Tone Cluster

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A tone cluster is a harmonic entity comprised of three or more adjacent pitches. Adjacency is defined as a distance of an enharmonic major or minor second. Tone clusters are commonly found in more avant-garde 20th-century music, as well as in modern works today.

Examples of various tone clusters

Various tone clusters can be constructed, using different types of intervals and interval sequences. Below is a basic tone cluster, composed of three major seconds and a minor second above a "root" (the term is used very loosely here) of C: