whole tone

whole tone (plural whole tones)

1. (music) The musical interval equal (exactly or approximately) to a frequency ratio of 8/7, 9/8, or 10/9, depending on the tuning system used. In meantone tunings (including twelve-tone equal temperament), there is only one whole tone, though some tuning systems have a "major tone" of 9/8 and a "minor tone" of 10/9.

• tone
• whole step

• semitone

• whole note