9/7

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Interval information
Ratio  9/7
Monzo  |0 2 0 -1>
Size  435.08410 ¢
Name(s)  supermajor third
File:Jid 9 7 pluck adu dr220.mp3
[sound info]

In Just Intonation, 9/7 is a supermajor third of approximately 435.1¢, characteristic of 7-limit and beyond. On its own, it has a very strident quality, but in the context of a chord, it can sound perfectly consonant. The 9-limit hexad 4:5:6:7:8:9 includes a septimal supermajor third between the 7th and the 9th. The interval has an interesting neutral quality to it similar to the way 9/8 behaves as ratios of nine all share this quality.

A just chord can be built with this wide third in place of the more traditional 5/4. This supermajor triad would be 14:18:21. This triad can be very effective in music, but in this context, the modern ear accustomed to 12edo thirds of 400¢ is likely to hear 9/7 as a mistuned major third instead of a new class of interval in its own right. Because 9/7 is a ratio of 9, it shares sonority qualities with 9/8 much more than 5/4. Chords such as the 9-limit hexad above and subsets of it give more opportunity for 9/7 to be heard as consonant.

See also[edit]