tonal

[tohn-l] /ˈtoʊn l/

adjective, Music.

pertaining to or having tonality.

Origin

1770-80; < Medieval Latin tonālis. See tone, -al¹

Related forms

tonally, adverb

Examples from the web for tonal

As the exposition continues, the second voice enters providing a tonal answer to the earlier, typically dominant question.
They got two guitars made with wood from the same trees so they would have the same tonal construct from the start.
Dogs are able to imitate humans as well as they do because they pick up on the differences in our tonal patterns.
Music is really tonal mathematical equations which our brains recognize as patterns.
The show peaked for less than an hour, but its tonal themes lingered longer.
Blocks of color, either the same hue or different ones of about equal tonal value, can lend depth.
Not all tonal language speakers have absolute pitch, and not all absolute pitch possessors speak tonal languages.
Then over- or underexpose the shot until it has the tonal value you're going for.
All these distinctions are apparent not in the number or length of the barks but in their tonal qualities.
The enormous telescreen flashed into life, accompanied by the percussive sounds of a-tonal music, dark and brooding.

British Dictionary definitions for tonal

/ˈtəʊnəl/

adjective

of or relating to tone

of, relating to, or utilizing the diatonic system; having an established key Compare atonal

(of an answer in a fugue) not having the same melodic intervals as the subject, so as to remain in the original key
denoting a fugue as having such an answer Compare real¹ (sense 11)

Derived Forms

tonally, adverb

Word Origin and History for tonal

adj.

1776; see from tone + -al (1).