12-tone Technique

The 12-tone Technique is a compositional method developed by Arnold Schoenberg that treats all twelve notes of the chromatic scale as equally important, avoiding traditional melodies centered around a key. Composers create a specific sequence called a "tone row," which serves as the foundational material. This row can be manipulated through inversion, retrograde, or transposition to generate the piece, ensuring no single note dominates. The approach fosters atonal music, emphasizing structure and variety while maintaining coherence without traditional tonal center.