non-tonal
adjective (also nontonal) uk/ˌnɒnˈtəʊ.nəl/ us/ˌnɑːnˈtoʊ.nəl/
music specialized无调的
Non-tonal music is written in a way that is not based on any particular musical key.
There are some non-tonal passages in the piece that are tricky for the singers. 这首音乐中有一些无调小节对歌手来说很难。
The composer would only work with classical pieces and eschewed anything non-tonal. 这个作曲家只会作经典作品而避开任何无调音乐。
language specialized无调性的
A non-tonal language is one that does not use tones (= changes in how high or low the voice is that can change the meaning of a word).
Although some of the dialects are tonal, most are non-tonal. 虽然有些方言有音调，（但是）大部分的是无调性的。
If you are a native speaker of a non-tonal language like English, Chinese is particularly hard to learn. 如果你的母语是无调性语言，比如英语，（那么）汉语（对你来说）会特别难学。
- More examples
- In an overall nontonal piece, there are a handful of tonal passages.
- Although the work is non-tonal, it nevertheless has a serene feel to it.