Interval (music)

The table shows the most widely used conventional names for the intervals between the notes of a chromatic scale. A perfect unison (also known as perfect prime)[5] is an interval formed by two identical notes. Its size is zero cents. A semitone is any interval between two adjacent notes in a chromatic scale, a whole tone is an interval spanning two semitones (for example, a major second), and a tritone is an interval spanning three tones, or six semitones (for example, an augmented fourth).[a] Rarely, the term ditone is also used to indicate an interval spanning two whole tones (for example, a major third), or more strictly as a synonym of major third.

Intervals with different names may span the same number of semitones, and may even have the same width. For instance, the interval from D to F is a major third, while that from D to G is a diminished fourth. However, they both span 4 semitones. If the instrument is tuned so that the 12 notes of the chromatic scale are equally spaced (as in equal temperament), these intervals also have the same width. Namely, all semitones have a width of 100 cents, and all intervals spanning 4 semitones are 400 cents wide.

The names listed here cannot be determined by counting semitones alone. The rules to determine them are explained below. Other names, determined with different naming conventions, are listed in a separate section. Intervals smaller than one semitone (commas or microtones) and larger than one octave (compound intervals) are introduced below.

Number of
semitones
Minor, major,
or perfect
intervals
Short Augmented or
diminished
intervals
Short Widely used
alternative names
Short Audio
0 Perfect unison P1 Diminished second d2 About this soundPlay 
1 Minor second m2 Augmented unison[5][b] A1 Semitone, half tone, half step S About this soundPlay 
2 Major second M2 Diminished third d3 Tone, whole tone, whole step T About this soundPlay 
3 Minor third m3 Augmented second A2 About this soundPlay 
4 Major third M3 Diminished fourth d4 About this soundPlay 
5 Perfect fourth P4 Augmented third A3 About this soundPlay 
6 Diminished fifth d5 Tritone TT About this soundPlay 
Augmented fourth A4
7 Perfect fifth P5 Diminished sixth d6 About this soundPlay 
8 Minor sixth m6 Augmented fifth A5 About this soundPlay 
9 Major sixth M6 Diminished seventh d7 About this soundPlay 
10 Minor seventh m7 Augmented sixth A6 About this soundPlay 
11 Major seventh M7 Diminished octave d8 About this soundPlay 
12 Perfect octave P8 Augmented seventh A7 About this soundPlay 

Source: Interval (music) – Wikipedia

Interval (music) was last modified: August 9th, 2019 by Jovan Stosic

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