Gallery of Just Intervals
Introduction[edit]
In Just Intonation, a musical interval is specified as a ratio of two frequencies.. When two (or more) pitches are sounded that are in simple proportions to one another, there is a "fusing" quality to the sound which is often described as pleasing; hence the interest in tuning the pitches of musical systems according to such proportions. There is much debate as to what "consonance" means in a musical system, but in Just Intonation, it is generally assumed that lower numbers in frequency ratios lead to greater consonance. In the actual performance of a piece of music, the number of factors involved are enormous, and it is not often helpful to reduce a musical experience to a one-dimensional description of "consonance versus dissonance." Hence the need for this gallery, to give life to conversation about what an interval means beyond the numerical description: "5/3" or "21/16" or what have you.
What follows is a Gallery of Just Intervals in ascending order from 1/1 to 2/1 and beyond. No such list could possibly be complete (as there are infinite possible ratios), so please add intervals of interest as you see fit. Any rational interval is welcome, as long as the wiki author has some interest in it. Contributions to an interval's lore could include: descriptions of common usage, technical notes, poetry, links, reservations, complaints, chords or compositions that feature it, edos that approximate it, intervals that are functionally (or emotionally) related to it, nicknames, love letters, fan art, etc. If your contribution is unconventional, feel free to sign your name to it.
This page lists links to dedicated pages for each interval.
Explanation of the color names is here.
Gallery of Just Intervals[edit]
See also List of Superparticular Intervals and List of intervals (Huygens-Fokker foundation)
frequency ratio | cents value
(six decimal places) |
color notation | some common names |
---|---|---|---|
1/1 | 0 | w1, wa unison | unity, perfect prime, Tonic |
32805/32768 | 1.953721 | Ly-2, yo minicomma | schisma, |-15, 8, 1> |
225/224 | 7.711523 | ryy-2, ruyoyo minicomma | septimal subcomma, |-5, 2, 2, -1> |
100/99 | 17.399484 | 1uyy1, luyoyo comma | Ptolemy's comma |
99/98 | 17.576131 | 1orr-2, loruru comma | Mothwellsma |
2048/2025 | 19.552569 | sgg2, small gugu comma | |11, -4, -2> |
81/80 | 21.506286 | g1, gu comma | Syntonic comma, Didymus comma |
531441/524288 | 23.460010 | LLw-2, wa comma | Pythagorean comma, Ditonic comma, |-19, 12> |
66/65 | 26.431568 | 3u1og1, thulogu comma | Winmeanma |
65/64 | 26.841376 | 3oy1, thoyo comma | Wilsorma, 13th-partial chroma |
64/63 | 27.264092 | r1, ru comma | Septimal comma, Archytas' comma |
3125/3072 | 29.613568 | Ly⁵-2, quintuple yo comma | Magic comma, small diesis, |-10, -1, 5> |
50/49 | 34.975615 | rryy-2, double ruyo comma | septimal sixth-tone, jubilisma, small septimal diesis, tritonic diesis |
49/48 | 35.696812 | zz2, zozo comma | large septimal diesis, slendro diesis |
45/44 | 38.905773 | 1uy1, luyo comma | undecimal 1/5th tone |
128/125 | 41.058858 | g³2, triple gu comma | Diesis, minor diesis, augmented comma, enharmonic comma, |7, 0, -3> |
525/512 | 43.408335 | Lzyy1, large zoyoyo comma | Avicenna's enharmonic diesis, |-9, 1, 2, 1> |
36/35 | 48.770381 | rg1, rugu comma | double comma, septimal quarter tone |
250/243 | 49.166137 | y³1, triple yo comma | Porcupine comma, |1, -5, 3> |
59049/57344 | 50.724102 | Lr-2, large ru comma | Harrison's comma, |-13, 10, 0, -1> |
100/97 | 52.732017 | 97uyy1, ninety-suyoyo quarter-tone | shrutar quarter tone |
33/32 | 53.272943 | 1o1, lo quarter-tone | undecimal quarter tone, undecimal diesis, al-Farabi's 1/4-tone, octave-reduced 33rd harmonic |
648/625 | 62.565148 | g⁴2, quadruple gu 2nd | diminished comma, major diesis, |8, 4, -4> |
28/27 | 62.960904 | z2, zo 2nd | septimal chroma, small septimal chromatic semitone, septimal subminor second |
25/24 | 70.672427 | yy1, yoyo semitone | chroma, chromatic semitone, Zarlinian semitone |
68/65 | 78.114034 | 17o3ug2, sothugu 2nd | valentine semitone |
22/21 | 80.537035 | 1or1, loru semitone | undecimal minor semitone |
64/61 | 83.115195 | 61u2, sixty-wu 2nd | harry minor semitone |
21/20 | 84.467193 | zg2, zogu 2nd | minor semitone, large septimal chromatic semitone |
256/243 | 90.224996 | sw2, small wa 2nd | Pythagorean limma, Pythagorean minor second, |8, -5> |
135/128 | 92.178716 | Ly1, large yo semitone | ma1oor limma, |-7, 3, 1> |
18/17 | 98.954592 | 17u1, su semitone | small septendecimal semitone, Arabic lute index finger |
17/16 | 104.955410 | 17o2, sova 2nd | large septendecimal semitone, octave-reduced 17th harmonic |
16/15 | 111.731285 | g2, gu 2nd | diatonic semitone, classic minor second, octave-reduced 15th subharmonic |
2187/2048 | 113.685006 | Lw1, large wa semitone | apotome, |-11, 7> |
77/72 | 116.233847 | 1oz2, lozo 2nd | undecimal secor |
15/14 | 119.442808 | ry1, ruyo semitone | septimal diatonic semitone |
14/13 | 128.298245 | 3uz2, thuzo 2nd | 2/3-tone, trienthird, tridecimal supraminor second |
27/25 | 133.237575 | gg2, gugu 2nd | large limma |
13/12 | 138.572661 | 3o2, tho 2nd | tridecimal subtone, tridecimal 2/3-tone |
243/224 | 140.949098 | Lr1, large ru semitone | septimal subtone, |-5, 5, 0, -1> |
88/81 | 143.497939 | 1o2, lova 2nd | undecimal subtone |
49/45 | 147.428097 | zzg3, zozogu 3rd | swetismic neutral second |
12/11 | 150.637059 | 1u2, lu 2nd | small undecimal neutral second, 3/4-tone |
35/32 | 155.139620 | zy2, zoyo 2nd | septimal neutral second |
78/71 | 162.786119 | 71u3o2= seventy-wutho 2nd | porcupine neutral second |
11/10 | 165.004228 | 1og2, logu 2nd | large undecimal neutral second, 4/5-tone, Ptolemy's second |
54/49 | 168.213190 | rr1, ruru augmented unison | Zalzal's mujannab |
10/9 | 182.403712 | y2, yo 2nd | minor whole tone |
49/44 | 186.333871 | 1uzz3, luzozo 3rd | werckismic minor second |
19/17 | 192.557607 | 19o17u2, nosu 2nd | quasi-meantone |
28/25 | 196.198479 | zgg3, zogugu 3rd | middle major second |
55/49 | 199.979843 | 1orry1, loruruyo unison | werckismic tone |
9/8 | 203.910002 | w2, wa 2nd | major whole tone, Pythagorean tone, octave-reduced 9th harmonic |
17/15 | 216.686695 | 17og3, sogu 3rd | septendecimal whole tone, septendecimal eventone |
8/7 | 231.174094 | r2, ru 2nd | supermajor second, septimal whole tone, diminished third, octave-reduced 7th subharmonic |
63/55 | 235.104252 | 1uzg3, luzogu 3rd | werckismic supermajor second |
55/48 | 235.676655 | 1oy2, loyo 2nd | keenanismic supermajor second |
15/13 | 247.741053 | 3uy2, thuyo 2nd | semifourth, tridecimal ultramajor second, tridecimal inframinor third |
22/19 | 253.804926 | 19u1o2, nulo 2nd | minimal minor third, godzilla third |
64/55 | 262.368344 | 1ug3, lugu 3rd | keenanismic subminor third, octave-reduced 55th subharmonic |
7/6 | 266.870906 | z3, zo 3rd | subminor third, septimal minor third, augmented second |
90/77 | 270.079867 | 1ury2, luruyo 2nd | swetismic subminor third |
62/53 | 271.531027 | 53u31o2, fifty-thu-thirty-wo 2nd | orwell subminor third |
75/64 | 274.582429 | yy2, yoyo 2nd | classic augmented second |
20/17 | 281.358304 | 17uy2, suyo 2nd | septendecimal augmented second, septendecimal minor third |
13/11 | 289.209179 | 3o1u3, tholu 3rd | tridecimal minor third |
32/27 | 294.134997 | w3, wa 3rd | Pythagorean minor third, octave-reduced 27th subharmonic |
19/16 | 297.513016 | 19o3, nova 3rd | otonal minor third, octave-reduced 19th harmonic |
25/21 | 301.846520 | ryy2, ruyoyo 2nd | quasi-tempered minor third |
61/51 | 309.974395 | 61o17u2, sixty-wosu 2nd | myna third |
6/5 | 315.641287 | g3, gu 3rd | minor third, pental minor third |
77/64 | 320.143849 | 1oz3, lozo 3rd | keenanismic minor third, octave-reduced 77th harmonic |
135/112 | 323.352810 | ry2, ruyo aug 2nd | large septimal minor third, marvelous minor third, |-4, 3, 1, -1> |
35/29 | 325.562426 | 29uzy3, twenty-nuzoyo 3rd | doublewide minor third |
17/14 | 336.129503 | 17or3, soru 3rd | septendecimal supraminor third |
73/60 | 339.520756 | 73og3, seventy-thogu 3rd | amity supraminor third |
625/512 | 345.254855 | Ly⁴2, large quadruple yo 2nd | 5-limit neutral third, |-9, 0, 4> |
11/9 | 347.407941 | 1o3, lova 3rd | undecimal neutral third |
60/49 | 350.616902 | rry2, ruruyo 2nd | smaller septimal neutral third, (p3, purple 3rd) |
49/40 | 351.338099 | zzg4, zozogu 4th | larger septimal neutral third, (p3, purple 3rd) |
27/22 | 354.547060 | 1u3, lu 3rd | rastmic neutral third |
16/13 | 359.472338 | 3u3, thu 3rd | tridecimal neutral third |
21/17 | 365.825498 | 17uz3, suzo 3rd | septendecimal submajor third |
56/45 | 378.602191 | zg4, zogu 4th | narrow perde segah, marvelous major third |
51/41 | 377.848005 | 41u17o4, forty-wuso 4th | maja third |
71/57 | 380.228526 | 71o19u3, seventy-wonu 3rd | witchcraft major third |
76/61 | 380.628211 | 61u19o4, sixty-wuno 4th | magic major third |
96/77 | 381.811152 | 1ur3, luru 3rd | undecimal perde segah, keenanismic major third |
5/4 | 386.313714 | y3, yo 3rd | major third, octave-reduced 5th harmonic, pental major third |
81/64 | 407.820003 | Lw3, large wa 3rd | Pythagorean major third, octave-reduced 81st harmonic |
80/63 | 413.577806 | ry3, ruyo 3rd | werckismic sharp major third |
14/11 | 417.507964 | 1uz4, luzo 4th | undecimal major third, undecimal diminished fourth |
32/25 | 427.372572 | gg4, gugu 4th | classic diminished fourth |
77/60 | 431.875134 | 1ozg4, lozogu 4th | swetismic supermajor third |
9/7 | 435.084095 | r3, ru 3rd | supermajor third, septimal major third, septimal diminished fourth |
31/24 | 443.080572 | 31o3, thirty-wo 3rd | sensi supermajor third |
22/17 | 446.362533 | 17u1o3, sulo 3rd | septendecimal supermajor third |
35/27 | 449.274618 | zy4, zoyo 4th | semi-diminished fourth |
13/10 | 454.213948 | 3og4, thogu 4th | Barbados third, tridecimal 9/4 tone, tridecimal semidiminished fourth, tridecimal ultramaor third |
64/49 | 462.348187 | rr3, ruru 3rd | septatonic major third |
17/13 | 464.427748 | 17o3u4, sothu 4th | septendecimal sub-fourth |
21/16 | 470.780907 | z4, zo 4th | sub-fourth, narrow fourth, augmented third, 8ve-reduced 21st harmonic |
33/25 | 480.645516 | 1ogg4, logugu 4th | "5-EDO"-esque fourth |
117/88 | 493.119721 | 3o1u4, tholu 4th | |-3, 2, 0, 0, -1, 1> |
4/3 | 498.044999 | w4, wa 4th | just perfect fourth, octave-reduced 3rd subharmonic, diatessaron |
75/56 | 505.756522 | ryy3, ruyoyo 3rd | marvelous fourth |
27/20 | 519.551289 | g4, gu 4th | acute fourth |
19/14 | 528.687110 | 19or4, noru 4th | 19-limit wide fourth |
49/36 | 533.741811 | zz5, zozo 5th | Arabic lute acute fourth |
15/11 | 536.950772 | 1uy4, luyo 4th | undecimal augmented fourth, subaugmented fourth |
48/35 | 546.815381 | rg4, rugu 4th | septimal super-fourth |
11/8 | 551.317942 | 1o4, lova 4th | super-fourth, undecimal semi-augmented fourth, octave-reduced 11th harmonic or harmonic 11th, Alphorn-Fa |
18/13 | 563.382340 | 3u4, thu 4th | tridecimal augmented fourth |
25/18 | 568.717426 | yy4, yoyo 4th | classic augmented fourth, pental augmented fourth |
88/63 | 578.582034 | 1or4, loru 4th | werckismic augmented fourth |
7/5 | 582.512193 | zg5, zogu 5th | augmented fourth, septimal tritone, Huygen's tritone |
45/32 | 590.223716 | y4, yo 4th | |
108/77 | 585.721154 | 1ur4, luru 4th | swetismic augmented fourth, |2, 3, 0, -1, -1> |
24/17 | 596.999591 | 17u4, su 4th | smaller septendecimal tritone |
17/12 | 603.000409 | 17o5, sova 5th | larger septendecimal tritone |
64/45 | 609.776284 | g5, gu 5th | |
10/7 | 617.487807 | ry4, ruyo 4th | diminished fifth, Euler's tritone, superaugmented fourth |
23/16 | 628.274347 | 23o5, twenty-tho 5th | 23-limit superaugmented fourth, octave-reduced 23rd harmonic |
36/25 | 631.282574 | gg5, gugu 5th | pental diminished fifth, classic diminshed fifth |
13/9 | 636.617660 | 3o5, tho 5th | tridecimal diminished fifth |
16/11 | 648.682058 | 1u5, lu 5th | sub-fifth, octave-reduced 11th subharmonic |
35/24 | 653.184619 | zy5, zoyo 5th | septimal sub-fifth |
22/15 | 663.049228 | 1og5, logu 5th | undecimal diminished fifth, semidiminished fifth |
72/49 | 666.258889 | rr4, ruru 4th | septimal catafifth |
81/55 | 670.188347 | 1ug5, lugu 5th | undecimal catafifth |
28/19 | 671.312890 | 19uz5, nuzo 5th | 19-limit narrow fifth |
40/27 | 680.448711 | y5, yo 5th | grave fifth |
112/75 | 694.243478 | zgg6, zogugu 6th | marvelous fifth |
3/2 | 701.955001 | w5, wa 5th | just perfect fifth, octave-reduced 3rd harmonic, diapente |
182/121 | 706.717684 | 3o1uuz6, tholuluzo 6th | |1, 0, 0, 1, -2, 1 > |
176/117 | 706.880279 | 3u1o5, thulo 5th | |4, -2, 0, 0, 1, -1> |
50/33 | 719.354484 | 1uyy5, luyoyo 5th | "5-EDO"-esque fifth |
32/21 | 729.219093 | r5, ru 5th | super-fifth, wide fifth, diminished sixth, octave-reduced 21st subharmonic |
26/17 | 735.572252 | 17u3o5, sutho 5th | septendecimal super-fifth |
49/32 | 737.651813 | zz6, zozo 6th | superduper fifth, octave-reduced 49th harmonic |
20/13 | 745.786052 | 3uy5, thuyo 5th | Barbados sixth, ratwolf wolf fifth, tridecimal semi-augmented fifth, tridecimal ultraminor sixth |
17/11 | 753.637467 | 17o1u6, solu 6th | septendecimal subminor sixth |
14/9 | 764.915905 | z6, zo 6th | subminor sixth, septimal minor sixth, augmented fifth |
25/16 | 772.627428 | yy5, yoyo 5th | pental augmented fifth, classic augmented fifth, otonal minor sixth, octave-reduced 25th harmonic |
11/7 | 782.492036 | 1or5, loru 5th | undecimal subminor sixth, undecimal augmented fifth |
63/40 | 786.422194 | zg6, zogu 6th | |
128/81 | 792.179997 | sw6, small wa 6th | |
8/5 | 813.686286 | g6, gu 6th | minor sixth, octave-reduced 5th subharmonic |
413/256 | 827.997565 | 59oz6, fifty-nozo 6th | octave-reduced 413th harmonic, homestuck sixth (2⁻⁸ * 7 * 59) |
13/8 | 840.527662 | 3o6, tho 6th | tridecimal neutral sixth, octave-reduced 13th harmonic |
80/49 | 848.661901 | rry5, ruruyo aug 5th | (purple 6th) |
49/30 | 849.383198 | zzg7, zozogu 7th | (purple 6th) |
18/11 | 852.592059 | 1u6, lu 6th | undecimal neutral sixth |
28/17 | 863.870497 | 17uz6, suzo 6th | septendecimal submajor sixth |
5/3 | 884.358713 | y6, yo 6th | major sixth |
42/25 | 898.153480 | zgg7, zogugu 7th | |
27/16 | 905.865003 | w6, wa 6th | Pythagorean major sixth, octave-reduced 27th harmonic |
22/13 | 910.790821 | 3u1o6, thulo 6th | tridecimal major sixth |
17/10 | 918.641696 | 17og7, sogu 7th | septendecimal diminished seventh, septendecimal major sixth |
12/7 | 933.129094 | r6, ru 6th | supermajor sixth, septimal major sixth, diminished seventh |
26/15 | 952.258947 | 3og7, thogu 7th | semitwelfth, tridecimal inframinor seventh, tridecimal ultramajor sixth |
7/4 | 968.825906 | z7, zo 7th | subminor seventh, harmonic seventh, augmented sixth, octave-reduced 7th harmonic |
225/128 | 976.537429 | Lyy6, large yoyo 6th | marvel five-limit harmonic seventh, octave-reduced 225th harmonic, |-7, 2, 2> |
30/17 | 983.313305 | 17uy6, suyo 6th | septendecimal minor seventh |
16/9 | 996.089998 | w7, wa 7th | Pythagorean minor seventh, small minor seventh, octave-reduced 9th subharmonic |
25/14 | 1003.801521 | ryy6, ruyoyo 6th | Middle minor seventh |
34/19 | 1007.442393 | 19u17o7, nuso 7th | Quasi-meantone minor seventh |
9/5 | 1017.596288 | g5, gu 7th | minor seventh, large minor seventh |
29/16 | 1029.577194 | 29o7, twenty-no 7th | 29-limit large minor seventh, octave-reduced 29th harmonic |
20/11 | 1034.995772 | 1uy7, luyo 7th | undecimal minor seventh, small undecimal neutral seventh |
64/35 | 1044.860380 | rg7, rugu 7th | |
11/6 | 1049.362941 | 1o7, lova 7th | undecimal neutral seventh, 21/4-tone |
24/13 | 1061.427339 | 3u7, thu 7th | tridecimal neutral seventh |
13/7 | 1071.701755 | 3or7, thoru 7th | 16/3-tone, tridecimal submajor seventh |
28/15 | 1080.557192 | zg8, zogu octave | grave major seventh, octave minus a ruyo aug unison |
15/8 | 1088.268715 | y7, yo 7th | major seventh, just major seventh, octave-reduced 15th harmonic |
32/17 | 1095.044590 | 17u7, su 7th | small septendecimal major seventh, 8ve-reduced 17th subharmonic |
17/9 | 1101.045408 | 17o8, sova octave | large septendecimal major seventh |
243/128 | 1109.775004 | Lw7, large wa 7th | Pythagorean major seventh, octave-reduced 243rd harmonic |
40/21 | 1115.532907 | ry7, ruyo 7th | acute major seventh |
61/32 | 1116.884905 | 61o7, sixty-wo 7th | octave-reduced 61st harmonic |
48/25 | 1129.327573 | gg8, gugu octave | octave minus a yoyo augmented unison |
27/14 | 1137.039096 | r7, ru 7th | |
31/16 | 1145.035572 | 31o7, thirty-wo 7th | 31-limit ultramajor seventh, octave-reduced 31st harmonic |
64/33 | 1146.727057 | 1u8, lu octave | octave-reduced 33rd subharmonic |
35/18 | 1151.239619 | zy8, zoyo octave | octave minus a rugu comma |
96/49 | 1164.303188 | rr7, ruru 7th | |
49/25 | 1165.024385 | zzgg9, double zogu 9th | |
160/81 | 1178.493814 | y8, yo octave | octave minus syntonic comma |
2/1 | 1200 | w8, wa octave | octave, diapason |
Intervals larger than 2/1[edit]
frequency ratio | cents value
(three decimal places) |
---|---|
13/6 | 1338.573 |
11/5 | 1365.004 |
16/7 | 1431.174 |
5/2 | 1586.314 |
8/3 | 1698.045 |
11/4 | 1751.318 |
3/1 | 1901.955 |
16/5 | 2013.686 |
13/4 | 2040.528 |
10/3 | 2084.359 |
7/2 | 2168.826 |
11/3 | 2249.363 |
15/4 | 2288.269 |
4/1 | 2400.000 |
13/3 | 2538.573 |
9/2 | 2603.910 |
14/3 | 2666.871 |
5/1 | 2786.314 |
16/3 | 2898.045 |
11/2 | 2951.318 |
6/1 | 3101.955 |
13/2 | 3240.528 |
7/1 | 3368.826 |
15/2 | 3488.269 |
8/1 | 3600.000 |
9/1 | 3803.910 |
10/1 | 3986.314 |
11/1 | 4151.318 |
12/1 | 4301.955 |
13/1 | 4440.528 |
14/1 | 4568.826 |
15/1 | 4688.269 |
16/1 | 4800.000 |
Links[edit]
- Regions of the Interval Spectrum by Margo Schulter Permalink
- Manuel Op de Coul interval list*
- Anantomy of an Octave by Kyle Gann
- Alternative Tunings: Theory, Notation and Practice by Kite Giedraitis
- Stichting Huygens-Fokker: List of intervals