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Perfect Fourth

An interval spanning five semitones, historically treated as both consonant and dissonant depending on context.

Category
intervals
Pronunciation
/ˈpɜːfɪkt fɔːθ/
Origin

Latin (quartus, fourth)

Length
205 words · 2 min read

About Perfect Fourth

The perfect fourth is the distance from C to F, or from G to C above, and it holds a unique position in Western harmony. In medieval music it was classified as a perfect consonance alongside the fifth and octave, but from the Renaissance onwards it was treated as a dissonance when appearing above the bass note — a rule that still applies in species counterpoint.
v1 · 10/04/2026Browse all terms →