The word limma or leimma (from
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
: λείμμα, ''leimma''; meaning "remnant") can refer to several different
musical intervals, whose only common property is their small size.
:More specifically, in Pythagorean tuning (i.e. 3-limit):
:*The original
Pythagorean limma
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.
It is defined as the interval between two adjacent n ...
, 256/243, a
Pythagorean interval ().
:and in
5-limit tuning:
:*The 5-limit diatonic semitone, 16/15 (). Although closer in size to the
Pythagorean apotome than to the limma, it has been so called because of its function as a diatonic semitone rather than a chromatic one.
:*The
5-limit limma (now a
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 ...
), 128/125, the amount by which three just
major third
In classical music, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions (see Interval number for more details), and the major third () is a third spanning four semitones. Forte, Allen (1979). ''Tonal Harmony in Concept and P ...
s fall short of an octave ().
:*The
major limma, 135/128, which is the difference between two
major whole tones and a
minor third
In music theory, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two com ...
().
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Intervals (music)