Why's a 12-tone row called

A twelve-tone composition will take one or more tone rows, called the "prime form", as its basis plus their transformations (inversion, retrograde, retrograde inversion, as well as transposition; see twelve-tone technique for details).

1. What is a 12-tone row?
2. What is a 12-tone scale?
3. What is a 12-tone Matrix?
4. What are the four forms of a 12-tone row?

What is a 12-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 a 12-tone scale?

Definition. The chromatic scale or twelve-tone scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone, also known as a half-step, above or below its adjacent pitches. As a result, in 12-tone equal temperament (the most common tuning in Western music), the chromatic scale covers all 12 of the available pitches.

What is a 12-tone Matrix?

One tool analysts create to analyze a twelve-tone composition is a twelve-tone matrix, which shows all 48 row forms in a 12-by-12 grid.

What are the four forms of a 12-tone row?

A twelve-tone series is also commonly called a twelve-tone “row,” and we will use the term “row” throughout this chapter. The four types of row forms used in twelve-tone technique are prime (P), retrograde (R), inversion (I), and retrograde inversion (RI). The prime is the original row.