Press Up to hear a major second, then try the quiz!
Intervals · M2 ·
Major second
A major second is two semitones, the distance from C up to D. It is the first step of "Frère Jacques," from "Frè-" to "-re."
Listen: C4 and D4
Quiz
Wormy plays one of these, up or down, from a different note each time. Can you tell which: minor second, major second, minor third?
What it sounds like
One step of a scale, two keys apart. It sounds like walking: plain, friendly and going somewhere. Played together, the two notes soften into a gentle blur.
In music theory
Most steps in a major scale are major seconds: do to re, re to mi, fa to sol, sol to la and la to ti. A whole-tone scale uses nothing else, which is why it sounds dreamy and unanchored.
Where you've heard it
- Frère Jacques: "Frè-re," do up to re, going up.Traditional. Traditional French round, printed from the late 1700s.
- Mary Had a Little Lamb: "Ma-ry," mi down to re, going down.Traditional. Traditional American tune, sung to Sarah Josepha Hale's 1830 words since the 1830s.
Every tune named here is public domain in the US or traditional. Wormy names the spot; it never plays the song.