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A neutral second or medium second is a musical interval between a minor second and a major second
Major second

A major second , also called a whole step or a whole tone,One source says step is "chiefly US."The preferred usage has been argued since the 19th century:...
. Three distinct intervals may be termed neutral seconds. An equal-tempered
Equal temperament

Equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of Musical tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratios....
 neutral second is characterized by a difference in 150.00 cent
Cent (music)

The cent is a logarithmic scale unit of measure used for musical interval . Typically cents are used to measure extremely small intervals, or to compare the sizes of comparable intervals in different tuning systems, and in fact the interval of one cent is much too small to be heard between successive notes....
s between the two tones, a hair smaller than a ratio of frequencies between the two tones of 12:11. The intermediate neutral second, called the lesser undecimal neutral second, has a ratio between the higher-frequency
Frequency

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency....
 tone to the lower-frequency tone of 12:11 and is about 150.64 cents wide, while the larger one, the greater undecimal neutral second , possesses a ratio of 11:10 between the two tones and is about 165.00 cents wide.

Roughly speaking, then, neutral seconds are a quarter tone
Quarter tone

A quarter tone is an interval about half as wide as a semitone, which is half a whole tone.Many composers are known for having written music including quarter tones or the quarter tone scale, first proposed by 19th-century music theorist Mikha'il Mishaqah , including: Pierre Boulez, Juli?n Carrillo, Mildred Couper, Alberto Ginas...
 sharp from minor seconds and a quarter tone flat from major seconds.






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A neutral second or medium second is a musical interval between a minor second and a major second
Major second

A major second , also called a whole step or a whole tone,One source says step is "chiefly US."The preferred usage has been argued since the 19th century:...
. Three distinct intervals may be termed neutral seconds. An equal-tempered
Equal temperament

Equal temperament is a musical temperament, or a system of Musical tuning in which every pair of adjacent notes has an identical frequency ratios....
 neutral second is characterized by a difference in 150.00 cent
Cent (music)

The cent is a logarithmic scale unit of measure used for musical interval . Typically cents are used to measure extremely small intervals, or to compare the sizes of comparable intervals in different tuning systems, and in fact the interval of one cent is much too small to be heard between successive notes....
s between the two tones, a hair smaller than a ratio of frequencies between the two tones of 12:11. The intermediate neutral second, called the lesser undecimal neutral second, has a ratio between the higher-frequency
Frequency

Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency....
 tone to the lower-frequency tone of 12:11 and is about 150.64 cents wide, while the larger one, the greater undecimal neutral second , possesses a ratio of 11:10 between the two tones and is about 165.00 cents wide.

Roughly speaking, then, neutral seconds are a quarter tone
Quarter tone

A quarter tone is an interval about half as wide as a semitone, which is half a whole tone.Many composers are known for having written music including quarter tones or the quarter tone scale, first proposed by 19th-century music theorist Mikha'il Mishaqah , including: Pierre Boulez, Juli?n Carrillo, Mildred Couper, Alberto Ginas...
 sharp from minor seconds and a quarter tone flat from major seconds. The equal-tempered neutral second may be found in the quarter tone scale and in some traditional Arab music
Arab music

Arabic music or Arab music includes several genres and styles of music ranging from Arabic classical to Arabic pop music and from secular music to sacred music....
 (see also Arab tone system
Arab tone system

The modern Arab tone system, or system of musical tuning, is based upon the theoretical division of the octave into twenty-four equal divisions or 24-tone equal temperament , the distance between each successive note being a quarter tone ....
)). Because neutral seconds are essentially a semitone (minor second) plus a quarter-tone, they may be considered three-quarter tones.

In equal temperament


Approximations to the 12:11 and 11:10 neutral seconds can be found in a number of equally-tempered tuning systems. 11:10 is very closely matched by 22-ET
22 equal temperament

In music, 22 equal temperament, called 22-tet, equal division of the octave, or 22-et, is the Temperament scale derived by dividing the octave into 22 equally large steps....
, whereas 12:11 is matched by 24-ET
Quarter tone

A quarter tone is an interval about half as wide as a semitone, which is half a whole tone.Many composers are known for having written music including quarter tones or the quarter tone scale, first proposed by 19th-century music theorist Mikha'il Mishaqah , including: Pierre Boulez, Juli?n Carrillo, Mildred Couper, Alberto Ginas...
, 31-ET
31 equal temperament

In music, 31 equal temperament , which can be abbreviated 31-TET, 31-equal division of the octave, 31-ET, is the Temperament scale derived by dividing the octave into 31 equal-sized steps....
 and 41-ET
41 equal temperament

In music, 41 equal temperament, often abbreviated 41-tET, 41-EDO, or 41-ET, is the Musical temperament scale derived by dividing the octave into 41 equally-sized steps....
. 72-ET
72 equal temperament

In music, 72 equal temperament, called twelfth-tone, 72-tet, equal division of the octave, or 72-et, is the Temperament scale derived by dividing the octave into twelfth-tones, or in other words 72 equally large steps....
 matches both intervals closely and is also the smallest widely used equal temperament that uniquely matches both intervals. Tuning systems that temper out the comma
Comma (music)

In music theory, a comma is a small or very small interval between two enharmonic notes tuned in different ways. For example, an A flat tuned as a major third below C in just intonation, and a G sharp tuned as a major third above E, will not be exactly the same note....
 of 121:120 do not distinguish between the two intervals.

See also

  • List of musical intervals
    List of musical intervals

    Some terminology used in list:* In music, the Limit is a number measuring the harmony of an interval . The lower the number, the more Consonance and dissonance the interval is considered to be....
  • Microtonal music
    Microtonal music

    Microtonal music is music using microtones ? musical interval of less than an Equal Temperament semitone.Microtonal music can also refer to music which uses intervals not found in the Western system of 12 equal intervals to the octave....