Differences between notes, tones, and semitones.
Pretty new to music theory and I'm having trouble differentiating between what makes a tone a tone, a note a note, and the difference between a tone and semitone.
If a tone is just a sound wave, represented by a frequency, what makes that different from a semitone,which I can only assume to be another sound represented by a specific frequency?
If that is the case, are tones/semitones just an organizational structure? Like evens and odds in our number system?
And as far as notes go, are notes just tones stretched out over specific time intervals, depending on bpm and the type of notes? How does timing play into this and what makes a "bar" in music?
Thanks.
Posted Jan 28, 2022, 2:15 PM UTC
310
It's easy to forget or overlook that these terms really have different meaning depending on context and region.
"Tone" and "note" are words that may be used interchangeably to mean the same thing (what I'd really call a "note", which yes, is a particular frequency), but "tone" can mean other things, too. Tone can mean a sound separated from a musical context (while "note" usually has a musical connotation). Conversationally, "tone" can mean the "sound" or "timbre" of a note. Like the same note played on different instruments has a different "tone", or guitarists may have a different "tone" even though they play the same notes on the same instrument. More formally, "tone", "timbre" and other musical or sonically-related terms have more specific meanings.
In the UK, but rarely in the US, "tone" and "semi-tone" also refer to intervals, with a "tone" being what folks in the US call a "whole step" (like C to D), and a "semitone" is a "half step" like C to C#, or E to F.
I'm sure there are other uses and meanings of these words, especially (again) in less academic settings where one might not be concerned about exact specific definitions, just the broader use of the terms.
I don't think I'd start tying rhythmic concerns into these definitions, that's all a separate issue. Timing does not play into this, and what makes a "bar" (which is itself a kind of informal term for a "measure") is another subject, based on time signature.
Alright, a quick follow up if I may, is a chord a single note, or a series of notes played together?
Thanks for the information. I think what males the concepts confusing is what you said before, everyone like to assign their own version of a definition to what those terms mean.
A chord is any 3 unique/different notes at once.
So C-G-C isn't technically a chord since there's only 2 unique notes.
2 unique notes at once is only a harmony or also called a dyad.
Yup, as noted above, a single note does not a chord make.
Classically, you do need at least three different notes (played together) to make a chord.
Two notes played at once, again, as posted above, is a dyad. But, again with the way people talk about stuff: "power chord" is another commonly used term that refers to just a pairing of two notes (root, 5th). In rock music, for example, this often suffices as a "chord".
Sometimes, note pairings clearly "imply" (let your ear know) what that third note to complete the chord *would* be, so you might also talk about the "chord" in that setting as well. Context and style are really a big factors with all this.