Interval · 6 half steps
Tritone
A tritone is 6 half steps (also called augmented fourth, diminished fifth). From C, a tritone up is F♯.
- Half steps
- 6
- Short name
- TT
- Guitar frets
- 6
How it sounds
Exactly half an octave. Restless and unstable. It sits inside every dominant seventh chord, between the third and the seventh, and that is what makes the chord want to move.
Songs to remember it by
Hum the start of Maria from West Side Story or The Simpsons theme. The jump between the first two notes is a tritone. Reference songs get you started; after a while you will hear the interval itself.
On the guitar
The next higher string, 1 fret up. With the lower note on the low E or A string in standard tuning; shapes that cross from the G string to the B string move up one fret.
A tritone up from every note
| From | Up a tritone | Hear it |
|---|---|---|
| C | F♯ | |
| D♭ | G | |
| D | G♯ | |
| E♭ | A | |
| E | A♯ | |
| F | B | |
| G♭ | C | |
| G | C♯ | |
| A♭ | D | |
| A | D♯ | |
| B♭ | E | |
| B | E♯ |
Chords with a tritone above the root
This interval isn’t in the game’s “How far apart?” round yet; it’s here so the reference is complete.