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The Half-step: What Is a Semitone?
On the piano, if you start with the note Middle C (or any other C), you’ll notice that the in-between notes correspond to the black keys.
- The smallest interval in the above scale, the interval between any two adjacent notes, is called a semitone or half-step (for example, between C and C♯, or between E and F). So, an interval of an octave is comprised of 12 semitone intervals.
- The next smallest interval, the distance covered by two semitones, is called a tone, or a whole tone, or a step.
And the name of the above 13-note (12-semitone) scale is the chromatic scale. The five new notes added to the do-re-mi scale are called chromatic notes.