Intervals An intervals consists of two parts: a general name and a specific name. The general name is a number, specifically the distance between the two notes (For example, G to A would be a 2nd, and E to B would be a 5th), and the specific name is a quality, as listed below. Note that depending on the general name, some qualities do not apply — for example, there is no such thing as a major 5th or a perfect 3rd. Each quality represents a certain number of half steps to add or subtract from the major or perfect type of each interval.
Number of Half Steps | Quality for 1me, 4th, 5th, and 8ve | Quality for 2nd, 3rd, 6th, and 7th |
-3 | | Doubly Diminished |
-2 | Doubly Diminished | Diminished |
-1 | Diminished | Minor |
0 | Perfect | Major |
+1 | Augmented | Augmented |
+2 | Doubly Augmented | Doubly Augmented |
Enharmonic Intervals Note that there can be multiple names for the same number of half steps &emdash; for example, an augmented fourth and a diminished fifth are both 6 half steps. This quiz treats these "enharmonic" intervals as being equal (in fact, they differ slightly in tuning, but it is negligible).
Songs One way to learn the sound of the various intervals is to relate them to melodies in popular songs. Here are a couple examples.
Interval | Song |
Minor 2nd | The main theme of "Theme From Jaws" |
Minor 3rd | The first two notes of "Greensleeves" |
Perfect 4th | The first two notes of "Here Comes the Bride" |
Augmented 4th | The first two notes of the chorus of "Maria" from West Side Story |
Perfect 5th | The second and third notes of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" (the notes for "-kle" and "lit-") |
Minor 6th | The first two notes of the chorus of "L'chaim (To Life!)" from Fiddler on the Roof |
Major 6th | The first two notes of the NBC theme |
Minor 7th | The first two notes of "Somewhere" from West Side Story |
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