tritone

[trahy-tohn]

noun

Music.

1. an interval consisting of three whole tones; an augmented fourth.

tritone

/ ˈtraɪˌtəʊn /

noun

1. a musical interval consisting of three whole tones; augmented fourth

Word History and Origins

Origin of tritone¹

1600–10; < Medieval Latin tritonus < Greek trítonos having three tones. See tri-, tone

Example Sentences

Both are six half-steps, or three whole tones, so another term for this interval is a tritone.

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You have probably noticed by now that the tritone is not the only interval that can be "spelled" in more than one way.

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Although it wasn’t conscious, I swear to God, there are similarities between my so-called “Hamlet” chord and the “Tristan” chord, in that they both have the same augmented fourth — a tritone — at the base of it, F and B.

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But as soon as you color it, destabilize it with the F and the tritone at the bottom, it becomes very different.

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Write the notes out as a single chord, and you draw a tower of fifths wavering over a tritone in the bass.

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