half step
3
4.4
- noun
- /hæf stɛp/
- Specialized
:
semitono
- To create a minor scale, start on the root note and move down a half step.
- whole and half step
- sing in half steps
- half step down
But to them that music because of those half steps sounded scary.
- But to them that music because of those half steps sounded scary.
- There's your C, half step, whole step, there's your chord.
- Then that resolution can actually be doubled with half steps.
Examples
-
Was that a whole step or a half step?
Academic text (2007) -
Draw a piano keyboard in your mind so you can visualize the half-step relationships written in key signatures.
Academic text (2001) -
Just lower it a half step.
-
But if we come down three half steps, we get its relative minor down here.
-
Then they move up a half step and do the drill again.
Academic text (2007) -
Errors in pitch were a half step, a whole step, or a step and a half from the written note.
Academic text (2013) -
Then we'd talk about whole and half steps and play everything in different keys.
Academic text (1994) -
I also prefer the major scale over the whole-tone scale because it combines whole steps and half steps.
Academic text (2007) -
Thus, the keyboard provides a visual analogue to pitch, half steps, octaves, and so on.
Academic text (1993) -
Repeat the exercise (progressing up or down by half steps) until singers comfortably exchange chord tones on cue.
Academic text (2004)
Synonyms
1
7.0
A small musical step between two piano keys next to each other
Antonyms
How Big
- Specialized
16
4.8
- Specialized
1
5.4
- Specialized
3
4.4
- Specialized
7
5.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'the smallest musical interval' is directly derivable from combining 'half' (one of two equal parts) with 'step' in its musical sense (a melodic interval), so 'half step' literally denotes half of a step (i.e., one semitone). This is a straightforward compositional formation common in musical terminology and likely to be understood by a B1 learner who knows both constituent meanings.
Etymology
The musical term half step comes from the piano: half means a small part and step means a move between notes, so it is the 'smallest move' to the very next key or note on the keyboard. That's why half step today means the tiny distance between two adjacent notes.