Natural Seconds

Natural seconds are either major or minor in quality. The major seconds (M2) comprise two semitones; minor seconds (m2) comprise one semitone. Of the seven natural seconds, only E-F and B-C are minor (these, of course, are the natural half-steps that you learned about in Chapter 2). The remaining seconds are major. Table 13-1 illustrates the seven natural seconds and their qualities.

Table 13-1

Example 13-1 shows the qualities of the natural seconds notated on the staff. Click, or click and hold, the arrow buttons to transpose the interval. Click the clef sign to toggle between treble and bass clef.

Example 13-1