Major 2nd

2 semitones — a whole step, the most common melodic step

Degree 2Solfège: reNotation: M2

The major 2nd is an interval of 2 semitones — a whole step. It is mildly dissonant: open and expectant, wanting to move but never harsh. The most common melodic step in Western music, it is also one of the two notes that expand a major triad into the major pentatonic.

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The instrumentTap a note to hear it.
The major 2nd in the harmonic series
f2f3f4f5f6f7f8f8f completes 8 cycles in one period of the sum8 cycles9f9f completes 9 cycles in one period of the sum9 cycles10f11f12f13f14f15f16fsum9:8 — the higher note vibrates 9 times for every 8 of the lower: harmonics 9 and 8 of one fundamental9:82: the major 2nd — the interval's degree above the root, as the app writes it2The sum repeats every 8 cycles of 8f — the shorter this is, the more simply the two notes fit together, and the more consonant the intervalrepeats every 8 cycles16 cycles of 8f
Harmonic seriesEach row is one harmonic of the note — n times the fundamental's frequency, about 1/n of its strength — faster and fainter as it climbs. The rows in ink are where the chosen interval first arises. The bottom row is the one your ear actually receives: those rows added, a single wave. The shaded band is one repeat of it — the shorter that pattern, the sooner the ear settles on it as one sound. Harmonics 8 and 9 — the ratio 9:8: a major 2nd. Together they repeat every 8 cycles of the lower note — the shorter that pattern, the sooner your ear has heard it come round enough times to settle on one sound. Equal temperament tunes it 4¢ narrower.

Related

Contained byIntervalsRelatedSolfègeMajor PentatonicDissonance

Practiced in

2nd Bounce