12-tone row examples

For primes and inversions, we will use P and I accompanied by a pitch integer to specify the starting note. For example, P is a twelve-tone row starting on C (pitch integer 0), P is a twelve-tone row starting on E♭, and so forth. The same is the case for row forms like I (starting on D), I (starting on F), on so forth.

1. How do you write a 12-tone row?
2. What is a twelve-tone row?
3. What is composing with 12 tones?
4. What kind of music is the twelve-tone system an example of?

How do you write a 12-tone row?

How to Write a 12-Tone Composition

1. Begin with a 12x12 grid. Label your grid as in the example below:
2. Next, arrange the 12 chromatic pitches in any order you like. ...
3. Next, calculate the inversion of your row. ...
4. Fill in your grid by transposing your 12-tone row into each key listed down the left column of the grid.

What is a twelve-tone row?

The basis of the twelve-tone technique is the tone row, an ordered arrangement of the twelve notes of the chromatic scale (the twelve equal tempered pitch classes). ... The row is a specific ordering of all twelve notes of the chromatic scale (without regard to octave placement). No note is repeated within the row.

What is composing with 12 tones?

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 kind of music is the twelve-tone system an example of?

Twelve-tone music is an example of serialism (q.v.) in music.