In music, the smallest distance between two adjacent tones is called a semitone, and the distance between two semitones constitutes a whole tone. ? Divide the distance of the group of notes C?D?E?F?G?A?B? into twelve equal parts, and each equal part is called a "semitone". If the distance between two tones is two "semitones", it is called a "whole tone". On keyboard instruments such as pianos and electronic keyboards, C-D, D-E, F-G, G-A, A-B, there is a black key between the two notes, and the distance between them is the whole tone; E-F, B-C, there is no black key between the two notes. The keys are separated by a semitone.

Types of semitones and whole tones In the musical tone system, the semitone relationship between any two adjacent tone levels is the same from the perspective of pitch. But semitones composed of sounds with different names have different meanings. For example, there is no difference in pitch between the semitones between c and ?bd and between c and #c, especially in twelve equal temperament, which are exactly the same. However, due to the different names, these two semitones are completely different types: the former is a natural semitone, and the latter is a modified semitone.

From the perspective of pitch alone, the only two types of sound relationships we are currently exposed to are semitones and whole tones. However, due to different names, they are divided into two categories: natural and changed. In this way, four types are formed: natural semitone, natural whole tone, modified semitone and modified whole tone. Without considering sharps and flats, the semitones and whole tones adjacent to the sound names are natural semitones and natural whole tones. Otherwise, it is a semitone change and a whole tone change. We use tables to illustrate these relationships:

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Here are some examples.

Natural semitones? e-f, #e-#f, #g-a, g-ba, xg-#a, bg-bba

Natural whole tones? c-d, #c-#d , e-#f, be-f, #e-?xf, bbe-bf

Change semitones ?c-#c, #c-?xc, bbd-bd, #d-?bf, xc-be, #c-?bbe

Change the whole tone?c-xc, bbd-d, bd-#d, #c-be, xc-e, c-bbe As can be seen from the above examples It turns out that the names of the tones in the semitone changes and the whole tone changes are not adjacent - of course, the sharps and flats are not taken into account, and these examples can be divided into two categories: the first three examples are all semitones or whole tones composed of the same name plus different sharps and flats. , the last three examples are all semitones or wholetones composed of a name plus a sharp or flat sign. From the contents of this section, we can see that the name of a sound and the pitch of a sound are two different aspects of the same thing. Although they are aimed at the same object, they are two completely different concepts. There are inseparable and inevitable connections, and there are fundamental differences of different natures. A considerable amount of traditional music theory is devoted to strengthening their connection on the premise of distinguishing their differences.

What is a variation tone——

The tone obtained by raising or lowering a standard note is a variation tone.

Raising a note by a semitone is called a sharp. Use "#" (sharp sign) to indicate.

The standard sound is lowered by a semitone, represented by "?b?" (flat sign).

The basic sound is raised by a whole tone, which is called a double-sharp sound, and is represented by "x" (re-sharp).

The basic tone is lowered by a whole tone, which is called a heavy flat tone. Indicated by "?bb" (heavy drop).

To change a sound that has been raised (including re-raised) or lowered (including re-lowered) to the original sound, use the restoration symbol to express?.

A dot is a small dot written on the right side of a note, which means increasing the duration of the previous note by half. Notes with dots are called dotted notes.