, this broad definition can also include some instances of notes sounded one after the other.

: a number of similar things that occur together: such as. a. : two or more consecutive consonants or vowels in a segment of speech.

tone, in acoustics, sound that can be recognized by its regularity of vibration. A simple tone has only one frequency, although its intensity may vary. A complex tone consists of two or more simple tones, called overtones. The tone of lowest frequency is called the fundamental; the others, overtones.