Intervals
Minor Second
2m · 1 semitone
The smallest step in common use, and the most dissonant — one semitone of pure tension.
Also written m2 · 2m
Minor Second
2m · 1 semitone
On the piano, from every note
| From | Notes | Play it on your instrument |
|---|---|---|
| C | C – Db | |
| C# | C# – D | |
| D | D – Eb | |
| Eb | Eb – Fb | |
| E | E – F | |
| F | F – Gb | |
| F# | F# – G | |
| G | G – Ab | |
| Ab | Ab – Bbb | |
| A | A – Bb | |
| Bb | Bb – Cb | |
| B | B – C |
Tap a key or a fret to hear it.
Read on: number and quality · half steps and whole steps · inversion · compound intervals · consonance and dissonance
Every second
A second can take these qualities, one semitone apart; choose one to see the upper note move and hear the pair.
Hear it in music
Songs that open with Minor Second: the first two notes of each are the interval, which is how most players learn to recognise it.
Jaws (Main Theme)John Williams
The two alternating notes are a minor second.
Für EliseBeethoven
The opening E–D♯ oscillation.
Strangers in the NightFrank Sinatra
The first two melody notes rise a minor second.
Scales that contain it
C PhrygianC · Db · Eb · F · G · Ab · Bb
C LocrianC · Db · Eb · F · Gb · Ab · Bb
C ChromaticC · Db · D · Eb · E · F · Gb · G · Ab · A · Bb · B
C AlteredC · Db · D# · E · F# · Ab · Bb
C Phrygian DominantC · Db · E · F · G · Ab · Bb
C Half-Whole DiminishedC · Db · Eb · E · F# · G · A · Bb
In C major
- E–F
- B–C
Understanding Minor Second
Names and symbols
Minor Second is written m2, 2m: the letter is the quality, the number the size. Chord formulas on this site write the number first, as tonal does.
Seconds, thirds, sixths and sevenths come in major and minor, a semitone apart, and can be widened to augmented or narrowed to diminished. Inverting one swaps the quality: a major third becomes a minor sixth, a minor second a major seventh.
How it sounds
A minor second spans 1 semitone: C – Db. Played together the two notes clash audibly; the beating between them is what makes the interval read as tension rather than colour.
Played one after the other it is the ordinary half step of any scale — the move from the seventh degree to the tonic, or from the third to the fourth in a major scale. The same interval that sounds harsh as a chord is the most natural melodic motion there is.
How composers use it
Horror and suspense scoring leans on the harmonic minor second precisely because it refuses to settle. In jazz it appears deliberately inside voicings — the ♭9 against a dominant chord — where the clash is the point.
Its inversion is the Major Seventh, which is why a tight minor second at the bottom of a voicing sounds muddy while the same two notes spread wide sound merely rich.
Learn this properly
Chapter 5: IntervalsCommon questions
- How many semitones is a Minor Second?
- A Minor Second spans 1 semitone: C – Db. Count the semitones of any interval with the interval calculator.
- Why does the minor second sound so dissonant?
- The two frequencies are close enough that their overtones beat against each other rather than reinforcing, which the ear reads as roughness.
- What is the inversion of a minor second?
- The Major Seventh. Invert any minor interval and you get a major one, and the two sizes always add to twelve semitones.
- How do I play Minor Second?
- On guitar the handiest shape is Next string, G 5 · B 2, read as string and fret; the instrument panel draws it from any starting note with the other shapes. On the piano count 1 semitone up from any key, black keys included. Play the notes together for the harmonic form, one after the other for the melodic form.