tonal

Related to the sound qualities of music, a voice, or an instrument.

• The violin has a rich tonal quality.
• Her voice offers a wide tonal range.
• Changing the strings improved the guitar’s tonal balance.

Common phrases: tonal quality, tonal range, tonal color

Describing a language in which voice pitch can change the meaning of a word.

• Mandarin is a tonal language.
• Learners practiced the language’s tonal distinctions.
• A tonal system uses pitch to tell words apart.

Common phrases: tonal language, tonal distinction, tonal system

Related to the overall feeling, mood, or character of something.

• The film makes a sudden tonal shift.
• Her editing brought tonal consistency to the story.
• The final scene creates a striking tonal contrast.

Common phrases: tonal shift, tonal consistency, tonal change

Describing music whose notes are organized around one main note or key.

• This piece uses tonal harmony.
• The composer returned to tonal music later in life.
• Students compared tonal and atonal compositions.

Opposites: atonal

Common phrases: tonal music, tonal harmony, tonal composition

In some traditional beliefs, an animal spirit that stays linked to a person throughout their life.

• Her tonal was believed to be a deer.
• The story links the man’s fate to his tonal.
• A tonal stays with a person throughout life.

Similar words: animal companion spirit

Common phrases: animal tonal, personal tonal, someone’s tonal