3/1

From Xenharmonic Reference
Revision as of 10:26, 6 March 2026 by Vector (talk | contribs)

3/1, the tritave or perfect twelfth, is the second most common equave after 2/1. In octave-equivalent systems, it is a fifth plus an octave, and can thus be seen as one of the two generators of Pythagorean tuning (see Perfect fifth for more info).

It can be seen as the most consonant interval after the octave, which is the reason for its usage as an equave in systems such as Bohlen-Pierce tuning. Tritave-equivalent systems tend to avoid prime 2, only involving ratios between odd numbers (such as 9/7 and 5/3). As such, timbres chosen for tritave-equivalent music tend to include mostly odd harmonics, such as the clarinet.

ViewTalkEditIntervals 
Interval categories
Diatonic ordinals UnisonSecond (majorneutralminor) • Third (majorneutralminor) • FourthFifthSixth (majorneutralminor) • Seventh (majorneutralminor) • Octave
Other interval categories DiesisSemitoneWhole toneInterordinal intervals (chthonicnaiadiccocyticouranic) • Tritone
Just intonation
Pythagorean Perfect fifthPerfect fourthDiatonic major secondDiatonic minor seventhTritaveothers
5-limit 5/45/36/516/1525/24others
7-limit 7/48/77/69/77/549/48others
Alpharabian 11/811/912/11others
Full 11-limit 11/1014/1111/7others
2.3.13/5 13/1015/1326/1520/13others
Full 13-limit 16/1313/813/1113/913/7others
Higher limits 17/1618/1719/1619/1524/1923/16others