A semitone (sometimes called a half tone or a half step) is the distance from a white key to a neighboring black key on the piano keyboard—for example, from G to G-sharp or from E to E-flat. In an octave (from G to the next G above, for instance), there are twelve semitones. Semitones are the smallest intervals that are used intentionally in almost any of the music you'll normally hear. Two semitones equal a whole tone—the distance from G up to A or from E down to D, for example.
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Fifths aren’t perfect and semitones are slightly off to prevent the keyboard from getting more jangly in some keys than in others.—Justin Davidson, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2025 There is, however, a harmonic tension at the heart of the conception, as semitone dissonances pierce the texture in almost every bar—F against E, D-sharp against E, C against B. As one of these twinges is resolved, another intrudes.—Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2024 According to the team’s findings, 45-percent of recordings had a pitch error of 0 semitones, while nearly 69-percent of volunteers remained within just 1 semitone of the song in their heads.—Andrew Paul, Popular Science, 15 Aug. 2024 Being off by more than a half semitone (50 cents) is considered poor singing.—James Dziezynski, Discover Magazine, 22 June 2014
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