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# Notation - Intervals

Learn to recognize intervals between two notes in four clefs.

### Setup
Clefs Use these checkboxes to select which clefs should be used in the quiz. Qualities Use these checkboxes to select what qualities of intervals should be played. A 'quality' is the same as the 'specific name' mentioned below. Intervals Use these checkboxes to select what intervals should be played. These checkboxes refer to the 'general name' mentioned below.

### Learning the Intervals
Intervals An intervals consists of two parts: a general name and a specific name. The general name is a number: the distance between the two notes (For example, G to A would be a 2nd, but E to B would be a 5th), and the specific name is a quality. Each quality represents a certain number of half steps to add or subtract from the major or perfect type of each interval. 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.
### 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
Major and Perfect The problem with this system is that it requires you to keep track of how many half steps are in the major or perfect form of each interval. You could memorize them with the table below, or, if you are familiar with the keyboard, you could note that, if you start on C and go upwards, every interval you form with a white key will be either major or perfect. (Note: knowledge of a piano keyboard is helpful in many music theory situations. I would recommend that you start working with the keyboard quiz as soon as you are finished with note names.)
### Interval | ### Number of Half Steps
Major 2nd | 2
Major 3rd | 4
Perfect 4th | 5
Perfect 5th | 7
Major 6th | 9
Major 7th | 11
Perfect 8ve | 12
Examples Let's try a few. For example, take E to Bb: from E to B is a fifth (E, F, G, A, B), but this fifth (E to Bb) is only 6 half steps, not 7. Looking at the table of qualities above, we see that E to Bb is a Diminished 5th. Let's try another: Db to Gb. D to G is a fourth (D, E, F, G). You may be thinking at this point that the G is lowered, but be careful—it is not the accidental of the note that determines the quality, it is the number of half steps. Db to Gb is 5 half steps, so it is, in fact, a Perfect 4th. Enharmonic Intervals Note that there can be multiple names for the same number of half steps—for example, an augmented fourth and a diminished fifth are both 6 half steps. While the Aural Skills - Intervals quiz treats these "enharmonic" intervals as being equal, this quiz does not. This is because these intervals are fundamentally different (hence their difference in notation)—not only do they differ in tuning, but they also function in different ways in music. The only reason that the Aural Skills - Intervals quiz treats them as being the same is because it is almost impossible to tell the difference aurally without context. A Note on Notation Note that if two of the same note are shown, one with an accidental and one without, then both notes are assumed to be that same accidental. For example, if there was an Eb and then an E an octave above it, the top E is also flatted. If the top E were natural, it would have a natural sign in front of it. This is just convention, done primarily to save ink and time back when composers were writing by hand.