4:5:6

From Xenharmonic Wiki
Revision as of 08:46, 24 November 2025 by TallKite (talk | contribs) (replaced isodifferential with the more exact isoharmonic. sorted the voicings list by wilson height. whittled it down to a more manageable size. will move the deleted voicings to the comprehensive voicings page. other changes too)
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Chord information
Harmonics 4:5:6
Subharmonics 1/(15:12:10)
Intervals from root 1/15/43/2
Cents from root 386¢702¢
Step intervals 5/4, 6/5
Step cents 386¢, 316¢
Color name yo or y
Prime limit 5
Genus 35 (15)
Intervallic odd limit 5
Otonal odd limit 5
Utonal odd limit 15
Consistent edos (d ≥ 2) 3edo*, 12edo*, 15edo*, 19edo**, …

4:5:6 is an otonal major triad, known as the just major triad, classical major triad, or Ptolemaic major triad. It is the most consonant triad, and it is the most common triad in music. In close voicing root position it's an isoharmonic chord.

Audio of close voicings

4:5:6, Root position
5:6:8, 1st inversion
3:4:5, 2nd inversion

Notable voicings

Voicings are arranged from simple to complex using Wilson height. AOV and CAOV stand for all-odd voicing and condensed AOV respectively. Numbers in bold denote doubled pitches. This list is only a brief overview, see Voicings of 4:5:6 for a more comprehensive list.

Voices Ratio Hi-lo notation Special properties
3 voices 1:3:5 hi3loR AOV, isoharmonic
2:3:5 hi3 CAOV
3:4:5 lo5 1st inversion, isoharmonic
4:5:6 basic isoharmonic
4 voices 2:3:4:5 hi3add8 isoharmonic
2:4:5:6 addloR
3:4:5:6 addlo5 isoharmonic
4:5:6:8 add8

Related chords

Melodic inversion: 6:5:4 = 10:12:15.

Plausible homonyms: None.

Lower limit soundalikes: 64:81:96 (3-limit)

Notable extensions (5-limit except where noted):