Intervals

This is a preview of the educational program A Jazz Improvisation Almanac which is under development for the Outside Shore Music Online School. Feel free to browse this preview and learn what you can from it. For a more completed product, though, check out the original freely browsable jazz textbook, A Jazz Improvisation Primer.

We have already discussed the half step and whole step and defined them as the vertical distance between certain notes. Another term for vertical distance is interval. We can give a name to the interval between any two notes. The names are derived from the major scale, although Pythagorus has a role as well.

If we picture a major scale, for example the C major scale:

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The intervals between the root and each successive note in the scale are as follows:

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The term "major" derives from the use in the major scale, and the term "perfect" derives from the fact that these intervals are based directly on the Pythagorean ratios mentioned in the section on transposition.

The names of the intervals between C and the remaining notes of the chromatic scale are derived from the names of the intervals in the major scale. If we take a major interval and decrease it by a half step, it is called a minor interval:

[EXAMPLE]

If we take a perfect interval and decrease it by a half step, it is called a diminished interval. If we take a perfect interval and increase it by a half step, it is called an augmented interval. Note that a diminished fifth and augmented fourth represent enharmonic spellings of the same interval:

[EXAMPLE]

It is also possible to augment a major interval or diminish a minor interval. For example, the interval from F to G is a major second, so the interval from F to G# is an augmented second. Note that G# is enharmonic with Ab. If this interval had been spelled F to Ab, it would have been called a minor third rather than an augmented second:

[EXAMPLE]

The name of an interval is determined by first looking at the names of the notes without any flats or sharps, and then applying the accidentals to determine the quality of the interval - whether it is major, minor, augmented, or diminished.

The names of intervals larger than an octave are derived by continuing the arithmetic progression:

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As with other elements of theory, there are two senses in which you should become familiar with the various intervals. First, you should be able to identify them by sound. For example, if you hear this:

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You should be able to determine quickly that it is a perfect fourth. Second, you should be able to quickly construct these intervals. For example, you should be able to name the note a major sixth above B.

These skills can help during improvisation. Often, an improvisor will "hear" an idea in his head, and then attempt to execute it. In order to do so, one must first identify the intervals it contains and then construct them.

In learning to hear the intervals, it can be helpful to associate them with familiar songs. For example, the perfect fifth is the interval that opens "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". It is difficult to predict what songs you might be familiar with, but following are some of the songs I think of when I hear these intervals.

Minor second - "Jaws" theme:

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Major second - "Do Re Mi":

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Minor third - "Dragnet" theme (first and third notes):

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Major third - "Do Re Mi" (first and third notes):

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Perfect fourth - "Here Comes The Bride":

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Tritone - "The Simpson's" theme:

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Perfect fifth - "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star":

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Minor sixth - "Love Story" them:

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Major sixth - "My Bonnie":

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Minor seventh - "Star Trek" theme:

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Major seventh - "Superman" theme:

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There are a number of approaches to learning to construct the intervals. I have chosen to introduce the intervals by way of the major scale because I believe that is probably the most useful way to learn them. Once you have learned you major scales, it is a fairly easy matter to pick out the major and perfect intervals from them. For example, to find the note a major sixth above B, imagine a B major scale, and select the sixth note:

[EXAMPLE]

The minor, diminished, and augment intervals can then be derived from these.

Copyright 2000 Outside Shore Music
Authored by Marc Sabatella

Intervals