Tones And Semitones

Agree with you @ryansmith​0518 and I am Birtish ! I am not familiar with your ‘memory aid’ but whatever works for you.

I think Justin has “muddied the water” by dismissing the US system and “reinventing the wheel” with another definition of Steps.

Personally, I find it easy to understand visually the Steps/ Half-steps , the Tones/ Semi-tones, and Sharps/Flats simply looking at the 12 notes from Middle C to the first Octave C above it (eg. C to C).

There is a Tone or Whole Step each time you pass by a Black Note while moving up through the White Notes.

The EF and BC are also obvious having no Black Notes in between; therefore they are Half Steps or Semi Tones.

The clock-face is a circular representation of the linear piano scale; and it might make it a more ‘visual tool’ for some people.

Does any of this matter ? Not really; whatever works for the individual to help them remember the construct of a Major Scale.

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