1. H ALF S TEPS AND W HOLE S TEPS Classical Voice Conservatory: Theory I

2. A B IT OF B ACKGROUND Western musical tradition has established certain tonal traditions that include half steps and whole steps. Even though these concepts seem simple and trite, they are actually a monumental factor in Western musical melodic and harmonic structure. In a nutshell, these two elements of music are the foundation for which all Western music is built on. These two concepts determine the tonality and structure of all Western works. Hence, it is VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU KNOW WHAT THE HECK THESE ARE!

3. T HE W HOLE S TEP

4. D EFINITION The New Harvard Dictionary of Music (if you don’t have one you should totes look into buying one) defines a Whole Step as “an interval consisting of two semitones (e.g. C-D or E-F#).) That’s nice and vague, right? To be honest, whole steps are kind of hard to define verbally. It would be best for you to see and hear it. We will start with a visual aid: The Piano! :D

5. W HOLE S TEPS AT THE P IANO As you can see, pianos have white keys and black keys. From a visual standpoint, a whole step is from one key to the next key, with a key in between. So you can have a white key to a white key with a black key in between, or a black key to a black key with a white key in between. white key in between C F

6. *You can also have a black key to a white key with a white key in between, or a white key to a black key with a white key in between. C GF

7. Remembering all those color combinations can be confusing, but remember that a whole step on the piano is made of two neighboring keys that has 1 key in between them. That’s the important part.

8. T HE H ALF S TEP

9. H ALF S TEPS Half steps are intervals with a shorter distance. On the piano, the simplest way to explain it is from one key to the very next key, whether it’s black or white.

10. FYI Only in the United States are these called whole steps and half steps. In European countries and pretty much everywhere else in the world, they are called wholetones and semitones. Why we don’t call half steps and whole steps by these names? The U.S. always seems to want to march to the beat of it’s own drum. I think we are also the only country that doesn’t use the metric system. (Random fact of the day.)

11. T IME FOR THE A UDIO E XAMPLES Now that you’ve become acquainted with half steps and whole steps (a.k.a. semitones and wholetones, respectively) on the piano, it’s time to hear what they sound like. These may be difficult to discern from at first, but when you listen to a half step and whole step consecutively, you will notice a huge difference. It is highly suggested that you sit at the piano and play half steps and whole steps to get acquainted with the differences between the two in terms of sound.