Minor third than a justly tuned minor third by a syntonic comma. Minor third In the music theory of Western culture, a minor third is a musical interval that encompasses three half steps, or semitones. Staff notation represents the minor third as encompassing three staff positions (see: interval number). The minor third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is called "minor" because it is the smaller of the two: the major third spans an additional semitone. For example, the interval from A to C is a minor third, as the note C lies three semitones above A, and (coincidentally) there
Septimal major third 3:2 / 9:7 = 7:6 ). Similarly, the septimal major third is the interval between the third and the fifth of the septimal minor triad. In the early meantone era the interval made its appearance as the alternative major third in remote keys, under the name diminished fourth. Tunings of the meantone fifth in the neighborhood of Zarlino's -comma meantone will give four septimal thirds among the twelve major thirds of the tuning; this entails that three septimal major triads appear along with one chord containing a septimal major third with an ordinary minor third above it, making up a