French movement that was started in the late 19th century and early 20th century by Claude Debussy as a reaction to emotionalism of Romantic music. It involved the creation of new chords, exotic scales, and non-conventional rhythms. Impressionism in music aims to create descriptive ideas, not necessarily to draw tangible pictures. It was intended to create a certain mood or atmosphere. In general melodies are shorter in length and repeated in different contexts. Notes are drawn from exotic and whole tone scales. The aim of the impressionists was to suggest a certain idea or image rather than to directly depict it.