Category: Music theory
Level: Beginner
In the last lesson, we talked about the musical alphabet, and
how notes are named. We discussed that the distance between two
adjacent notes is called a half-step, and that two half steps is
called a whole-step. Very exciting, I'm sure.
The generic term for the distance between two notes - any two
notes - is an interval. Turns out there are names for lots
of intervals, not just the half-step and whole-step. And some of
these intervals have more than one name. Remember how I said that
much of music theory is giving fancy names to things you may
already understand? Well, here is a perfect example. Intervals are
something we get instinctively. It's when they get names like
"diminished seventh" that people run for the hills. Don't. In this
lesson, you can listen to them, hear them in context, and see
where they are used in real life, and not just read about them
abstractly.
The names are just names. You're probably not going to be
sitting around with your friends talking about Eric Clapton's
startling use of the augmented fifth, but it is amazingly useful
to be able to recognize intervals by ear. This helps when learning
a song, composing a song, soloing, and so on. The intervals have
to be called something, so these names are as good as any
other.
Here's a list of the first twelve intervals, along with some
real life examples of their use. You can also click on the 
symbol to hear each
interval. Bookmark this page so you can refer back to this
table.
| Number of half-steps |
1 |
| Names |
half-step, semitone, minor second |
| Real life example |
Joy to the World |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
2 |
| Names |
whole-step, major second |
| Real life example |
Mary Had a Little Lamb |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
3 |
| Names |
minor third |
| Real life example |
Greensleeves |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
4 |
| Names |
major third |
| Real life example |
Blister in the Sun, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
5 |
| Names |
perfect fourth |
| Real life example |
Amazing Grace |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
6 |
| Names |
augmented fourth, diminished fifth |
| Real life example |
Maria from Westside Story, The Simpsons theme |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
7 |
| Names |
perfect fifth |
| Real life example |
Chariots of Fire theme |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
8 |
| Names |
augmented fifth, minor sixth |
| Real life example |
Third and fourth notes of The Entertainer |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
9 |
| Names |
major sixth, diminished seventh |
| Real life example |
NBC chimes |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
10 |
| Names |
minor seventh |
| Real life example |
West Side Story: "Somewhere." Specific lyrics: There's a Place for Us |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
11 |
| Names |
major seventh |
| Real life example |
(This is a really ugly interval, and doesn't show up very often.) |
|
Listen |
|
| Number of half-steps |
12 |
| Names |
octave |
| Real life example |
Somewhere Over the Rainbow |
|
Listen |
|
Here's a little quiz to test how well you've learned the
definitions. Feel free to refer back to the above list and to the
list of note names in the Musical Alphabet lesson.
How did you do? Once you think you have a grasp of the names,
you can try your ear at the Ear Trainer
(audio interval quiz) on this site. Start nice and easy, with
just a few intervals included in the test, then slowly add some
more until you get good at naming them. It's a fun little game,
and will improve dramatically your ability to recognize and reproduce melodies.
Interesting facts
-
The tritone interval (six half-steps) was considered evil and
was banned from use in churches during the Middle Ages.
-
The Greek mathematician/philosopher/cult leader Pythagorus
considered the intervals of a perfect fourth and a perfect
fifth to be sacred and cosmic. That's why they're called
"perfect." He believed the celestial planets actually "sang"
in perfect intervals as they orbited the Earth.
-
The perfect fourth shows up in a lot of Christmas
songs and religious hymns. Coincidence?
-
Intervals greater than an octave have names, too. Can you
guess what a major ninth would be?
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