What's a musical interval? Explanation with examples
A range is the distance between two notes. Learn how to measure them in semitones, name them and give them an ear recognition with songs that you already know.
A musical range is the distance at height between two notes. It's referred to with a number, as second, third or fifth, that counts how many note names cover and with a quality (higher, lower, fair, increased or diminished) that depends on how many semitones are between them. For example, from do to me there's a third greater number: it includes three note names (do, re, mi) and four semitones.
The intervals are the basis for understanding scales and chords, reading music with meaning and recognizing ear melodies. Here you see them step by step with a complete table and reference songs to train your ear.
To sum up
- A range is the distance between two notes and with a number and a quality.
- The semitone is the smallest distance from the Western system: a key to the next one at the piano or a pounding at the guitar. A tone are two semitones.
- Between natural notes, only mi-fa and si-do are at a semitone and the others at a tone.
- Unison, fourth, fifth and eighth are fair and second, third, and second and seventh are older or minor.
- To associate each interval with the beginning of a known song is the most practical way to recognize it with an ear.
Semitone and tone: the units of measure
In Western music, the smallest distance between two notes is the semitoneAlso called half tone. At piano it's a step from one key to the next, be it black or white, and at guitar, from one foot to the next. Two semitones form a tone. Yes: The "half tone" that gives name to A medio tono That's just a semitone.
| Panel of note | Distancia | Semitones |
|---|---|---|
| Do - re | Tono | 2 |
| Re- Mi | Tono | 2 |
| My - Fa | Semitono | 1 |
| Fa - Sun | Tono | 2 |
| Sun - The | Tono | 2 |
| The - Yes | Tono | 2 |
| Yes - Do | Semitono | 1 |
Look at it on the keyboard: between me and fa and between and do, there's no black key. That details explain a good part of the theory, including the structure of [bigger and minor scales]](/blog/escalas-mayores-y-menores-explicadas).
How an interval in two steps is appointed
- Number: count note names from first to last, including both. Do, re, my, fa, sun. That's five, so that's a fifth. The holds and bemoles do not change the number: do- my da- remains a third.
- Quality: count the semitones and share them with the table at the bottom. Do-my have three semitones, so it's a third minor, do-me have four, so it's a third older.
Some examples to practice the method:
- Re-fa: 3 names and 3 semitones, 3 minor.
- Fairy: 3 names and 4 semitones, third largest.
- My-yeah: five names and seven semitons, fifth fair.
- Si-fa: five names and 6 semitones, fifth diminished.
- Doa-fa-pário: four names and 6 semitones, fourth augmented.
A range of melodic if the notes sound one after another, and harmonic if they sound together. Also, the melodic can be ascending or descending.
Table of intervals: higher, lower and fair
| Semitones | Interval | Example from | Sound character |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Unison | Do - Do | Identic |
| 1 | Second minor | Do - Reg | That's really tense. |
| 2 | Second largest | Do - re | Stretch |
| 3 | Third minor | Do - My | Stable, minor color |
| 4 | First largest | Do - Mi | Stable, bigger color |
| 5 | That's right. | Do - Fa | Abierto |
| 6 | 4th increased or fifth decreased (tritone) | Do - Fa ∞ o Do - Sol | Unstable, she's asking to solve |
| 7 | Fifth fair | Do - Sol | Very stable and hollow |
| 8 | Sixth minor | Do - The | Sweet, something melancholy |
| 9 | Sixth largest | Do - The | Expand and light |
| 10 | Seventeen minor | Do - If ∞ | Tight, soft |
| 11 | Retirement | Do - Yes | That's really tense. |
| 12 | A fair eighth | Do - Do Acute | The same note, more acute |
The rules to change quality are simple. A greater interval with a lower semitone becomes lower, a minor with a lower semitone, reduced, an older with an increased semitone. The fair with a more or less semitone goes directly to increased or diminished.
Compound intervales and investments
The intervals greater than an octave are called compounds: The ninth is an octave and a second, and the tenth and an octave and a third. To know its simple equivalent, put 7 back to number.
Invest an interval is passing the note from bottom an octave up. Do-me, a third bigger, becomes me, a sixth minor. There are two rules:
- The numbers add up to 9: the second becomes seventh, the third and the fourth.
- The quality is reversed: more goes to less, more and less, and the just are still fair.
That has a direct application: a bigger chord forms with a bigger third and above a minor third (do-mi-sun) and the minor, upside down (do- mi-zo-sun).
How to recognize ear intervals with songs
The most widely used trick is to associate each interval with the beginning of a known melody. These are regular ascending references:
| Interval | Reference song | That's where she's at. |
|---|---|---|
| Second minor | Theme of the film "Shark" | The two motif notes |
| Second largest | “Martinillo” | “Mar-ti” |
| Third minor | "Smoke on the Water" | First two notes of the Riff |
| First largest | "When the Saints Go Marching In" | "Oh when." |
| That's right. | "The cockroach" | From ca to ra |
| Tritono | "The Simpsons" theme | First two notes |
| Fifth fair | "Star, where are you?" | From "tre" to "lli" |
| Sixth minor | The Entertainer | The leap after three initial notes |
| Sixth largest | "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" | "My Bon-" |
| Seventeen minor | Original theme of "Star Trek" | First two notes |
| Eighth | "Over the Rainbow." | “Some-where” |
For descending intervals they serve "For Elema" by Beethoven (second minor), "Yesterday" by the Beatles (second major), "Hey Jude" (third minor), the beginning of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (third major) and Mozart's "Little Night Serenate" (fourth just). If anything doesn't sound good, replace it with a song by you: a reference of your own works better than an alien. When you have them clear, put them to the test at our [hearing training]](/herramientas/entrenamiento-auditivo) free.
10 minutes rutin to train intervals
- It starts with few quite different intervals with each other: second greater, third greater, fifth just and eighth.
- He plays a note on a piano or an app, sings the interval thinking about his reference song and checks by playing his second note.
- Repeat from other starting notes. To check that you reached the right note, you can sing it in front of [tuning]](/herramientas/afinador).
- Ask someone, or an auditory training app, to play random intervals and write down how many challenges.
- When you have been well aware of the first, add up third and fourth and sixth, and then have severed and trickle.
- It goes to harmonic intervals with both notes ringing together and at descending intervals.
- Take him to the Repertoire: seek out what intervals appear in the melodies you play or sing.
The recognition of intervals is part of solpus and usually evaluated in the entrance tests to music careers, along with the dictation. If you are preparing, look at the [preuniversity music]](/preuniversitario-musica)and if you want to build this base from scratch, [music theory] classes.](/clases/teoria-musical) They work them step by step.
Frequently asked questions
Do-re and do-my-my are the same interval?
They sound the same, because they both have 3 semitones, but they are called different: do.re's a second increased and do.my .a third minor. That's called harmony, and the right name depends on the scale or chord at which they appear.
Why do the fourth and fifth and eighth call themselves fair?
Because they have no more and less version: in their natural form there's only one, that historically was considered the most consonant. If you add or subtract them a semitone they go directly to increased or diminished.
What's the hysterical and why does that sound so tense?
It's the 3-tone interval, or 6 semitones, that divide the octave just in half. It sounds unstable and challenges to resolve into a more stable interval. That's why it appears in the dominant chords, that push the music to rest.
Do I need an absolute ear to recognize intervals?
No. Recognizing intervals is a relative ear skills, training with constant practice at any age. We explain the difference in [absolute and relative ear]](/blog/oido-absoluto-y-oido-relativo).