| All-Interval Series | A series in which all eleven intervals are different.
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| Atonal | Music that avoids reference to a tonal center or centers.
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| Atonal Theory | A general term used to describe methods of analyzing atonal music.
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| Cardinality | The number of members a pitch class set contains.
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| Forte Name | Method of referring to a set class, developed by theorist Allen Forte. In this system, each prime form is assigned a compact name represented by two numbers; the first denotes its cardinality, while the second denotes its relative position to other prime forms of the same cardinality.
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| Integral Serialism | The method of ordering musical parameters other than pitch, such as rhythm, dynamics, and articulation.
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| Interval Class (ic) | The shortest distance (in semitones) between two pitch classes.
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| Interval Vector | Gives a rough approximation of the quality of a sonority by listing the number of occurrences of each interval class in that sonority (can also be referred to as interval-class vector).
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| Inversion | The compound operation (TnI): PC inversion followed by transposition (Tn).
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| Inversionally Symmetrical Sets | Sets that map onto themselves under TnI.
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| Klangfarbenmelodie | Translates literally to "sound color melody." Refers to the technique of juxtaposing minute melodic fragments of contrasting timbre and register, resulting in a melody created by rapidly shifting tone colors.
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| Normal Order (Normal Form) | The most compact arrangement of the members of a pc set, listed from left to right in ascending order within an octave (notated using square brackets with intervening commas).
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| Order Numbers | Indicate the relative order position of each pitch class within a particular series form.
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| PC Inversion | In atonal theory, subtraction from 12 mod 12
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| Pitch Class Sets (pc sets) | Term used to describe pitch structures in atonal music; meaningful groups of related pitch classes.
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| Pointillism | The process of atomizing (separating) the notes of a melodic line.
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| Prime Form | A way of arranging a pc set so that it begins with 0 and is most packed to the left (notated using parentheses but no intervening commas or spaces).
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| Row | In twelve-tone music, a specific ordering of all twelve pitch classes.
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| Segmentation | The process of partitioning a piece of atonal music into pitch class sets based on relationships formed by parameters such as pitch, rhythm, phrasing, register, and timbre.
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| Series | In twelve-tone music, a specific ordering of all twelve pitch classes.
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| Set Theory | A general term used to describe methods of analyzing atonal music.
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| Total Serialization | The method of ordering musical parameters other than pitch, such as rhythm, dynamics, and articulation.
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| Transposition Index | Indicates the level of transposition in semitones (upward within the octave) from the first pitch class of the series.
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| Transpositionally Symmetrical Sets | Sets that map onto themselves under Tn (at levels other than T0).
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| Twelve-Tone Method | Compositional method designed to methodically equalize all twelve pitch classes. Each piece is based on a precompositional series or row, and strictly speaking, none of the tones may be repeated before all twelve have sounded. Each row may be subjected to one of four basic transformations transposition, inversion, retrograde, or retrograde inversion.
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