List of pitch intervals

Terminology

• The prime limit henceforth referred to simply as the limit, is the largest prime number occurring in the factorizations of the numerator and denominator of the frequency ratio describing a rational interval. For instance, the limit of the just perfect fourth is 3, but the just minor tone has a limit of 5, because 10 can be factored into . There exists another type of limit, the odd limit, a concept used by Harry Partch, but it is not used here. The term "limit" was devised by Partch.
• By definition, every interval in a given limit can also be part of a limit of higher order. For instance, a 3-limit unit can also be part of a 5-limit tuning and so on. By sorting the limit columns in the table below, all intervals of a given limit can be brought together.
• Pythagorean tuning means 3-limit intonation—a ratio of numbers with prime factors no higher than three.
• Just intonation means 5-limit intonation—a ratio of numbers with prime factors no higher than five.
• Septimal, undecimal, tridecimal, and septendecimal mean, respectively, 7, 11, 13, and 17-limit intonation.
• Meantone refers to meantone temperament, where the whole tone is the mean of the major third. In general, a meantone is constructed in the same way as Pythagorean tuning, as a stack of fifths: the tone is reached after two fifths, the major third after four, so that as all fifths are the same, the tone is the mean of the third. In a meantone temperament, each fifth is narrowed by the same small amount. The most common of meantone temperaments is the quarter-comma meantone, in which each fifth is tempered by of the syntonic comma, so that after four steps the major third is a full syntonic comma lower than the Pythagorean one. The extremes of the meantone systems encountered in historical practice are the Pythagorean tuning, where the whole tone corresponds to 9:8, i.e., the mean of the major third, and the fifth is not tempered; and the -comma meantone, where the fifth is tempered to the extent that three ascending fifths produce a pure minor third.. The music program Logic Pro uses also -comma meantone temperament.
• Equal-tempered refers to X-tone equal temperament with intervals corresponding to X divisions per octave.
• Tempered intervals however cannot be expressed in terms of prime limits and, unless exceptions, are not found in the table below.
• The table can also be sorted by frequency ratio, by cents, or alphabetically.
• Superparticular ratios are intervals that can be expressed as the ratio of two consecutive integers.

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