Minor 2nd

1 semitone — the smallest and most tense interval

Degree ♭2Solfège: diNotation: m2

The minor 2nd is an interval of 1 semitone — a half step, the smallest interval in Western music. It is sharply dissonant: the harshest interval in harmony, yet a source of strong melodic pull when resolved stepwise. It is the signature interval of Phrygian, the ♭2 above the root.

35791215171921C♭2C♭2C♭2C♭2C♭2C♭2C♭2C♭2C♭2C♭2C♭2
The instrumentTap a note to hear it.
The minor 2nd in the harmonic series
f2f3f4f5f6f7f8f9f10f11f12f13f14f15f15f completes 15 cycles in one period of the sum15 cycles16f16f completes 16 cycles in one period of the sum16 cyclessum16:15 — the higher note vibrates 16 times for every 15 of the lower: harmonics 16 and 15 of one fundamental16:1512¢ — this pure ratio is 12 cents wider than the equal-tempered minor 2nd an instrument plays; a semitone is 100 cents+12¢♭2: the minor 2nd — the interval's degree above the root, as the app writes it♭2The sum repeats every 15 cycles of 15f — the shorter this is, the more simply the two notes fit together, and the more consonant the intervalrepeats every 15 cycles16 cycles of 15f
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 15 and 16 — the ratio 16:15: a minor 2nd. Together they repeat every 15 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 12¢ narrower.

Related

Contained byIntervalsRelatedSolfègePhrygianDissonanceReferenced bySemitoneMajor 7th