Tritone

Tritone is an interval composed of three tones, so an augmented fourth or a diminished fifth.

Examples of tritones:

A tritone is present in dominant seventh chord in root position and on some inversions of dominant seventh chord.

dominant seventh chord in root position:

Resolution of tritone

In tonal music, the tritone is dissonant and must be resolved:

Note:

In tonal music,
- A diminished fifth should be resolved with a smaller interval (third)
- An augmented fourth should be resolved with a bigger interval (sixth)

The tritone, the devil’s interval

The tritone is also called devil’s interval in western music because of its dissonant characteristic.