In music, relating to or using two different tones or tonal centers simultaneously, rather than being based on a single key or tonal center.
From 'bi-' (two) and 'tonal' (relating to tone or key), from Latin 'tonus' meaning sound or tension. The term developed in 20th-century music theory to describe modernist compositions.
Bitonal music—like playing C major and F# major at the same time—sounds strange and clashing to ears trained on traditional harmony, but composers like Bartók and Stravinsky used it to create unsettling, innovative soundscapes that challenged what music could be.
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