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# Aural Skills - Intervals

Learn the intervals from perfect prime to perfect octave by ear.

### Setup
Intervals Use these checkboxes to select which intervals should be used in the quiz. Playback Use these checkboxes and radio buttons to control how the intervals are played, harmonically or melodically. You can choose which ways you can replay the question, as well as which way it is played initially. You can also choose, if you're playing the interval melodically, which direction to play it in — upwards or downwards. Keep each question in one key Usually, the question changes keys each play, even between plays of the same question. You can turn this off and keep playback in the same key until a new question is chosen by checking this box. However, this is not recommended unless you find the quiz very difficult, as changing keys between plays helps teach the user to recognize the interval better.

### 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. These "enharmonic" intervals function quite differently in actual music, but since this quiz presents intervals completely out of context, it treats them as being equal (in fact, they differ slightly in tuning, but it is negligible for our purposes).

### Tricks
Songs One way to learn the sound of the various intervals is to relate them to melodies in popular songs. This system is disliked by teachers of more advanced aural skills courses, because it teaches students to hear the interval in a specific context, when in fact, it could be anywhere in the key. Nonetheless, it's a great way for beginners to learn, so here are a couple examples. If you have trouble recognizing which part of the song is the interval, try using the Practice button.
### Interval | ### Song
Minor 2nd | The main motive 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 "twin-")
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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