Major second
Encyclopedia
In Western
music theory
, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitone
s, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval (music)#Number for more details). For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated
on adjacent staff postions. Diminished
, minor
and augmented second
s are notated on adjacent staff positions also, but consist of a different number of semitones (zero, one, and three). They are all considered melodic
steps.
The major second is the interval that occurs between the first and second degrees
of a major scale
, the tonic
and the supertonic
. On a musical keyboard
, a major second is the interval between two keys separated by one key, counting white and black keys alike. On a guitar string, it is the interval separated by two fret
s. In moveable-do solfège
, it is the interval between do and re.
Intervals composed of two semitones, such as the major second and the diminished third
, are also called tones, whole tones, or whole steps
In just intonation
, the major second can correspond to at least two different frequency ratios:
9/8 (the major tone or greater tone or 204 cents), and 10/9 (the minor tone or lesser tone of 182 cents), which differ by the syntonic comma
(21.5 cents). In meantone temperament
and twelve-tone equal temperament these two intervals are approximated by the same interval. This also means that in 19-ET
and 31-ET
, which are also meantone temperaments eliminating 81/80, these intervals are the same. Many equal temperaments also distinguish between these two intervals, such as 15-ET
, 22-ET
, 34-ET
, 41-ET
, 53-ET
, and 72-ET
.
The major second was historically considered one of the more dissonant
intervals of the diatonic scale
, although much 20th century music saw it reimagined as a consonance. It is common in many different musical systems, including Arabic music, Turkish music and music of the Balkans
, among others. It occurs in both diatonic and pentatonic
scales.
. Here, middle C
is followed by D, which is a tone 200 cents
sharper than C, and then by both tones together.
using just intonation
, such as 5-limit tuning, in which major seconds occur in two different sizes, the wider of them is called a major tone or (more appropriately) greater tone, and the narrower a minor tone or, (more appropriately) lesser tone.
The major tone is the 9:8 interval , and it is an approximation thereof in other tuning systems, while the minor tone is the 10:9 ratio . The major tone may be derived from the harmonic series
as the interval between the eighth and ninth harmonics. The minor tone may be derived from the harmonic series
as the interval between the ninth and tenth harmonics.
Notice that in these tuning systems, a third kind of whole tone, even wider than the major tone, exists. This interval of two semitones, with ratio 256/225, is simply called the diminished third
(for further details, see Five-limit tuning#Size of intervals).
In any system where there is only one size of major second, such as Pythagorean tuning
and all meantone temperament
s, the terms minor and major (or greater and lesser) are rarely used to qualify the two different kinds of whole tones, more commonly called major second and diminished third. Similarly, major semitones and minor semitones are more often and more appropriately referred to as minor seconds and augmented unisons (or diatonic and chromatic semitone
s).
Unlike almost all uses of the terms major and minor, these intervals span the same number of semitones in standard equal temperament
. For example, a major third
and minor third
are about 71 cents different in just intonation
, which are approximated by intervals one semitone apart. A major tone and minor tone are about 22 cents different in just intonation, and they are both composed of two semitones. Thus, to avoid ambiguity, it is preferable to call them greater tone and lesser tone (see also greater and lesser diesis
).
Two major tones equal a ditone
.
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
, a major second is a musical interval spanning two semitone
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically....
s, and encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval (music)#Number for more details). For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are notated
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
on adjacent staff postions. Diminished
Diminished second
In modern Western tonal music theory a diminished second is the interval between notes on two adjacent staff positions, or having adjacent note letters, whose alterations cause them, in ordinary equal temperament, to have no pitch difference, such as B and C or B and C...
, minor
Minor second
In modern Western tonal music theory a minor second is the interval between two notes on adjacent staff positions, or having adjacent note letters, whose alterations cause them to be one semitone or half-step apart, such as B and C or C and D....
and augmented second
Augmented second
In classical music from Western culture, an augmented second is an interval produced by widening a major second by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from C to D is a major second, two semitones wide, and both the intervals from C to D, and from C to D are augmented seconds, spanning...
s are notated on adjacent staff positions also, but consist of a different number of semitones (zero, one, and three). They are all considered melodic
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
steps.
The major second is the interval that occurs between the first and second degrees
Degree (music)
In music theory, a scale degree or scale step is the name of a particular note of a scale in relation to the tonic...
of a major scale
Major scale
In music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales. It is made up of seven distinct notes, plus an eighth which duplicates the first an octave higher. In solfege these notes correspond to the syllables "Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol, La, Ti/Si, ", the "Do" in the parenthesis at...
, the tonic
Tonic (music)
In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...
and the supertonic
Supertonic
In music or music theory, the supertonic is the second degree or note of a diatonic scale, one step above the tonic. In music theory, the supertonic chord is symbolized by the Roman numeral ii in a major scale, indicating that the chord is a minor chord , or ii in a natural minor scale, indicating...
. On a musical keyboard
Musical keyboard
A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...
, a major second is the interval between two keys separated by one key, counting white and black keys alike. On a guitar string, it is the interval separated by two fret
Fret
A fret is a raised portion on the neck of a stringed instrument, that extends generally across the full width of the neck. On most modern western instruments, frets are metal strips inserted into the fingerboard...
s. In moveable-do solfège
Solfege
In music, solfège is a pedagogical solmization technique for the teaching of sight-singing in which each note of the score is sung to a special syllable, called a solfège syllable...
, it is the interval between do and re.
Intervals composed of two semitones, such as the major second and the diminished third
Diminished third
In classical music from Western culture, a diminished third is the musical interval produced by narrowing a minor third by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from A to C is a minor third, three semitones wide, and both the intervals from A to C, and from A to C are diminished thirds,...
, are also called tones, whole tones, or whole steps
In just intonation
Just intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
, the major second can correspond to at least two different frequency ratios:
9/8 (the major tone or greater tone or 204 cents), and 10/9 (the minor tone or lesser tone of 182 cents), which differ by the syntonic comma
Syntonic comma
In music theory, the syntonic comma, also known as the chromatic diesis, the comma of Didymus, the Ptolemaic comma, or the diatonic comma is a small comma type interval between two musical notes, equal to the frequency ratio 81:80, or around 21.51 cents...
(21.5 cents). In meantone temperament
Meantone temperament
Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, which is a system of musical tuning. In general, a meantone is constructed the same way as Pythagorean tuning, as a stack of perfect fifths, but in meantone, each fifth is narrow compared to the ratio 27/12:1 in 12 equal temperament, the opposite of...
and twelve-tone equal temperament these two intervals are approximated by the same interval. This also means that in 19-ET
19 equal temperament
In music, 19 equal temperament, called 19-TET, 19-EDO, or 19-ET, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 19 equal steps . Each step represents a frequency ratio of 21/19, or 63.16 cents...
and 31-ET
31 equal temperament
In music, 31 equal temperament, 31-ET, which can also be abbreviated 31-TET, 31-EDO , , is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 31 equal-sized steps...
, which are also meantone temperaments eliminating 81/80, these intervals are the same. Many equal temperaments also distinguish between these two intervals, such as 15-ET
15 equal temperament
In music, 15 equal temperament, called 15-TET, 15-EDO, or 15-ET, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 15 equal steps . Each step represents a frequency ratio of 21/15, or 80 cents...
, 22-ET
22 equal temperament
In music, 22 equal temperament, called 22-tet, 22-edo, or 22-et, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 22 equal steps . Each step represents a frequency ratio of 21/22, or 54.55 cents ....
, 34-ET
34 equal temperament
In musical theory, 34 equal temperament, also referred to as 34-tet, 34-edo or 34-et, is the tempered tuning derived by dividing the octave into 34 equal-sized steps...
, 41-ET
41 equal temperament
In music, 41 equal temperament, often abbreviated 41-tET, 41-EDO, or 41-ET, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 41 equally-sized steps . Each step represents a frequency ratio of 21/41, or 29.27 cents , an interval close in size to the septimal comma. 41-ET can be seen as a...
, 53-ET
53 equal temperament
In music, 53 equal temperament, called 53-TET, 53-EDO, or 53-ET, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into 53 equal steps . Each step represents a frequency ratio of 21/53, or 22.6415 cents , an interval sometimes called the Holdrian comma.- History :Theoretical interest in this...
, and 72-ET
72 equal temperament
In music, 72 equal temperament, called twelfth-tone, 72-tet, 72-edo, or 72-et, is the tempered scale derived by dividing the octave into twelfth-tones, or in other words 72 equal steps...
.
The major second was historically considered one of the more dissonant
Consonance and dissonance
In music, a consonance is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable, as opposed to a dissonance , which is considered to be unstable...
intervals of the diatonic scale
Diatonic scale
In music theory, a diatonic scale is a seven note, octave-repeating musical scale comprising five whole steps and two half steps for each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole steps...
, although much 20th century music saw it reimagined as a consonance. It is common in many different musical systems, including Arabic music, Turkish music and music of the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...
, among others. It occurs in both diatonic and pentatonic
Pentatonic scale
A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five notes per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale and minor scale...
scales.
. Here, middle C
Middle C
C or Do is the first note of the fixed-Do solfège scale. Its enharmonic is B.-Middle C:Middle C is designated C4 in scientific pitch notation because of the note's position as the fourth C key on a standard 88-key piano keyboard...
is followed by D, which is a tone 200 cents
Cent (music)
The cent is a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals. Twelve-tone equal temperament divides the octave into 12 semitones of 100 cents each...
sharper than C, and then by both tones together.
Major and minor tones
In tuning systemsMusical tuning
In music, there are two common meanings for tuning:* Tuning practice, the act of tuning an instrument or voice.* Tuning systems, the various systems of pitches used to tune an instrument, and their theoretical bases.-Tuning practice:...
using just intonation
Just intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
, such as 5-limit tuning, in which major seconds occur in two different sizes, the wider of them is called a major tone or (more appropriately) greater tone, and the narrower a minor tone or, (more appropriately) lesser tone.
The major tone is the 9:8 interval , and it is an approximation thereof in other tuning systems, while the minor tone is the 10:9 ratio . The major tone may be derived from the harmonic series
Harmonic series (music)
Pitched musical instruments are often based on an approximate harmonic oscillator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous frequencies simultaneously. At these resonant frequencies, waves travel in both directions along the string or air column, reinforcing and canceling...
as the interval between the eighth and ninth harmonics. The minor tone may be derived from the harmonic series
Harmonic series (music)
Pitched musical instruments are often based on an approximate harmonic oscillator such as a string or a column of air, which oscillates at numerous frequencies simultaneously. At these resonant frequencies, waves travel in both directions along the string or air column, reinforcing and canceling...
as the interval between the ninth and tenth harmonics.
Notice that in these tuning systems, a third kind of whole tone, even wider than the major tone, exists. This interval of two semitones, with ratio 256/225, is simply called the diminished third
Diminished third
In classical music from Western culture, a diminished third is the musical interval produced by narrowing a minor third by a chromatic semitone. For instance, the interval from A to C is a minor third, three semitones wide, and both the intervals from A to C, and from A to C are diminished thirds,...
(for further details, see Five-limit tuning#Size of intervals).
In any system where there is only one size of major second, such as Pythagorean tuning
Pythagorean tuning
Pythagorean tuning is a system of musical tuning in which the frequency relationships of all intervals are based on the ratio 3:2. This interval is chosen because it is one of the most consonant...
and all meantone temperament
Meantone temperament
Meantone temperament is a musical temperament, which is a system of musical tuning. In general, a meantone is constructed the same way as Pythagorean tuning, as a stack of perfect fifths, but in meantone, each fifth is narrow compared to the ratio 27/12:1 in 12 equal temperament, the opposite of...
s, the terms minor and major (or greater and lesser) are rarely used to qualify the two different kinds of whole tones, more commonly called major second and diminished third. Similarly, major semitones and minor semitones are more often and more appropriately referred to as minor seconds and augmented unisons (or diatonic and chromatic semitone
Semitone
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically....
s).
Unlike almost all uses of the terms major and minor, these intervals span the same number of semitones in standard equal temperament
Equal temperament
An equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of tuning, in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratio. As pitch is perceived roughly as the logarithm of frequency, this means that the perceived "distance" from every note to its nearest neighbor is the same for...
. For example, a major third
Major third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three...
and minor third
Minor third
In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. The minor quality specification identifies it as being the smallest of the two: the minor third spans three semitones, the major...
are about 71 cents different in just intonation
Just intonation
In music, just intonation is any musical tuning in which the frequencies of notes are related by ratios of small whole numbers. Any interval tuned in this way is called a just interval. The two notes in any just interval are members of the same harmonic series...
, which are approximated by intervals one semitone apart. A major tone and minor tone are about 22 cents different in just intonation, and they are both composed of two semitones. Thus, to avoid ambiguity, it is preferable to call them greater tone and lesser tone (see also greater and lesser diesis
Diesis
In classical music from Western culture, a diesis is either an accidental , or a comma type of musical interval, usually defined as the difference between an octave and three justly tuned major thirds , equal to 128:125 or about 41.06 cents...
).
Two major tones equal a ditone
Ditone
In music, a ditone is the interval 81:64, which is 407.82 cents. It is the major third in Pythagorean tuning. The ditone is evenly divisible by two major tones and is wider than a just major third by a syntonic comma...
.