View source for Minor third

{{Infobox Interval|
       main_interval_name = Minor third|
       inverse = [[major sixth]]|
       complement = [[major sixth]]|
       other_names = sesquitone |
       abbreviation = m3 |
       semitones = 3 |
       interval_class = 3 |
       just_interval = 6:5, 19:16, 32:27<ref>Haluska, Jan (2003). ''The Mathematical Theory of Tone Systems'', p. xxiv. {{ISBN|0-8247-4714-3}}. 19th harmonic, overtone minor tone.</ref>|
       cents_equal_temperament = 300|
       cents_24T_equal_temperament = |
       cents_just_intonation = 316, 298, 294
}}
{{stack|[[File:Minor third on C.png|thumb|Minor third[[File:Minor third on C.mid|thumb|equal tempered]] [[File:Just minor third on C.mid|thumb|just (6:5)]]]]}}
[[File:19th harmonic on C.png|thumb|19th harmonic (19:16), E<sup>19</sup>{{music|flat}}[[File:19th harmonic on C.mid]]]]
[[File:Comparison of minor thirds.png|upright=1.3|thumb|Comparison, in cents, of intervals at or near a minor third]]
{{stack|[[File:3 Cycles of minor thirds - BassLessons.tv.webm|thumb|Jazz and rock bassist [[Joseph Patrick Moore]] introducing a cycle of minor thirds]]}}
In [[music theory]], a '''minor third''' is a [[interval (music)|musical interval]] that encompasses three [[half step]]s, or [[semitone]]s. [[Staff notation]] represents the minor third as encompassing three [[staff position]]s (see: [[interval (music)#Number|interval number]]). The minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is called ''minor'' because it is the smaller of the two: the [[major third]] spans an additional semitone. For example, the interval from A to C is a minor third, as the note C lies three semitones above A.  Coincidentally, there are three staff positions from A to C. [[Diminished third|Diminished]] and [[augmented third]]s span the same number of staff positions, but consist of a different number of semitones (two and five). The minor third is a [[skip (music)|skip]] melodically.

Notable examples of ascending minor thirds include the opening two notes of "[[Greensleeves]]" and of "[[Light My Fire]]".

The minor third may be derived from the [[Harmonic series (music)|harmonic series]] as the interval between the fifth and sixth harmonics, or from the 19th [[harmonic series (music)|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.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Curtis, M. E.|author2=Bharucha, J. J.|title=The minor third communicates sadness in speech, mirroring its use in music|journal=[[Emotion (journal)|Emotion]]|volume=10|issue=3|pages=335–348|date=June 2010|pmid=20515223 |doi=10.1037/a0017928}}</ref> It is also a [[quartal and quintal harmony|quartal]] (based on an ascendance of one or more [[perfect fourth]]s) [[wikt:tertian|tertian]] interval, as opposed to the [[major third|major third's]] quintality.  The minor third is also obtainable in reference to a [[fundamental (music)|fundamental note]] from the [[undertone series]], while the major third is obtainable as such from the [[overtone series]].  (See [[Otonality and Utonality]].)

The [[minor scale]] is so named because of the presence of this interval between its [[tonic (music)|tonic]] and [[mediant]] (1st and 3rd) [[scale degrees]].
[[Minor chord]]s too take their name from the presence of this interval built on the chord's [[root (chord)|root]] (provided that the interval of a [[perfect fifth]] from the root is also present or implied).

A minor third, in [[just intonation]], corresponds to a pitch ratio of 6:5 or 315.64 [[cent (music)|cents]]. In an [[equal tempered]] tuning, a minor third is equal to three [[semitone]]s, a ratio of 2<sup>1/4</sup>:1 (about 1.189), or 300 cents, 15.64 cents narrower than the 6:5 ratio. In other [[meantone temperament|meantone]] tunings it is wider, and in [[19 equal temperament]] it is very nearly the 6:5 ratio of just intonation; in more complex [[schismatic temperament]]s, such as [[53 equal temperament]], the "minor third" is often significantly flat (being close to [[Pythagorean tuning]] ({{Audio|Pythagorean minor third on C.mid|play}})), although the "[[augmented second]]" produced by such scales is often within ten cents of a pure 6:5 ratio. If a minor third is tuned in accordance with the fundamental of the [[overtone series]], the result is a ratio of 19:16 or 297.51 cents (the nineteenth harmonic).<ref>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 harmonic. Your ear almost expects to hear the major third ([on A:] C{{music|#}}), and when that is replaced with a more distantly related note, this makes the listener feel more 'unpleasant', 'tense', or 'sad'."</ref> The 12-TET minor third (300 cents) more closely approximates the nineteenth harmonic with only 2.49 cents error.<ref>[[Alexander John Ellis|Alexander J. Ellis]] (translating [[Hermann von Helmholtz|Hermann Helmholtz]]): ''On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music'', p. 455. Dover Publications, 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}}.</ref> M. Ergo mistakenly claimed that the nineteenth harmonic was the highest ever written, for the bass-trumpet in [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]'' (1848 to 1874), when [[Robert Schumann]]'s Op. 86 ''Konzertstück'' for 4 Horns and Orchestra (1849) features the [[twentieth harmonic]] (four octaves and a major third above the fundamental) in the first horn part three times<!--E natural in alt.-->.<ref>[[Ebenezer Prout|Prout, Ebenezer]] (December 1, 1908). "[https://books.google.com/books?id=N_E2AQAAMAAJ&q=%22nineteenth+harmonic%22&pg=PA268 In the Forecourts of Instrumentation"], ''The Monthly Musical Record''. p. 268.</ref>

Other pitch ratios are given related names, the [[septimal minor third]] with ratio 7:6 and the tridecimal minor third with ratio 13:11 in particular.

The minor third is classed as an [[consonance and dissonance|imperfect consonance]] and is considered one of the most consonant intervals after the [[unison]], [[octave]], [[perfect fifth]], and [[perfect fourth]].

The [[sopranino saxophone]] and [[E-flat clarinet|E♭ clarinet]] sound in the [[concert pitch]] ( C ) a minor third higher than the written pitch; therefore, to get the sounding pitch one must [[transposition (music)|transpose]] the written pitch up a minor third. Instruments in A – most commonly the [[A clarinet]], sound a minor third lower than the written pitch.

==Pythagorean minor third<!--[[Pythagorean minor third]] and [[semiditone]] redirect directly here.-->==
[[File:Semiditone.png|thumb|Semiditone as two octaves minus three justly tuned fifths]]
{{stack|[[File:Semiditone on C.png|thumb|Semiditone (32:27) on C[[File:Pythagorean minor third on C.mid]]]]}}
In [[music theory]], a ''semiditone'' (or ''Pythagorean minor third'')<ref>[[John Fonville]]. "[[Ben Johnston (composer)|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.</ref> is the [[Interval (music)|interval]] 32:27 (approximately 294.13 [[Cent (music)|cents]]). It is the minor third in [[Pythagorean tuning]]. The 32:27 Pythagorean minor third arises in the [[5-limit]] [[justly tuned major scale]] between the 2nd and 4th degrees (in the C [[major scale]], between D and F).<ref>[[Oscar Paul|Paul, Oscar]] (1885). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=4WEJAQAAMAAJ&q=musical+interval+%22pythagorean+major+third%22 A manual of harmony for use in music-schools and seminaries and for self-instruction]'', p. 165. [[Theodore Baker]], trans. G. Schirmer.</ref> {{audio|Pythagorean minor third in scale.mid|Play}}

It can be thought of as two [[octave]]s minus three [[Just intonation|justly tuned]] [[Perfect fifth|fifths]]. It is narrower than a justly tuned minor third by a [[syntonic comma]]. Its inversion is a [[Pythagorean major sixth]].{{cn|date=March 2024}}

==See also==
* [[Musical tuning]]
* [[List of meantone intervals]]
* [[Pythagorean interval]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Intervals}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minor Third}}
[[Category:Minor intervals]]
[[Category:Thirds (music)]]

[[ru:Терция (интервал)#Разновидности терции]]