Tritone in the context of "Perfect fifths"

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⭐ Core Definition: Tritone

In music theory, the tritone is defined as a musical interval spanning three adjacent whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be decomposed into the three adjacent whole tones F–G, G–A, and A–B.

Narrowly defined, each of these whole tones must be a step in the scale, so by this definition, within a diatonic scale there is only one tritone for each octave. For instance, the above-mentioned interval F–B is the only tritone formed from the notes of the C major scale. More broadly, a tritone is also commonly defined as any interval with a width of three whole tones (spanning six semitones in the chromatic scale), regardless of scale degrees. According to this definition, a diatonic scale contains two tritones for each octave. For instance, the above-mentioned C major scale contains the tritones F–B (from F to the B above it, also called augmented fourth) and B–F (from B to the F above it, also called diminished fifth, semidiapente, or semitritonus); the latter is decomposed as a semitone B–C, a whole tone C–D, a whole tone D–E, and a semitone E–F, for a total width of three whole tones, but composed as four steps in the scale. In twelve-equal temperament, the tritone divides the octave exactly in half as 6 of 12 semitones or 600 of 1,200 cents.

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Tritone in the context of Perfect fifth

In music theory, a perfect fifth is the musical interval corresponding to a pair of pitches with a frequency ratio of 3:2, or very nearly so.

In classical music from Western culture, a fifth is the interval from the first to the last of the first five consecutive notes in a diatonic scale. The perfect fifth (often abbreviated P5) spans seven semitones, while the diminished fifth spans six and the augmented fifth spans eight semitones. For example, the interval from C to G is a perfect fifth, as the note G lies seven semitones above C.

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Tritone in the context of Resolution (music)

Resolution in Western tonal music theory is the move of a note or chord from dissonance (an unstable sound) to a consonance (a more final or stable sounding one).

Dissonance, resolution, and suspense can be used to create musical interest. Where a melody or chordal pattern is expected to resolve to a certain note or chord, a different but similarly suitable note can be resolved to instead, creating an interesting and unexpected sound. For example, the deceptive cadence.

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Tritone in the context of Natural minor

In Western classical music theory, the minor scale refers to three scale patterns – the natural minor scale (or Aeolian mode), the harmonic minor scale, and the melodic minor scale (ascending or descending).

These scales contain all three notes of a minor triad: the root, a minor third (rather than the major third, as in a major triad or major scale), and a perfect fifth (rather than the diminished fifth, as in a diminished scale or half diminished scale).

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Tritone in the context of Dominant seventh chord

In music theory, a dominant seventh chord, or major minor seventh chord, is a seventh chord composed of a root, major third, perfect fifth, and minor seventh; thus it is a major triad together with a minor seventh. It is often denoted by the letter name of the chord root and a superscript "7". In most cases, dominant seventh chord are built on the fifth degree of the major scale. An example is the dominant seventh chord built on G, written as G, having pitches G–B–D–F:

The leading note and the subdominant note combined form a diminished fifth, also known as a tritone. The clashing sound produced by playing these two notes together gives the dominant seventh chord its dissonant quality (i.e. its harmonic instability).

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Tritone in the context of Perfect fourth

A fourth is a musical interval encompassing four staff positions in the music notation of Western culture, and a perfect fourth (Play) is the fourth spanning five semitones (half steps, or half tones). For example, the ascending interval from C to the next F is a perfect fourth, because the note F is the fifth semitone above C, and there are four staff positions between C and F. Diminished and augmented fourths span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (four and six, respectively).

The perfect fourth may be derived from the harmonic series as the interval between the third and fourth harmonics. The term perfect identifies this interval as belonging to the group of perfect intervals, so called because they are neither major nor minor.

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