Augmented and Diminished Intervals

Late Antiquity

An augmented interval is a semitone larger than a major or perfect interval.

Augmented Unison
Augmented Second
Augmented Third
Augmented Fourth
Augmented Fifth
Augmented Sixth
Augmented Seventh
Augmented Octave

A diminished interval is a semitone smaller than a minor or pefect interval.

Diminished Second
Diminished Third
Diminished Fourth
Diminished Fifth
Diminished Sixth
Diminished Seventh
Diminished Octave

Note that since the interval between two pitches cannot be smaller than zero, there can be no such thing as a diminished unison. The table below shows you whether an interval is diminished (d), minor (m), major (M), augmented (A), or perfect (P) based on the number of semitones (row) and generic interval (column.)

Unison 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th Octave
0 P d
1 A m
2 M d
3 A m
4 M d
5 A P
6 A d
7 P d
8 A m
9 M d
10 A m
11 M d
12 A P