Semitone
![Minor second Play .](/Images/godic/202501/25/Minor_second_on_C4743.png")
![The melodic minor second is an integral part of most cadences of the Common practice period. Play](/Images/godic/202501/25/Cadence_minor_second4743.png")
![The opening measures of Frédéric Chopin's](/Images/godic/202501/25/Chopin_minor_second4743.png")
![Franz Liszt's second Transcendental Etude, measure 63.](/Images/godic/202501/25/Liszt_augmented_unison4744.png")
A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent notes in a 12-tone scale (e.g. from C to C♯).