List of fifth intervals
In the theory and practice of music, a fifth interval is an ordered pair of notes that are separated by an interval of 6-8 semitones.
There are three types of fifth intervals, namely
- perfect fifths (7 semitones),
- diminished fifth (6 semitones), and
- augmented fifth (8 semitones).
After the unison and octave intervals, the perfect fifth is the most important interval in tonal harmony. It is highly consonant. Its implementation in equal temperament tuning is highly accurate, unlike the major third interval, for example. As explained below, it is used to generate the chromatic circle and the cycle of fifths, and it is used for tuning string-instruments. It is a constituent interval for the fundamental chords of tonal harmony.
01Tonal harmony
The fundamental chords of tonal music, major and minor triads and also seventh chords, all contain fifth intervals.
- Perfect fifths are contained in major and minor triads and in particular seventh chords (especially major-minor sevenths with dominant function, major sevenths, and minor sevenths).
- Diminished fifths are contained in diminished triads and in half-diminished sevenths and fully diminished seventh chords.
Fifths are stacked to form chords in quintal harmony.
Cycle of fifths
Concatenating the perfect fifths ((F, C), (C, G), (G, D), (D, A), (A, E), (E, B),...) generates the sequence of fifths (F, C, G, D, A, E, B, F♯, ...); this sequence of fifths displays all twelve notes of the chromatic circle.
Harmonization of scales in fifths
Major scale on C
All but one of the intervals are perfect fifths. The (b, f) interval is a diminished fifth.
Audio playback is not supported in your browser. You can download the audio file.Tuning of instruments
All-fifths tuning refers to the set of tunings for string instruments in which each interval between consecutive open strings is a perfect fifth. All-fifths tuning is the standard tuning for mandolin and violin and it is an alternative tuning for guitars. All-fifths tuning is also called fifths, perfect fifths, or mandoguitar tuning.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “List of fifth intervals”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Pitch class space star.svg by derivative work: Just plain Bill (talk) Pitch_class_space.svg: David Eppstein, Public domain
- All fifths tuning.png by Hyacinth at en.wikipedia, Public domain
Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.