Ever Wonder About the Intervals In Music?

by Nigel Rowles
http://www.nofretguitarlessons.com.au

Intervals are the fundamental building blocks of music allowing us to read and write music, and most importantly, to help us construct chords and harmonies. However words like major, minor, augmented, diminished, enharmonic and compound leave many people a bit confused, hopefully this article will throw some light on the subject.

The distance' between two notes is known as an interval. This is the difference in pitch between two notes. The size or amount of distance is measured numerically.

If we consider the C scale there are 8 notes; C D E F G A B C numbered from 1 through to 8. As an example the interval from C to G is a 5 th as G is 5 notes above C. The interval from C to F is a 4 th as F is 4 notes above C.

All intervals are measured from the first note of the scale. These intervals are given a name as well as a numeric value and in order of progression they are: C-D is a major 2 nd , C-E is a major 3 rd , C-F is a perfect 4 th , C-G is a perfect 5 th , C-A major 6 th , C-B major 7 and finally C-C is a perfect octave.

The intervals that are perfect are so called because they have a certain purity about them that comes from the overtones and upper-partials that are contained within them (these will be explained in another article)

Intervals can be raised or lowered by a half-step/semitone. If a major interval is chromatically reduced by a half-step it becomes a minor interval e.g. C-E is a major 3 rd , if it is lowered by a half-step (from C-Eb) the interval becomes a minor 3 rd .

If a perfect interval is chromatically reduced by a half-step it becomes a diminished interval i.e. a perfect 4 th lowered by a half-step becomes a diminished 4 th .

If major or perfect intervals are raised by a half-step then they become an augmented interval i.e. a perfect 5 th would become an augmented 5 th .

Compound intervals are those that extend into the 2 nd octave. C to D (in the next octave) is called either a major 9 th or a compound major 2 nd . C to F (next octave) is a perfect 11 th or a compound perfect 4 th .

Enharmonic intervals are those that differ in name but not pitch, for example C-G# is an augmented 5 th and C-Ab is a minor 6 th .

When intervals are inverted they reverse the relative position of the notes. C-G (perfect 5th) becomes G-C which is a perfect 4 th , a 3 rd would become a 6 th. Perfect intervals when inverted remain perfect e.g. C-G being a perfect 5 th would become a perfect 4 th when inverted, a major becomes minor, minor becomes major, diminished becomes augmented and augmented becomes diminished.

These rules apply to all scales.

Article submitted Sunday, November 09, 2008 & read 76 times.

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