(diminutive of Spanish tonada, a type of solo song), genre of short, satirical musical comedy highly popular in 18th-century Spain. It originated as a song that was sung in the course of other short theatrical pieces. Dialogue for several characters was often written into the tonadilla, and it eventually expanded into an independent genre with presentations lasting from 10 to 20 minutes. It drew its personages from everyday life and included popular and folk music and dance. The tonadilla also influenced the development of the zarzuela, the characteristic form of Spanish musical drama or comedy.