Bryan Fusilier

The distance between two successive notes in a scale is called a scale step. This is a very simple idea that going to be critical when we start building scales in the next section. For now you only need to know two things:

Half-Step = a distance of one note (1 step)

Whole-Step = the distance of two notes (2 steps)

Let’s take a look at a short video that should make this crystal clear:

Fast Tube by Casper

Sometimes you will here the terms “Tone” and Semi-Tone” when people are discussing music theory. Those are just different words for Half-Steps and Whole-Steps. Just remember:

Semi-Tone = Half-Step

Whole Tone = Step

Next up: An introduction to Scales and Modes