A tone cluster is best described as...

• A. Arpeggio
• B. Tone Cluster
• C. Glissando
• D. Chord Inversion

Answer: (B)

The main idea is recognizing what a tone cluster is: a dense group of adjacent pitches played at the same time, producing a tight, often dissonant sound. On keyboard, you might press several neighboring keys at once, such as C, C#, D, and D# together. This contrasts with an arpeggio, where the notes of a chord are played in sequence rather than simultaneously. A glissando involves sliding smoothly from one pitch to another, not stacking nearby tones at once. A chord inversion is simply changing which chord tone is in the bass, altering the bass note without creating a dense cluster. So, the term that best describes a dense set of adjacent notes sounded together is a tone cluster.