1. relating to or involving a semitone, the smallest interval used in Western music
Usage: music theory

Examples

• The semitonal movement between these two notes creates tension in the melody.
• Jazz musicians often use semitonal shifts to add sophistication to their improvisations.
• The composer’s use of semitonal intervals gave the piece its distinctive haunting quality.
• Students struggled with the semitonal relationships in the chromatic scale.
• The semitonal progression in the bass line drives the harmonic movement forward.