Semitone
Pronunciation: SEH-mee-tone
What is Semitone?
A semitone is also known as a halftone or half step in Western music. It is defined as the smallest distance between two notes.
Key Takeaways
- A semitone is also called the half note or half step in Western musical terminologies.
- A semitone is considered to be the smallest interval of notes.
- Semitone creates the most dissonant sound when played harmonically.
Understanding Semitone
Considered to be the smallest interval in any kind of music normally heard, it is used intentionally to create a dissonant sound when used harmonically.
For example, a semitone is G to a G-sharp or an E to an E-sharp, and so on. In an octave, there are 12 semitones. The condition of having semitones in a musical composition is called Hemitonia; whereas a composition without is called an Anhemitonia. Therefore, a musical scale with semitones is called Hemitonic.
When playing the piano, a semitone is the distance between a white key to the black key nearest it on the piano keyboard. In the instance of B to C, or E to F, both notes of the semitone are white.
Related Terms
Chromatic A chromatic scale is a 12-pitch scale, each being a semi note or half-step, which are above or below the last note. more
Pentatonic Scale Pentatonic is a musical scale that consists of 5 notes per octave, as opposed to the 7 notes commonly found on a… more
Anacrusis An anacrusis is a note or a series of notes found before the beginning of the body of the musical composition. more
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