Microtonality

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The use or study of musical intervals smaller than the conventional semitones of Western tuning; a system or practice involving pitches between standard notes; an approach to sound organization that divides an octave into more than twelve parts
2. A musical concept embracing scales and tunings that feature intervals narrower than half steps; the exploration of pitches that lie between the usual keys of the piano; methods of dividing musical octaves into smaller segments for unique tonal effects
3. Techniques and theories related to tones and intervals less than the typical half step; employing microintervals to achieve distinct harmonies and melodies; a field examining alternate tuning systems beyond the standard twelve-tone scale

Etymology: Microtonality is a modern coinage, built in English from parts that are ancient in origin. The first part, "micro-", comes from Greek "mīkrós", meaning small, and the second, "tonal", comes from "tone", so the whole word simply means the quality of working with tones smaller than the ones in the standard scale. The word is assembled from familiar pieces rather than inherited from any ancient language, and the Greek parts were not used for musical intervals in antiquity. The adjective "microtonal" came first, and the noun was formed from it by adding the suffix "-ity", which is the same ending found in words like "reality" and "locality". That suffix passed into English through Old French and Latin "-itās", which turned adjectives into nouns meaning the state of being something. So "microtonality" names the condition of music that uses those small intervals.

Synonyms: microtonal music, microtonalism