Advanced Higher Q & A 7: What is a Tritone?

Question: What is a tritone?

Answer: A tritone is an interval of 3 whole tones. Remember that an interval is the distance between 2 notes.

Look at this keyboard.

A tritone could be C to F sharp

or

D to G sharp

or

F to B

or

E flat to A

and so on.

This piece uses the tritone interval a lot (in this case C to F sharp), for example in the riff and the opening of the melody.

It can be difficult to spot by hearing, but it is sometimes a (not correct) option in a multiple choice question.