Apotomes

Diatonic intervals
Prime second third fourth fifth sixth seventh octave none decime undezime duodecime tredezime semitone / whole tone
Special intervals
Microinterval Comma Diësis Limma Apotome Ditone Tritone Wolf fifth Natural septime
units
Cent Millioctave Octave Savart

Apotome ( ancient Greek ἀποτομή , section, segment ' ) denotes the Pythagorean chromatic semitone in music since ancient Greece .

Apotome (flesh-colored) and Limma

The Pythagorean diatonic semitone is that

• Limma = fourth - 2 whole tones with the frequency ratio cents . ${\displaystyle {\frac {256}{243}}\,\,{\widehat {\approx }}\,\,90{,}22}$

The Pythagorean chromatic semitone is the

• Apotome = whole tone - Limma.

Their frequency ratio is calculated in cents . ${\displaystyle {\frac {9}{8}}:{\frac {256}{243}}={\frac {2187}{2048}}\,\,{\widehat {\approx }}\,\,113{,}69}$

The apotome (113.7 cents) is a Pythagorean comma (23.5 cents) larger than the limma (90.2 cents).