Minor 2nds & Major 2nds

What is the structure of a major 2nd?

A major second is formed by two notes that are a whole step apart. On a piano keyboard, you can play a major second by choosing a note, and then counting up two half-steps to find the second note.

How many times does a major 2nd occur in a major scale?

The major 2nd occurs 5 times in each octave of a major scale. The other two 2nds are minor 2nds. The pattern of the scale, stepping up from the tonic, will be M2, M2, m2, M2, M2, M2, m2.

What does a major 2nd sound like?

When stepping up from one note to another, a major second sounds like a small rise in pitch. The first line of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” repeats the note on row, but then on the word “your” moves up a major 2nd.

When both notes are played at the same time, a major 2nd does not sound as harmonious as a minor or major 3rd, a perfect 4th or 5th, or a major or minor 6th. This is because the notes of a major second are close together and don’t share as many overtones as these other intervals. This creates a shimmery, unstable sound.

What is the structure of a minor 2nd?

A minor 2nd is made by playing two notes a half step apart. On the piano keyboard, play any two adjacent notes, a black note to the next white note, a white note to the next black note, or the two adjacent white notes. There are no minor 2nds you can make by going black note to black note.

What does a minor 2nd sound like?

When played one note at a time, a minor 2nd sounds like a very small step up in pitch. This interval is used in the theme for the movie Jaws. Listen to hear how repeating the small interval creates a sense of unease and suspense.

When played together, the notes of a minor 2nd interval sound even less harmonious than a major 2nd. These two notes are close enough in pitch that the sound created is confusing and dissonant. Our ear wants to hear this dissonance resolved either to unison or to another, more pleasant interval, so this interval creates a lot of musical tension.

When are minor 2nds used in music?

Minor 2nds are used in music as an important part of musical scales. In a major scale, minor 2nds occur as you step from the third tone to the fourth tone, and also from the seventh tone to the first tone of the next octave. 

When played at the same time, the notes of a minor 2nd create a close, crunchy, shimmery sound that add color to a musical chord and can give the listener a desire for movement to a more stable harmony. 

Hello and welcome back. I'm Joseph Hoffman,

and in this lesson we're going to dive deep into exploring two intervals that are so important,

they are the foundation of almost all scales in music.

If you've been doing my earlier lessons, you actually already know these intervals as half steps and whole steps,

but today we're going to learn them by their more formal names: minor seconds and major seconds.

And we're going to learn tools for training both your ears and eyes to be able to recognize them quickly

when you see or hear them. Let's come to the piano to get started.

What is a minor second?

A minor second is the same as a half step, which means two keys so close together there is no key in between.

This is a minor second between E and F.

Also between F and F-sharp is a minor second.

F-sharp to G is another minor second, however F to G

is not a minor second because there's a key in between. Anytime there's a key in between, not a minor second.

Composers use minor seconds in a lot of different ways.

One way that composers love to use minor seconds is for something really emotional or passionate, romantic

with a lot of feeling. Like the start of "Fur Elise" is very famous for the use of those

two notes just a minor second apart: E and D-sharp.

And notice how that minor second creates such a sweet,

loving, beautiful sound. Lots of composers have used that since Beethoven first wrote

"Fur Elise." Like the composer Yiruma recently in "River Flows in You",

notice that use of a minor second between this A and the G-sharp also creates a really sweet sound.

Just see how beautiful and sweet that minor second can be.

But minor seconds aren't always sweet. They can also be very intense, especially if played down low on the piano.

Like for the "Jaws Theme."

John Williams uses a minor second down very low

To make a very intense and dangerous sound.

So that's the theme from "Jaws."

Minor seconds also can sound mysterious if used in a context like in the "Pink Panther Theme",

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