major third

major third

English

Noun

major third (plural major thirds)

1. (music) A musical interval of the Western twelve-semitone system consisting of four semitones and spanning three degrees of the diatonic scale. Major scales are so named because of the major third interval between the tonic and mediant of a major tonic triad. It is enharmonically equivalent to a diminished fourth.

   The major third has a pitch ratio close to 34:27.

Synonyms

• M3

Translations

interval of four semitones

Chinese: Mandarin: 大三度 (zh) (dàsāndù) Dutch: grote terts (nl) m or f Finnish: suuri terssi French: tierce majeure (fr) f German: große Terz f Greek: τρίτη μεγάλη f (tríti megáli) Hungarian: nagyterc Icelandic: stór þríund f Italian: terza maggiore f Japanese: 長三度 (ja) (chōsando) Polish: tercja wielka f Russian: больша́я те́рция f (bolʹšája tɛ́rcija) Swedish: stor ters c, durters c

See also

Related terms

• minor third
• diminished fourth
• perfect fifth
• tonic