In Western music the following intervals are considered consonant:
- minor third - For example from C to Eb
- major third - For example from C to E
- perfect fourth - For example from C to F
- perfect fifth - For example from C to G
- minor sixth - For example from C to Ab
- major sixth - For example from C to A
- octave - For example from C to C
On the other hand these intervals are considered dissonant:
- minor second - For example from C - Db
- major second - For example from C to D
- minor seventh - For example from C to Bb
- major seventh - For example from C to B
- tritone - For example from C to F#, tritone is also known as an augmented 4th or diminished fifth and it has an interval of 3 whole steps.
Most often dissonance is resolved by moving to a consonant chord. This makes the initial feeling of tension created by dissonant chords to reach a resolution. The common term for this is tension and release. However, dissonance doesn't always need to be resolved, also perceiving chords as dissonant tends to be subjective.