INTERVALS

What is a music interval?

An interval in music is defined as a distance in pitch between any two notes.
The larger the interval between two notes, then the greater the difference in
pitch between the notes. And vice versa, the smaller the interval between
two notes then the smaller the pitch between the notes.
There are three parts to the way we describe an interval:
•The distance of the interval
•The type of interval
(the interval quality)
•Is the interval harmonic or melodic?
Before we talk about those though we’re going to cover the two
smallest types of interval: semitones and tones.
Semitones and tones (half steps and whole steps)
Semitones and tones or half steps and whole steps, are the building
blocks of intervals. We use different combinations of them to make
up all the different types of scales and chords that make music
sound so different.
 INTERVALS
Interval: The distance between two notes.

Harmonic Interval (Harmony): When two different notes sound

simultaneously (at the same time)

Melodic Interval (Melody): When two different notes are sounded one after
the other
Interval
The distance between two
notes of the staff.
 UNISONS / OCTAVES
Unison: The same note/pitch

Octave: The interval of an 8th (the same letter name, either up or down the scale)

What is a unison interval?

We can also have intervals that are the same note. For
example, two different instruments might play exactly
the same note in a piece of music.
 INTERVAL NAMES

Numerical/Generic Name: Count/Compare the two notes.(ex: unison,2nd,3rd,4th,5th,etc)

Ex: C-G is a fifth because C-D-E-G is five notes (always start counting from the 1st,note or
line/space)

What would be the numerical interval be from C to F?

 GENERIC INTERVALS

Generic interval: The distance between the lines and

spaces of the interval. The general interval name is non-
specific (only the number(2nd,3rd,etc) not major/minor,
etc, as we will learn in the chapter)
 UNISONS / OCTAVES
Unison: The same note/pitch

Octave: The interval of an 8th (the same letter name, either up or down
the scale)
What is a unison interval?
We can also have intervals that are the
same note. For example, two different
instruments might play exactly the
same note in a piece of music.
Perfect 1 4 5 8
Major 2 3 6 7
Perfect
Major
C is our tonic, so we know
that:

•Do-Re (C-D) = Major 2nd

•Do-Mi (C-E) = Major 3rd
•Do-Fa (C-F) = Perfect 4th
•Do-So (C-G) = Perfect 5th
•Do-La (C-A) = Major 6th
•Do-Ti (C-B) = Major 7th
•Do-Do (C-C) = Perfect Octave
Singing Intervals
One of the best ways to practice hearing intervals is to sing the
syllables, and then name the interval, like you’ll hear in the sound
clip below:

Singing intervals is another way to strengthen the connection

between what you’re hearing, and your brain’s interpretation of
the pitches. If you spend 20 minutes per day singing and
identifying intervals, it’s like practicing vocabulary words in a
foreign language. Suddenly, intervals will pop out of melodies as
something you recognize. Singing the name of the interval along
with the solfege pitches creates additional neural pathways that
will immediately recognize the interval in the context of a
melody. You may feel silly at first, but it is a fast and effective