whole tone

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whole tone

noun whole tones

The musical interval equal (exactly or approximately) to a frequency ratio of 8/7, 9/8, or 10/9, depending on the tuning system used. In meantone tunings (including twelve-tone equal temperament), there is only one whole tone, though tuning systems that are not meantone have a "major tone" of 9/8 and a "minor tone" of 10/9.
Similar: tone, whole step

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noun interval approximating 9/8 or 10/9

Deutsch	Ganzton

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MLA

"whole tone." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/whole%20tone. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

whole tone. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/whole%20tone

Chicago

"whole tone." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/whole%20tone.

BibTeX

@misc{whole_tone_2026,
  title = {whole tone},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/whole%20tone},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}