Editing Major second (section)

{{Short description|Musical interval}}
{{Redirect|Whole tones|the scale|Whole tone scale}}

[[Image:Major second on C.svg|thumb|right|Step: major second (major tone) {{audio|Major second on C.mid|Play}}.]]

{{Infobox Interval
|       main_interval_name = major second
|       inverse = [[minor seventh]]
|       complement = [[minor seventh]]
|       other_names = whole tone, whole step
|       abbreviation = M2
|       semitones = 2
|       interval_class = 2
|       just_interval = 9:8<ref name="Duffin">{{cite book|last1=Duffin|first1=Ross W.|title=How equal temperament ruined harmony : (and why you should care)|date=2008|publisher=W. W. Norton|location=New York|isbn=978-0-393-33420-3|pages=163|edition=First published as a Norton paperback.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i5LC7Csnw7UC&q=how+equal+temperament+ruined+harmony|access-date=28 June 2017}}</ref> or 10:9<ref name="Duffin" />
|       cents_equal_temperament = 200<ref name="Duffin" />
|       cents_24T_equal_temperament = 
|       cents_just_intonation = 204<ref name="Duffin" /> or 182<ref name="Duffin" />
}}

[[Image:Minor tone on C.png|thumb|right|Minor tone (10:9) {{audio|Minor tone on C.mid|Play}}.]]

In [[Western culture|Western]] [[music theory]], a '''major second''' (sometimes also called '''whole tone''' or a '''whole step''')  is a second spanning two [[semitone]]s ({{audio|Major second on C.mid|Play}}). A second is a [[interval (music)|musical interval]] encompassing two adjacent [[staff position]]s (see [[Interval number]] for more details). For example, the interval from C to D is a major second, as the note D lies two semitones above C, and the two notes are [[Musical notation|notated]] on adjacent staff positions. [[Diminished second|Diminished]], [[Minor second|minor]] and [[augmented second]]s are notated on adjacent staff positions as well, but consist of a different number of semitones (zero, one, and three).

{{Quote|The intervals from the tonic (keynote) in an upward direction to the second, to the third, to the sixth, and to the seventh scale degrees of a major scale are called major.<ref>Benward, Bruce & Saker, Marilyn (2003). ''Music: In Theory and Practice, Vol. I'', p.52. Seventh Edition. {{ISBN|978-0-07-294262-0}}.</ref>}}

The major second is the interval that occurs between the first and second [[Degree (music)|degrees]] of a [[major scale]], the [[Tonic (music)|tonic]] and the [[supertonic]]. On a [[musical keyboard]], a major second is the interval between two keys separated by one key, counting white and black keys alike. On a guitar string, it is the interval separated by two [[fret]]s. In moveable-do [[solfège]], it is the interval between ''do'' and ''re''. It is considered a [[Melody|melodic]] [[step (music)|step]], as opposed to larger intervals called skips.

Intervals composed of two semitones, such as the major second and the [[diminished third]], are also called '''tones''', '''whole tones''', or '''whole steps'''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whole%20step |title=Whole step – Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary |publisher=Merriam-webster.com |access-date=2015-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/tone |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071031074656/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/tone |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 31, 2007 |title=Oxford Dictionaries – Dictionary, Thesaurus, & Grammar |publisher=Askoxford.com |date=2015-02-11 |access-date=2015-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/whole%20step |title=Whole step &#124; Define Whole step at Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=2015-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/whole%20tone |title=Whole tone &#124; Define Whole tone at Dictionary.com |publisher=Dictionary.reference.com |access-date=2015-02-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sTMbuSQdqPMC&q=a+half+step+is+called+a+semitone&pg=PA19 |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music Theory – Michael Miller – Google Books |isbn=9781592574377 |access-date=2015-02-25|last1=Miller |first1=Michael |year=2005 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iYgSJSxWW2sC |title=Music Theory For Dummies – Michael Pilhofer, Holly Day – Google Books |date=2011-02-25 |isbn=9781118054444 |access-date=2015-02-25|last1=Pilhofer |first1=Michael |last2=Day |first2=Holly }}</ref>
In [[just intonation]], major seconds can occur in at least two different [[frequency ratio]]s:<ref name="M&L">Leta E. Miller, Fredric Lieberman (2006). ''Lou Harrison'', p.72. {{ISBN|0-252-03120-2}}.</ref>
9:8 (about 203.9 cents) and 10:9 (about 182.4 cents). The largest (9:8) ones are called [[#Major and minor tones|major tones]] or greater tones, the smallest (10:9) are called [[#Major and minor tones|minor tone]]s or lesser tones. Their size differs by exactly one [[syntonic comma]] (81:80, or about 21.5 cents).
Some equal temperaments, such as [[15 equal temperament|15-ET]] and [[22 equal temperament|22-ET]], also distinguish between a greater and a lesser tone.

The major second was historically considered one of the most [[Consonance and dissonance|dissonant]] intervals of the [[diatonic scale]], although much [[20th-century music]] saw it reimagined as a consonance.{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} It is common in many different musical systems, including [[Arabic music]], [[Turkish music]] and music of the [[Balkans]], among others.  It occurs in both [[diatonic]] and [[Pentatonic scale|pentatonic]] scales.

{{audio|Second_ET.ogg|Listen to a major second in equal temperament}}. Here, [[middle C]] is followed by D, which is a tone 200 [[Cent (music)|cents]] sharper than C, and then by both tones together.