A musical interval that is half the size of a whole tone, also known as a semitone or half step.
From French 'demi-' (half) plus 'tone' (from Latin 'tonus'). This musical term developed in the 16th century as music theory became more precise about measuring intervals.
The demitone is the invisible building block of Western music—there are only 12 demitones in an octave, and their arrangement is literally the difference between 'Happy Birthday' and a minor dirge!
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