the term ___ describes intervals of less than a half step

a. countertone
b. microtone
c. overtone
d. undertone

i think the answer is a. countertone

The term that describes intervals of less than a half step is "microtone".

To find the answer to this question, you can break it down into two parts: understanding what intervals are and then determining the term for intervals less than a half step.

First, it's important to know that an interval in music refers to the distance between two pitches. It is typically measured in terms of the number of letter names or steps between the pitches. For example, the distance between the notes C and E is a third because there are two letter names (C to D, D to E) between them.

Now that we understand what an interval is, we can focus on finding the term for intervals smaller than a half step. A half step, also known as a semitone, is the smallest interval in traditional Western music and is equivalent to moving one key on a piano. So a microtone, which is the term for intervals smaller than a half step, is the correct answer.

Therefore, the correct answer to the question is b. microtone.