A major third is one of two commonly occurring musical intervals that span three diatonic scale degrees, the other being the minor third. In Music theory, the word inversion has several meanings There are inverted chords, inverted melodies, inverted intervals, and A minor sixth ( is the smaller of two commonly occurring Musical intervals that span six Diatonic scale degrees 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 In Musical set theory, an interval class (usual abbreviation ic) is the shortest distance in Pitch class space between two unordered Pitch classes In music just intonation is any Musical tuning in which the frequencies of Notes are related by Ratios of Whole numbers Any interval The cent is a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals. Equal temperament is a Musical temperament, or a system of tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical Frequency ratio. In music just intonation is any Musical tuning in which the frequencies of Notes are related by Ratios of Whole numbers Any interval In Music theory, the term interval describes the relationship between the pitches of two Notes Intervals may be described as vertical In Music theory, a diatonic scale (from the Greek διατονικος, meaning " through tones" also known as the heptatonia prima and A minor third ( is the smaller of two commonly occurring musical intervals compounded of two steps of the Diatonic scale. It is denoted 'major' because it is the larger of the two: the major third is a leap of four semitones, the minor third three. 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 The major third is abbreviated M3; its inversion is the minor sixth. In Music theory, the word inversion has several meanings There are inverted chords, inverted melodies, inverted intervals, and A minor sixth ( is the smaller of two commonly occurring Musical intervals that span six Diatonic scale degrees Of all the intervals, the major third is one of the easiest to identify by ear. ^[1]

The major scale is so named because of the presence of this interval between its tonic and mediant (1st and 3rd) scale degrees. In Music theory, the major scale or Ionian scale is one of the diatonic scales It is made up of seven distinct Notes plus an eighth The tonic is the first note of a musical scale in the tonal method of Musical composition. In Music, the mediant is the third degree of the Diatonic scale, being the "middle" note of the tonic In Music theory, a scale degree is the name of a particular note of a scale in relation to the tonic (the note of the scale that is considered The major chord also takes its name from the presence of this interval built on the chord's root (provided that the interval of a perfect fifth from the root is also present or implied). In Music theory, a major chord ( is a chord having a root, a Major third, and a Perfect fifth. In Music the root ( basse fouhuhuhe) of a chord is the note or pitch upon which that chord is perceived or labelled as being built The perfect fifth ( is the Musical interval between a note and the note seven Semitones above it on the musical scale

A major third in just intonation most often corresponds to the fifth partial of the overtone series, or a pitch ratio of 5:4; in equal temperament a major third is equal to four semitones — 400 cents, 13. In music just intonation is any Musical tuning in which the frequencies of Notes are related by Ratios of Whole numbers Any interval Equal temperament is a Musical temperament, or a system of tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical Frequency ratio. 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 The cent is a logarithmic unit of measure used for musical intervals. 686 cents higher than the 5:4 major third. The older concept of a ditone (two 9:8 major seconds) made a dissonantly wide major third with the ratio 81:64. See also Whole-tone scale List of meantone intervals List of intervals in 5-limit just intonation

In equal temperament three major thirds in a row are equal to an octave (for example, C to E, E to G♯/A♭, and A♭ to C). This is sometimes called the "circle of thirds". In just intonation, however, three 5:4 major thirds are less than an octave. For example, three 5:4 major thirds from C is B♯ (C to E to G♯ to B♯). The difference between this just-tuned B♯ and an equal temperament C, called a diesis, is about 41 cents. A diesis is a comma type of Musical interval, usually meaning the difference between three justly tuned major thirds (tuned in the Frequency

The major third is classed as an imperfect consonance and is considered one of the most consonant intervals after the unison, octave, perfect fifth, and perfect fourth. In Music, a unison () is an interval, the ratio of 11 or 0 half steps and zero cents. In Music, an octave ( is the the use of which is "common in most musical systems The perfect fifth ( is the Musical interval between a note and the note seven Semitones above it on the musical scale The perfect fourth () is a Musical interval which spans four scale degrees In the common practice period, thirds were considered interesting and dynamic consonances along with their inverses the sixths, but in medieval times they were considered dissonances unusable in a stable final sonority. The common practice period, in the history of European Art music (broadly called Classical music) spanning the Baroque, Classical, and The term medieval music encompasses European music written during the Middle Ages.

A diminished fourth is enharmonically equivalent to a major third (that is, it spans the same number of semitones). In Music, a diminished fourth ( is an interval that spans four Diatonic scale degrees and is narrower than a Perfect fourth by a In modern Music and notation, an enharmonic equivalent is a Note ( enharmonic tone) interval ( enharmonic interval) or For example, B–D♯ is a major third; but if the same pitches are spelled B and E♭, the interval is instead a diminished fourth. B–E♭ occurs in the C harmonic minor scale. Minor Scale was a test conducted by the United States Defense Nuclear Agency (now part of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency) involving the detonation

Major third (equal temperament)

The file plays middle C, followed by E (a tone 400 cents sharper than C), followed by both tones together. C or Do is the first Note of the fixed-Do Solfege. In Western Music, the expression " Middle C " refers to the note

Problems listening to the file? See media help.

See also

• musical tuning
• ditonus
• list of meantone intervals

References