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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_third
Minor third
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Minor third
Inverse
major sixth
Name
Other names
Abbreviation
m3
Size
Semitones
Interval class
Just interval
Equal temperament
300
24 equal temperament
300
Just intonation
The minor third may be derived from the harmonic series as the
interval between the fifth and sixth harmonics, or from the 19th
harmonic.
The minor third is commonly used to express sadness in music,
and research shows that this mirrors its use in speech, as a tone
similar to a minor third is produced during sad speech.[2] It is
also a quartal (based on an ascendance of one or more perfect
fourths) tertian interval, as opposed to the major third's
quintality. The minor third is also obtainable in reference to a
fundamental note from the undertone series, while the major
third is obtainable as such from the overtone series. (See
Otonality and Utonality.)
Minor third
tempered or
Play equal
just (6:5).
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2 of 3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_third
Semiditone (32:27) on C
Play .
See also
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3 of 3
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_third
musical tuning
List of meantone intervals
Pythagorean interval
References
1. Haluska, Jan (2003). The Mathematical Theory of Tone Systems,
p.xxiv. ISBN 0-8247-4714-3. 19th harmonic, overtone minor
tone.
2. Curtis ME, Bharucha JJ (June 2010). "The minor third
Semiditone as two octaves minus
communicates sadness in speech, mirroring its use in music".
three justly tuned fifths.
Emotion. 10 (3): 33548. doi:10.1037/a0017928.
PMID 20515223.
3. Dowsett, Peter (2015). Audio Production Tips: Getting the Sound Right at the Source, p.3.6.3. CRC.
ISBN 9781317614203. "The minor third, however, does not appear in the harmonic series until the
nineteenth harmmonic. Your ear almost expects to hear the major third ([on A:] C), and when that is
replaced with a more distantly related note, this makes the listener feel more 'unpleasant', 'tense', or
'sad'."
4. Alexander J. Ellis (translating Hermann Helmholtz): On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis
for the Theory of Music, page 455. Dover Publications, Inc., New York, 1954. "16:19...The 19th
harmonic, ex. 297.513 [cents]". Later reprintings: ISBN 1-150-36602-8 or ISBN 1-143-49451-2.
5. Prout, Ebenezer (December 1, 1908). "In the Forecourts of Instrumentation", The Monthly Musical
Record (https://books.google.com/books?id=N_E2AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA268&
dq=%22nineteenth+harmonic%22+music&hl=en&
sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwji7teRx_PJAhVU8WMKHXHpCFQQ6AEINjAD#v=onepage&
q=%22nineteenth%20harmonic%22&f=false). p.268.
6. John Fonville. "Ben Johnston's Extended Just Intonation- A Guide for Interpreters", p.124, Perspectives
of New Music, Vol. 29, No. 2 (Summer, 1991), pp. 106-137.
7. Paul, Oscar (1885). A manual of harmony for use in music-schools and seminaries and for
self-instruction (https://books.google.com/books?id=4WEJAQAAMAAJ&
dq=musical+interval+%22pythagorean+major+third%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s), p.165. Theodore
Baker, trans. G. Schirmer.
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