Definition of Half step

1. Noun. The musical interval between adjacent keys on a keyboard instrument.

Exact synonyms: Semitone
Generic synonyms: Interval, Musical Interval

Definition of Half step

1. Noun. (music US) An interval of which there are seven in a fifth or twelve in an octave, consisting of two tones whose frequency ratio is about 1.059 or 18/17. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Half Step

half seas over
half shell
half shells
half sister
half sister-in-law
half sisters
half sisters-in-law
half snipe
half sole
half sovereign
half sovereigns
half space
half spaces
half stack
half staff
half step
half steps
half time
half times
half title
half track
half viaduct
half virgins
half volley
half wish
halfa
halfas
halfawake

Literary usage of Half step

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Music Notation and Terminology by Karl Wilson Gehrkens (1914)
"to secure a tone with such a strongly upward tendency the interval between seven and eight had to be reduced in size to a half-step. It should be noted that ..."

2. First Theory Book by Diller, Angela (1921)
"The half-step above a natural, whether a white key or a black key, ... The half-step below a natural is its flat (b), and the half-step below the flat is ..."

3. The Material Used in Musical Composition: A System of Harmony Designed by Percy Goetschius (1913)
"The diatonic half-step is the difference in pitch between tones that lie five ... The chromatic half-step is seven harmonic degrees removed; Ex. 8c. ..."

4. Manual of Harmony by Salomon Jadassohn, Paul Torek, Henry Bickford Pasmore (1890)
"Among half-steps we distinguish between the large and small half-step. The large half-step is formed by the chromatic alteration which an accidental ..."

5. Elements of Harmony by Stephen Albert Emery (1899)
"Retardations resolving but a half step upward are more common and more agreeable than those progressing a whole step. As the numerals required to indicate ..."

6. The Shawm: Library of Church Music: Embracing about One Thousand Pieces by William Batchelder Bradbury, George Frederick Root, Thomas Hastings, Timothy Battelle Mason (1853)
"A feign is used in music whicn, when placed before a note, indicates a sound a half tone (half step) higher than the letter upon which the note is written ..."

7. Harmony Book for Beginners: A Text Book and Writing Book for the First Year by Preston Ware Orem (1916)
"A Half-Step, or Semi-Tone, is the smallest difference in Pitch which can be found upon the Keyboard of the Pianoforte. It is the least difference in Pitch ..."

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