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Half and Whole Steps

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Scales are defined by the pattern of half and whole steps in them. Therefore, a knowledge of what half and whole steps are is crucial to understanding scales. Fortunately, half and whole steps are easy to understand.

A half step is the smallest interval in popular music. A half step is the distance between frets on a guitar. Therefore, from an F to an F# is one half step:

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A whole step consists of two half steps. A whole step is the distance represented by two frets on a guitar. Therefore, from an F to a G is one whole step:

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© 1997 Daniel E. Smith.