For full text search please use the '?' prefix. e.g. ? Onboarding

Intervals

Interval Benchmarks

Note: on descending intervals, we're treating the first note of the interval pair as the root. Therefore, the resulting note in asc and desc is the same, albeit an octave apart.

Minor 2nd

Asc Examples

  • Jaws
  • White Christmas
  • A Hard Day's Night

Desc examples

Major 2nd

Example

  • Frere Jacques

Minor 3rd

Asc Examples

  • Mad World
  • O Canada

Desc Examples

  • Star spangled banner first 2 notes is major 6th descending

Major 3rd

Examples

  • Let's Dance (David Bowie)
  • Chimera (at "you never know")

Perfect Fourth

Asc examples

  • All you need is love brass intro
    • this is not exactly true. you have to imagine that the first 2 notes are unison, rather than ascending
  • Amazing Grace

Desc examples

Tritone

Examples

  • Simpsons choral intro + bass line ("THE SIMP-sons)
  • YYZ

Perfect 5th

Examples

  • Star Wars
  • Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Minor 6th

The minor 6th is the 5th of the tonic's tritone, making it a dissonant interval

Asc Examples

  • Baker street saxophone
  • In My Life (intro piano)

Desc Examples

  • Swing low, Sweet chariot (first lines)

The James bond theme (chordal intro, not the riff) is good for recognizing both the minor sixth and major sixth intervals. It starts at a fifth, then ascends to minor 6th then major, then back down.

Major 6th

Examples:

  • Two of us (guitar intro) - Beatles
  • Goron Lullaby (1st and 3rd note; skip out the intervening note)
    • Goron Lullaby is 1-5-6
  • Star Wars Leia's Theme
  • For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

Descending:

  • Star spangled banner first 2 notes is major 6th descending

Minor 7th

Can't stop - Red hot chilli peppers

  • Josie - Steely Dan (first line "WE'RE gonna BREAK...")

Major 7th

Examples

  • Take on me (during the part where he sings "take on me")

Octave

Examples

  • Starman (David Bowie; Chorus)

Connections between intervals

  • The 7 of the I is the same note as the 3 of the V
    • The mental model here is that if we're playing the I chord and we know the V chord is coming up, then we can simply move back a fret from the root of the I when that V chord hits, because when it does hit, that note will be the 3 in its new context.

Resources