search
arrow_drop_down
Twelve-tone technique
Top artists of Twelve-tone technique
See all ›About Twelve-tone technique
The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law of the twelve tones" in 1919. In 1923, Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) developed his own, better-known version of 12-tone technique, which became associated with the "Second Viennese School" composers, who were the primary users of the technique in the first decades of its existence. The technique is a means of ensuring that all 12 notes of the chromatic scale are sounded as often as one another in a piece of music while preventing the emphasis of any one note through the use of tone rows, orderings of the 12 pitch classes. All 12 notes are thus given more or less equal importance, and the music avoids being in a key. Over time, the technique increased greatly in popularity and eventually became widely influential on 20th-century composers. Many important composers who had originally not subscribed to or even actively opposed the technique, such as Aaron Copland and Igor Stravinsky, eventually adopted it in their music.
Schoenberg himself described the system as a "Method of composing with twelve tones which are related only with one another". It is commonly considered a form of serialism.
Schoenberg's fellow countryman and contemporary Josef Matthias Hauer also developed a similar system using unordered hexachords or tropes—but with no connection to Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique. Other composers have created systematic use of the chromatic scale, but Schoenberg's method is considered to be historically and aesthetically most significant.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article
Twelve-tone technique
, which is released under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
Top Playlists
See all ›Trending right now on mozaart
1

ROCKSTAR (feat. Roddy Ricch)
DaBaby, Roddy Ricch
2

For The Night (feat. Lil Baby & DaBaby)
Pop Smoke, Lil Baby, DaBaby
3

Watermelon Sugar
Harry Styles
4

The Woo (feat. 50 Cent & Roddy Ricch)
Pop Smoke, 50 Cent, Roddy Ricch
5

WHATS POPPIN (feat. DaBaby, Tory Lanez & Lil Wayne) - Remix
Jack Harlow, DaBaby, Lil Wayne, Tory Lanez
6

Blinding Lights
The Weeknd
7

Blueberry Faygo
Lil Mosey
8

Party Girl
StaySolidRocky
9

Savage Love (Laxed - Siren Beat)
Jawsh 685, Jason Derulo
10

We Paid (feat. 42 Dugg)
Lil Baby, 42 Dugg