Intervals identify, hear, and play
If music were an ocean, each interval would be a navigation star above this musical sea.
Admittedly, that sentence was pretty philosophical. Please give me another chance. I’ll be clearer now.
Intervals guide you across your keyboard. They give you support in every song. And they are the basis for numerous tone combinations and chords. You need to be able to understand them in order to learn to play the piano. Don’t you think these facts alone speak for dealing with intervals? You nod? Perfect. Then let’s get started right away.
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Gordon November
Gordon November
Navigation
After reading this article, you will know:
- what an interval is.
- which intervals exist.
- how to determine each interval on the piano.
- how to recognize each interval by ear alone.
Well then. Let’s look at the sky and take a closer look at the musical ‘navigation stars’.
What is an interval?
We speak of an interval when two notes are played simultaneously or in succession and we want to name the distance between the two notes. An interval is therefore always a distance between two notes.
Why are intervals important?
Admittedly – intervals are music theory. And music theory is dry. But a look at the distance between two notes brings you an incredible amount. With the help of intervals, you will be able to improvise much better on the piano. And that helps you to break away from sheet music and play freely.
My favorite form of making music. If you give intervals a chance and learn to understand them, you will soon be able to form chords independently and play songs by ear. Sounds great, doesn’t it? So, dive into the interval flood. Let’s start directly with a first exercise.
Determine the distance between two notes
Exercise: Let’s determine intervals together. Here is an exercise that you can play along with directly on the piano. And with which you will immediately get to know all the important intervals.
Remember the C major scale. We can build almost every conceivable interval on this scale.
First step: C + C = Prime (Don’t be surprised: it is not possible to play C and C simultaneously on the piano)
Second step: C + D = Second
Third step: C + E = Third
Fourth step: C + F = Fourth
Fifth step: C + G = Fifth
Sixth step: C + A = Sixth
Seventh step: C + H = Seventh
Eighth step: C + C = Octave (not the identical note but the next C above)
9-note distance: C + D = Ninth (next but one D)
10-note distance: C + E = Tenth (next but one E)
We could continue this list further. But it is enough if you know the intervals up to the octave.
“Intervals are a real added value, especially for intuitive piano playing. Intervals help you to identify melodies, support you with chord changes and make you a professional in improvisation.”
Interval quiz: Can you hear the difference?
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Interval fine determination: Semitones and Co.
With all the intervals that you have just played on the C major scale, no black keys were used. We only played natural intervals! But there are also other intervals. You will find out what they are now.
Remember the second (C + D) back. But what interval do we have if we only play a semitone? So about C and C sharp/D flat together. Then it is a minor second. C + D, on the other hand, are a major second.
Same game with the third. C + E played together are a major third. C + E flat played together are a minor third.
“A minor triad always consists of a minor third at the bottom and a major third at the top. About C + E flat + G. A major third at the bottom and a minor third at the top (C + E + G), on the other hand, is a major triad.”
You could continue playing the game like this. But be careful: There is no major and minor fourth. Instead, we talk about fourth (C + F) as well as augmented fourth (C + G flat).
“The augmented fourth (or diminished fifth) is also called tritone. Tritone = three whole tones. You can find out more about this in my blog post on whole and semitones.”
Let’s play a major sixth (C + A) and go down a semitone from A (C + A flat), it is a minor sixth.
Major sixth = major triad (for example C + F + A)
Minor sixth = minor triad (for example C + F + A flat)
And so it goes on with major and minor seventh etc.
Determine intervals: An overview
With intervals, you can navigate safely through the music. Despite the lack of sheet music.
Here all intervals at a glance:
Minor second, Major second
Minor third, Major third
Fourth, Augmented fourth (Tritone)
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Fifth
Minor sixth, Major sixth
Minor seventh, Major seventh
Octave
You want to be able to hear every interval? I'll tell you how!
If you have persevered – uh – read this far, then you can now recognize and name all common intervals on your keyboard. But how about if you could even hear intervals? That’s possible – and brings you a whole lot closer to intuitive piano playing.
How do you recognize the individual intervals with just your ears?
First of all: Intervals can meet you in different ways. Sometimes the notes of an interval are played at the same time. Sometimes one after the other.
I personally find it much easier to recognize intervals that are played one after the other. Especially when you are just starting with ear training. So let’s take a look at intervals that are played one after the other.
Interval played one after the other (successively)
In advance: If only two notes are played, you cannot distinguish between intervals with the same number of semitones. A minor third sounds the same as an augmented second.
Nasty, isn’t it? Well, not really. Because this fact even makes it easier for you. Because: You don’t have to be able to hear all intervals. Only those that are a different number of semitones apart.
Ok, you’re sitting on hot coals and finally want to know how you can hear intervals? Then let’s go to the first exercise now.
Exercise 1: Hear interval
A secret in advance: You can already hear intervals! Now you look puzzled, don’t you? But it is so. With every song that you can whistle or sing, you master the intervals that occur in it. And we use that now to make you an interval hearing professional.
Think of the well-known children’s song Brother John. Sing or whistle the first four notes of this song.
And now it comes. The first two notes of this song are a major second. So the two notes to which you sing Bro-ther.
My tip: Learn intervals by knowing a suitable song beginning for each interval.
The beginning of Brother John therefore corresponds to a major second.
Now I would like to show you how you can recognize all intervals with the song technique.
Interval determination: This is how you hear every pitch distance
Let’s start with the smallest interval – the perfect prime. You can recognize it easily. It is simply the same note twice.
Perfect prime = same note twice
Next, we look at the minor second. You can find it at the beginning of the song A bird came flying. So
Minor second = A bird came…
You have already learned about the major second. It occurs at the beginning of the song Brother John.
Major second = Bro-ther
The minor third comes right at the beginning of the children’s song The Bird Wedding.
Minor third = The bird-
On to the interval major third. You will encounter this in the song All the birds are already there
Major third = All the
Attention, it’s getting Christmassy. In the song Oh Christmas Tree, the first two notes are a perfect fourth.
Perfect fourth = Oh Christ-
The augmented fourth – the interval that you often encounter under the name tritone – is very rare to find in song beginnings. If you play it on the piano, you can also imagine why. It doesn’t sound particularly beautiful.
And yet there is a melody that begins with an augmented fourth. Do you know The Simpsons? At the beginning of each episode, a choir sings the name of the famous yellow family. The first two notes actually correspond to the interval augmented fourth.
Augmented fourth = The Simp-
Off to the perfect fifth – the interval with three whole tones and a semitone distance. It occurs at the beginning of the Christmas carol Tomorrow comes Santa Claus. But be careful: The first two notes of this song are identical – so a perfect prime. Only then follows the interval perfect fifth.
Perfect fifth = -mor-row comes
The minor sixth is an interval that – like the augmented fourth – is rather rare at the beginning of a song. But: He who seeks, finds. The first two notes of the song When Israel was in Egypts land correspond exactly to the distance of a minor sixth.
Minor sixth = When Is-
On to the major sixth. The interval with nine semitones distance can be found directly at the beginning of the song My Bonnie is Over the Ocean.
Major sixth = My Bon-
A minor seventh are about the first two notes of the melody of Somewhere from the beautiful musical West Side Story.
Minor seventh = There’s a
Phew, almost done. Only two more intervals to go. What’s next? You know it. Exactly – the major seventh. This comes directly at the beginning of the chorus of the song Take on me by a-ha.
Major seventh = Take on
Last but not lease the perfect octave. It occurs particularly strikingly at the beginning of the song Somewhere over the Rainbow.
Perfect octave = Some-where
Now you are an interval professional
Honestly: If you have persevered up to here, I can only take my hat off to you. You really mean it. You want to understand and hear intervals. And you can do that now too. You know the distance between the notes of all intervals. You know songs with whose help you can hear intervals. And you now know how the distance between two notes is used in music.
What’s the point of all this? As already mentioned at the beginning: With intervals, you can navigate safely through the music. Through every song. Through every piece. Despite the lack of sheet music. That means for you: this big piece of music theory frees you from the specifications of others. With the help of intervals, you learn to play the piano intuitively. And maybe soon make your own music.
Here again all intervals at a glance:
- Minor second, Major second
- Minor third, Major third
- Fourth, Augmented fourth (Tritone)
- Fifth
- Minor sixth, Major sixth
- Minor seventh, Major seventh
- Octave
Now you are ready to play the piano intuitively. That means being your own maestro on the piano without any sheet music. How do you do that? I’ll show you that in the Masterclass Intuition – my course for people of all ages who want to make music intuitively. We call ourselves Intuonauts and would be happy if you became one too. How about a free start? You can get it here:
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