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In Western
music theory Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the " rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (k ...
, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a
musical interval In music theory, an interval is a difference in pitch between two sounds. An interval may be described as horizontal, linear, or melodic if it refers to successively sounding tones, such as two adjacent pitches in a melody, and vertical or ha ...
encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval 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 positions. Diminished, minor and augmented seconds are notated on adjacent staff positions as well, but consist of a different number of semitones (zero, one, and three). The major second is the interval that occurs between the first and second degrees of a
major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at doub ...
, the tonic and the
supertonic In music, the supertonic is the second degree () of a diatonic scale, one whole step above the tonic. In the movable do solfège system, the supertonic note is sung as ''re''. The triad built on the supertonic note is called the supertonic ch ...
. On a
musical keyboard A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, s ...
, 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 A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instru ...
s. In moveable-do
solfège In music, solfège (, ) or solfeggio (; ), also called sol-fa, solfa, solfeo, among many names, is a music education method used to teach aural skills, pitch and sight-reading of Western music. Solfège is a form of solmization, though the tw ...
, it is the interval between ''do'' and ''re''. It is considered a melodic step, as opposed to larger intervals called skips. 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 In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals as whole number ratios (such as 3:2 or 4:3) of frequencies. An interval tuned in this way is said to be pure, and is called a just interval. Just intervals (and ...
, major seconds can occur in at least two different frequency ratios:Leta E. Miller, Fredric Lieberman (2006). ''Lou Harrison'', p.72. . 9:8 (about 203.9 cents) and 10:9 (about 182.4 cents). The largest (9:8) ones are called major tones or greater tones, the smallest (10:9) are called minor tones or lesser tones. Their size differs by exactly one syntonic comma (81:80, or about 21.5 cents). Some equal temperaments, such as 15-ET and 22-ET, also distinguish between a greater and a lesser tone. The major second was historically considered one of the most dissonant intervals of the
diatonic scale In music theory, a diatonic scale is any heptatonic scale that includes five whole steps (whole tones) and two half steps (semitones) in each octave, in which the two half steps are separated from each other by either two or three whole st ...
, although much
20th-century music The following Wikipedia articles deal with 20th-century music. Western art music Main articles *20th-century classical music *Contemporary classical music, covering the period Sub-topics *Aleatoric music *Electronic music *Experimental music *Ex ...
saw it reimagined as a consonance. It is common in many different musical systems, including
Arabic music Arabic music or Arab music ( ar, الموسيقى العربية, al-mūsīqā al-ʿArabīyyah) is the music of the Arab world with all its diverse music styles and genres. Arabic countries have many rich and varied styles of music and also ma ...
, Turkish music and music of the
Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...
, among others. It occurs in both
diatonic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a ...
and pentatonic scales. . Here,
middle C C or Do is the first note and semitone of the C major scale, the third note of the A minor scale (the relative minor of C major), and the fourth note (G, A, B, C) of the Guidonian hand, commonly pitched around 261.63  Hz. The actual fr ...
is followed by D, which is a tone 200 cents sharper than C, and then by both tones together.


Major and minor tones

In tuning systems using
just intonation In music, just intonation or pure intonation is the tuning of musical intervals as whole number ratios (such as 3:2 or 4:3) of frequencies. An interval tuned in this way is said to be pure, and is called a just interval. Just intervals (and ...
, such as 5-limit tuning, in which major seconds occur in two different sizes, the wider of them is called a major tone or greater tone, and the narrower a minor tone or, lesser tone. The difference in size between a major tone and a minor tone is equal to one syntonic comma (about 21.51 cents). The major tone is the 9:8 intervalRoyal Society (Great Britain) (1880, digitized Feb 26, 2008). ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Volume 30'', p.531. Harvard University. , 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. The 10:9 minor tone arises in the C
major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at doub ...
between D & E and G & A, and is "a sharper dissonance" than 9:8.Paul, Oscar (1885) The 9:8 major tone arises in the C
major scale The major scale (or Ionian mode) is one of the most commonly used musical scales, especially in Western music. It is one of the diatonic scales. Like many musical scales, it is made up of seven notes: the eighth duplicates the first at doub ...
between C & D, F & G, and A & B. This 9:8 interval was named
epogdoon In Western music theory, a major second (sometimes also called whole tone or a whole step) is a second spanning two semitones (). A second is a musical interval encompassing two adjacent staff positions (see Interval number for more detai ...
(meaning 'one eighth in addition') by the Pythagoreans. 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 ). Some equal temperaments also produce major seconds of two different sizes, called ''greater'' and ''lesser tones'' (or ''major'' and ''minor tones''). For instance, this is true for 15-ET, 22-ET, 34-ET, 41-ET, 53-ET, and 72-ET. Conversely, in twelve-tone equal temperament,
Pythagorean tuning Pythagorean tuning is a system of musical tuning in which the frequency ratios of all intervals are based on the ratio 3:2.Bruce Benward and Marilyn Nadine Saker (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice'', seventh edition, 2 vols. (Boston: ...
, and meantone temperament (including 19-ET and 31-ET) all major seconds have the same size, so there cannot be a distinction between a greater and a lesser tone. In any system where there is only one size of major second, the terms ''greater'' and ''lesser tone'' (or ''major'' and ''minor tone'') are rarely used with a different meaning. Namely, they are used to indicate the two distinct kinds of whole tone, more commonly and more appropriately called ''major second'' (M2) and ''diminished third'' (d3). Similarly, major semitones and minor semitones are more often and more appropriately referred to as ''minor seconds'' (m2) and '' augmented unisons'' (A1), or ''diatonic'' and ''chromatic semitones''. Unlike almost all uses of the terms ''major'' and ''minor'', these intervals span the ''same'' number of semitones. They both span 2 semitones, while, for example, a major third (4 semitones) and minor third (3 semitones) differ by one semitone. Thus, to avoid ambiguity, it is preferable to call them ''greater tone'' and ''lesser tone'' (see also greater and lesser
diesis In classical music from Western culture, a diesis ( , plural dieses ( , "difference"; Greek: δίεσις "leak" or "escape"Benson, Dave (2006). ''Music: A Mathematical Offering'', p.171. . Based on the technique of playing the aulos, where ...
). Two major tones equal a ditone.


''Epogdoon''

In Pythagorean music theory, the ''epogdoon'' ( grc, ἐπόγδοον) is the interval with the ratio 9 to 8. The word is composed of the prefix ''epi''- meaning "on top of" and ''ogdoon'' meaning "one eighth"; so it means "one eighth in addition". For example, the natural numbers are 8 and 9 in this relation (). According to
Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...
, the Pythagoreans hated the number 17 because it separates the 16 from its Epogdoon 18. " 'Epogdoos''is the 9:8 ratio that corresponds to the tone, 'hêmiolios''is the 3:2 ratio that is associated with the musical fifth, and 'epitritos''is the 4:3 ratio associated with the musical fourth. It is common to translate ''epogdoos'' as 'tone' ajor second"


Further reading

* Barker, Andrew (2007). ''The Science of Harmonics in Classical Greece''. Cambridge University Press. . * Plutarch (2005). ''Moralia''. Translated by Frank Cole Babbitt. Kessinger Publishing. .


See also

* Diminished third * List of meantone intervals * Minor second *
Pythagorean interval In musical tuning theory, a Pythagorean interval is a musical interval with frequency ratio equal to a power of two divided by a power of three, or vice versa.Benson, Donald C. (2003). ''A Smoother Pebble: Mathematical Explorations'', p.56. . " ...
*
Whole tone scale In music, a whole-tone scale is a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbors by the interval of a whole tone. In twelve-tone equal temperament, there are only two complementary whole-tone scales, both six-note or '' hexatonic' ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Major Second Major intervals Seconds (music)