Lesson 9: *Intervals - We are now entering the tritone zone!

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Lesson 9: Intervals.

What's an interval? *It's actually a lot simpler than it sounds. *Put simply, an interval is a description of the amount of space between two notes. *The way we describe this space is dependant on two factors. *What the root note's name is, and the magnitude of the space between it and the other note. *By space, I don't mean how far apart they are written on the staff, but rather, how close in pitch they are to each other. *

For instance, hopefully we're all aware that a G and G# are closer than G and B. *All of these notes we use in Western Music (A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#) are all said to be the same distance from each other. *That is, the distance from A to A# is the same as from F to F# or B to C. *This constant distance is called a semi-tone or half-step. *When I said we'd be measuring the magnitude of the space between two notes, this is what I meant. *We'll be measuring in semitones. *This is the magnitude portion. *The second portion is dependant on the root note. *This is pretty easy once you've got it down, but remember this, everything is spelled alphabetically. *So if I wanted the 3rd note in the A Minor scale, even though you could say B#, you say C because it's alphabetical. *I asked for the 3rd note and C is three letters away from A. *In this way then, if I ask you for a 3rd from A, you automatically know it's going to be A something. *A sharp or flat or natural is determined by our half steps. *Let's take this very slowly and start on seconds.

The Second is going to be either one semi-tone or two semi-tones from the tonic.

The Minor Second is one half step from the tonic. *Let's use A again. *One half step from A is B flat. *Notice that B flat is the same as A sharp, however since A is the tonic, we need the next letter for the second note.

The Major Second is two half steps (or semitones) away from the tonic. *If we use A again, a Major Second is B. *

Try some on your own for practice
give me a minor second and major second from these
Bb
E
G
D
PRACTICE!! next time, Minor Thirds.