Major Second
Two semitones, and the ordinary step that scales are built from. On its own it is so common that it barely registers. Add it on top of a chord and the same distance turns into the sparkle of an add9.
- 2 semitones
- 9:8
- a step
related pages
What it is
Two semitones, a ratio of nine to eight. It is the whole step, and the major scale is mostly made of them. Play a scale and you are playing a row of major seconds with two semitones dropped in.
How to recognise it
Ordinary and easy to sing. Happy Birthday opens on a rising major second, and that melody has been in the public domain since 2016, so it is a safe reference to keep.
Melodically it is the least remarkable interval in the list. Harmonically it is another matter: two notes a whole step apart in the middle of a chord will muddy it.
Where it shows up
In every scale, as the standard step. In sus2 chords, where it replaces the third. In add9 and ninth chords, where the same distance an octave up reads as colour rather than clash.
What it gets confused with
With the minor second, which is one semitone narrower and grinds. And with the ninth, which is the same note an octave higher and sounds nothing like it in a chord.
Keep going
Everything in intervals
- Minor Second
- Major Second
- Minor Seventh
- Major Seventh
- Tritone