Tones, half-tones and intervals

Being the notes seven but the sounds twelve, as explained in the previous article about musical notes, the other five sounds received their name based on their predecessor note. The simple explanation is that if they are going up in pitch, they are called sharp; if going down, flat...

C – C# – D – D# - E – F – F# – G – G# – A – A# – B – C

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C – Db – D – Eb – E – F – Gb – G – Ab – A – Bb – B – C

Back to the topic, you need to understand that, in music, the distance between a note and the next one is a half tone. Needless to say, two half-tones make a tone. By means of example, the distance between do and re is one tone; the distance between sol and la# is a tone and a half; and the distance between la and lab is a half-tone.

Understanding music this way will allow us to understand the concepts about scales and note transposing easily. It will be very useful too, when learning to use a staff.

Intervals

To finish this article, it is important for you to know that the distances between notes are called intervals and have names. Thus, we have that:

In general, they are called...

+ prime, if the distance between two notes is less than one tone.
+ second, if the distance between two notes is two tones.
+ third, if the distance between two notes is three tones.
+ fourth, if the distance between two notes is four tones.
+ fifth, if the distance between two notes is five tones.
+ sixth, if the distance between two notes is six tones.
+ seventh, if the distance between two notes is seven tones.
+ eighth or octave, if the distance between two notes is a scale.

However, there are intervals that have specific names too:

+ A major second is composed by two notes with a distance of two half-tones.
+ A major third is composed by two notes with a distance of four half-tones.
+ A perfect fourth is composed by two notes with a distance of five half-tones.
+ A perfect fifth is composed by two notes with a distance of seven half-tones.
+ A major sixth is composed by two notes with a distance of nine half-tones.
+ A major seventh is composed by two notes with a distance of eleven half-tones.
+ An octave or major eighth is composed by two notes with a distance of twelve half-tones.

+ A diminished interval is half-tone less than a perfect or major interval. That is to say, a diminish fourth has four half-tones and a diminished fifth has six half-tones.
+ An augmented interval, conversely, has a half-tone more than a perfect interval. That is to say, an augmented fourth has six half-tones and an augmented fifth has eight half-tones.
+ When you subtract a half-tone from a major, it becomes a minor.

Continue with... Musical scales

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