Download Music Theory & Ear Training for Busy Adults

Music Theory & Ear Training for Busy Adults – Part I
by Jerry Paul 7-5-09. Revised 9-11-09.
Why learn music theory and ear training?
Reduce complexity. Theory vastly simplifies complexity. Imagine trying to decide 30 times every second,
which subset of the 88 keys of the piano to press. This job may require only one theory idea.
Be able to play faster. Each single theory idea may give rise to a whole burst of notes.
Be in on the jargon. Theory gives names to notes, relationships and sequences.
Communicate. You can then understand and speak a common, standardized musician’s language.
Be concise. E.g., say “C9” rather than “those notes on beat 3 of measure 62 of Smith’s Opus 9”.
Train your ear. Theory helps you train your ear to identify notes, chords and relationships just from the
sound, because music theory creates a conceptual ”pigeon hole” and name for each item you hear.
Eliminate guessing. Ultimately, when you hear a new song this ear training could enable you to identify
every note immediately, without trial-and-error.
Sight-sing. As a vocalist, your ability to sight-sing from sheet music requires some ear training, which in turn
requires some knowledge of music theory.
Play by ear. If you’re trained on an instrument, theory and ear training might give you the ability to play
immediately just about any new song you hear, even if you have never seen the sheet music. That
includes playing what you’ve heard only in your head.
Steal stuff. “Reverse-engineer” cool songs and use the desirable aspects in your own songs.
Create your own. Some musicians only play notes written on a page. There’s nothing wrong with that, just as
there is nothing wrong with being a typist. However, if you want to be much more than a “typist”—say,
an author, editor, improviser, embellisher, arranger, conductor, etc.—music theory and ear training are
essential.
It’s your ticket. Music Theory and ear training is your ticket to a world of musical wonder and ease.
Although knowledge of music theory relationships will help you to become a much better music reader, this
document is for you whether or not you can read notes.
INTRODUCTION
The concepts explained in these pages are not immutable rules; they’re guidelines which derive from our culture.
This treatise is intended as a concise (7 page) explanation for busy adults. Reading it only once should give you a
passing familiarity with music theory nomenclature and principles. It is mostly in simple outline form. The first
occurrence of each new term is presented in boldface for easy reference. Besides the introduction to each
concept, there are several charts which map out detailed relationships and further examples. Typically, each
matter is explained just once, with one example, but it is very important to understand each item before
proceeding to the next item. So I urge you to try out extra examples. They’re auditory fun and they give “aha!”s.
Music is not symbols on a page. Music is vibration we feel and hear, sound in the air, giving rise to all kinds of
emotions. A key to becoming a fine musician is to learn to identify every aspect of the sound, including sound
you may be imagining in your “mind’s ear”. As you read this, you’ll do yourself a big favor when you make an
effort to play lots of examples and really listen to how they sound. Identify and try out the examples on your
instrument or voice. The sound is fun, it’s a memory aid, it gives you ear training--and sound is the real point.
Try a piano especially, because its keys display a menu of all possible notes, the piano is easily operated, and it
can sound many notes at once. Enlist a buddy and take turns playing examples and guessing what was played.
If you are more ambitious and want to use music theory as professional musicians do, it behooves you eventually
to become very familiar in an operative way (“unconsciously competent”) with all examples—of which there are
13 for each phenomenon. In Western music there are 12 distinct notes in all, giving rise to 12 of the examples;
the 13th example being the very useful abstract case, where numbers stand for the notes. And whenever
practicing, jamming, performing, or merely listening, let the music theory be a part of your mind.
Copyright © 2009 Jerome E. Paul
Paul -Music Theory & Ear Training– Page 2 of 7
Music Theory & Ear Training for Busy Adults – Part I
1. Each musical note has 4 aspects: loudness, timing, timbre and pitch.
Timbre (pronounced “TAM ber”) is the sound quality, which results from the choice of instrument, the tone
techniques used, the use of such modifiers as a mute, or in the case of a voice, changes of vowels, etc.
Music theory is mostly about pitch, which on a piano refers to how far right (“high”) or left (“low”) a note is.
Names of the 12 notes: they are illustrated well using a piano keyboard, which is a field of white keys into
which is set alter nating groups of 2 black keys and 3 black keys. Note the repeating pattern of 12 keys:
▌▌ ▌▌▌ ▌▌ ▌▌▌
• 2 + 3 = 5 black keys:
• plus 7 white keys, named A through G: …B C D E F G,A B C D E F G,A B C…
Note that within each group of 3 black keys, the white key just right of center is the one named “A”.
Each black key has no name of its own. Its two names derive from the two adjacent white keys, using
sharp ( ) and flat ( ) signs:
= move right,
= move left.
E.g., G = A .
Note that there is no black key between E and F, nor between B and C. E.g., E = F, not F .
To specify a white key, a natural sign ( ) is used.
2. An interval is the distance between two pitches. Examples:
Unison = the same pitch repeated, i.e., an interval of zero distance.
Half-step = the smallest interval except for unison (could be between a white key and a black key).
Examples: E to F, F to F , A to A , D down to D . (Guitarists: moving to the next fret is a half-step.)
Whole step = two half-steps. Examples: D to E, E to F , B down to A , E down to C .
Octave = 12 half-steps = the interval from any pitch to the next occurrence of a pitch of the same name,
e.g., C up to the next C , or F down to the next F.
See page 7 “Lear ning Intervals Easily”. It names the intervals and gives a few songs beginning with each.
A table using familiar songs has been included to help you begin to train your ear by identifying each interval.
As you’ll see, listening to a song and identifying all of the melody notes and chords is largely a matter of
identifying the intervals which they are made of.
3. A scale is a group of particular pitches, used as a menu of pitches from which to build a song. If all 12 pitches
are to be used, it is called a chromatic scale. Usually, however, a scale has 7 pitches. On the piano each scale’s
pitches are numbered left–to-right. This numbering is called “scale degree”, so the left-hand pitch is said to
have a scale degree of 1. This first pitch is also said to be the “root” of the scale and its name is used to name
the scale. Songs which use the scale are said to be “in the key of” [the same name as the scale]. For example, a
song in the key of C uses mostly the 7 notes of the C scale and usually does not use the other 5 notes as much.
Although a scale customarily is illustrated using pitches from within a single octave, most actual songs also use
many pitches of the same names from within other octaves as well.
4. Happy songs tend to use a major scale. The intervals of a major scale when played in ascending order are:
whole step, whole step, half step, whole step, whole step, whole step, half step -or- 1, 1, ½, 1, 1, 1, ½.
“Shorthand” for easy memorizing: count the consecutive whole steps and say simply: 2 ½ 3 ½.
Examples: C major scale = all white keys = C D E F G A B C. (First play the C, then apply said intervals.)
A major scale = A B C D E F G A.
Note that in these examples there were 8 notes, not 7. In each case the last note has the same name as the first
note but is an octave above the first note. So playing this 8th note is redundant. However, it is customary to
include it when practicing playing scales. Recommended exercise: play the other 10 major scales. See page 5.
5. Sad or weighty songs usually are written using a minor scale, of which there are 3 variations:
Natural minor, whose interval sequence using the above whole-step “shorthand” is 1 ½ 2 ½ 2.
Examples:
A natural minor = all white keys = A B C D E F G A
E natural minor = E F G A B C (=B) D E .
Harmonic minor raises the second-last note. E.g., A harmonic minor = A B C D E F G A.
Melodic minor is played thusly: (ascending:) A B C D E F G A (descending:) A G F E D C B A.
Paul -Music Theory & Ear Training– Page 3 of 7
6. Relative major and relative minor are a pair of scales, one major and the other a natural minor, which have
identical menus of notes, just different roots (starting notes).
E.g., The C major scale and the A natural minor scale are relative major and minor, respectively.
(By the way, the C major and A natural minor scales are special cases in that they use only white keys.)
7. Modes are scales which use the same menu of notes as major and minor scales, but have other root notes.
Names of modes include Dorian, Phrigean, Lydian, Mixolydian, Aolean and Locrian.
For the case where the menu of notes is all the white keys and no black keys, the root note is
D,
E,
F,
G,
A
and B, respectively.
Blues melodies often use Dorian Mode. C Dorian = C, D, E , F, G, A, B , C; Dorian intervals are 1 ½ 3 ½ 1.
8. Foreign scales may not have 7 notes as the above scales do. For instance, the scale of choice in the Orient is
the pentatonic scale--so named because it has 5 notes, which in the case of C pentatonic are: C, D, E, G, A.
Some scales, particularly in South Asia, can have more than 40 distinct notes, all within a single octave, and thus
are not playable on many of our familiar instruments--and will not be covered in this treatise. One unusualsounding scale frequently visited in jazz is the whole-tone scale, where each interval is a whole step. The song
Havah Nagilah uses a Middle Eastern scale: C D E F G A B C (if C is chosen as root).
9. A chord is a group of notes, most often played simultaneously. We begin with 3-note chords, called triads.
Major chord = 1, 3 and 5 of a major scale. E.g., C major chord = C E G. Sounds happy or normal.
Lead sheets and fakebooks abbreviate these notes into the C major chord symbol which is simply: C.
Minor chord = 1, 3 and 5 of a minor scale. E.g., C minor chord = C E G. Sounds sad/serious/weighty.
The chord symbol for a C minor chord is: Cm or C-.
Note that compared to the major chord, only 3 is changed, becoming ½ step flatter.
Diminished chord = 1, 3 and 5 of a major scale, which is 1, 3 and 5 of a minor scale.
Note that we have used the sign in a new way: not just to define a black key, but to lower any note
by a half-step. So if we happened to start on a black key, we would actually land on a white key.
E.g., the 5th note of an E major scale is a B , a black key; since an E dim chord calls for a 5,
we need to lower the B one half-step to B (“B double-flat”), which is the same as A
(“A natural”, also known simply as “A”), a white key.
Diminished chords sound stressful. In a sense, they sound “more minor” than minor chords do.
The C diminished chord symbol is written Cdim.
Augmented chord = 1, 3 and 5 of a major scale. E.g., C, E, G . Sounds not quite final, penultimate, a
little stressful, hopeful. Written Caug or C+.
Suspended chord, of which there are two types:
sus4 = 1, 4 and 5 of either a major or minor scale. Written thusly: Csus4 or Csus = C F G.
sus2 = 1, 2 and 5 of either a major or minor scale. Written thusly: Csus2 = C D G.
Suspended chords don’t sound final. There’s a sense of conflict, so most listeners want sus chords
to resolve, which means listeners want to hear another, more pleasing chord next, immediately.
To resolve a sus chord, choose the next chord to be a regular major or minor chord with the same
root the sus chord has. E.g., Csus4 usually resolves to C or Cm.
Flat 5 = 1, 3 and 5 of a major scale (or a dim chord with a raised 3).
E.g., a C major chord with a flat 5 = C, E, G .. Its chord symbol is written C-5. Jazzy sound.
Wants to resolve to the major chord with the same root (as in “Maria” from West Side Story) or
especially in jazz, to a chord whose root is a half-step lower. E.g., C-5 resolves to C, B or Bm.
Open fifth = 1 and 5 only. No 3rd of any kind. Sounds Chinese. Written C5.
Unison = 1 only, a single note. Often it’s OK to play in more than one octave at once. Written C unis.
N. C. means no chord at all.
10. Inversion is the act of moving the bottom note in a chord upward by an octave. E.g., a C major chord could
be spelled “C, E, G”, which is called the “root position” because the root (C) is at the bottom. Alternatively, the
C major chord could be spelled “E, G, C”, wherein the C has been moved up by an octave, and which is called
Paul -Music Theory & Ear Training– Page 4 of 7
“first inversion”. Similarly, “second inversion” is spelled “G, C, E” and is the result of moving the E up by an
octave compared to where it was in the first inversion. The third inversion is the same as root position for all 3note chords. A third inversion which is not root position can be constructed for any chord which contains more
than three distinct notes.
The general name for choosing a chord’s inversion is called “voicing the chord”. Voicing a chord allows
lots of additional options, such as spreading the chord’s notes out into far-flung octaves and specifying that
copies of a single note be played in several different octaves at once.
11. Chords with more than 3 notes: the extra notes (“extensions”) appear as numbers added to the chord’s name.
These extensions are specified using the scale’s regular note-numbering system using numbers up to 13. Having
chords with lots of extensions is the main distinguishing factor of jazz music. Chord extension examples:
Seventh chord = 1, 3, 5, 7. There are three important things to note:
1. This 7 is not in the major scale. E.g., C7 = C, E, G, B (not the B you might expect).
2. So you may be tempted to call this a “flat-seventh” chord and write the chord symbol as C 7, for
example. However, please note that for this particular chord extension only, the word “flat” has been
dropped from the chord name, and the sign is omitted from the chord symbol: we say “C seven chord”
and write C7. Yes, this is an exception and an inconsistency, but it is ancient and universally accepted.
3. Very important: Seventh chords tend not to sound final, i.e., people often want to hear them resolve
into a chord whose root is a fifth lower (which is the same as a fourth higher).
E.g., G7 resolves to C. C7, in turn, resolves to F. F7, in turn, resolves to B . And so forth. Many,
many songs are written as such chains of seventh chords. If you chain all 12 seventh chords together,
you get the Circle of Fifths (see on page 6 this important diagram, which looks like the face of a clock.)
Augmented chords also resolve to a fifth lower, so an augmented chord which is also a seventh chord is
particularly compelling to resolve. E.g., C7+ resolves to F or Fm. BTW, Am7 = C6 (its relative major).
Major seventh chord = 1, 3, 5, maj7. E.g., Cmaj7 = C, E, G, B . Also written Cmaj7 or C∆.
Maj7 chords sound pleasing and moder n.
Note that a minor chord could have a major seventh, e.g., Cmmaj7 (which sounds haunting, full of despair).
Diminished seventh chord = 1, 3, 5, 7. ( 7 = 6). E.g., Cdim7 = C, E , G , A (not B ). Note: this
is another case of quirky naming of 7th chords; the “7th” of a dim chord is actually 6 of the major scale.
Cdim7 is also written CO. Note that in any inversion, all its intervals are minor-thirds (3 half-steps).
Half-diminished seventh chord = 1, 3, 5, 7. E.g. in C = C, E , G , B . Written Cm7-5 or CØ.
Often used in minor-key songs as the II chord, 2 resolutions away on the Circle of Fifths. E.g., in the allwhite-key case of the key of A minor, BØ resolves to E, and E7 resolves to Am. Sounds grave, dark.
BTW, as for relative major/minor (e.g., C6 = Am7), a minor has a “relative diminished” (Am6 = F#Ø).
Ninth chord = 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. E.g., C9 = C7,9 = C E G B D. Sounds hopeful but unfinished.
Add9 chord = 1, 3, 5, 9 (note: add9 has no 7th). Adds “brightness” to a major chord; adds conflict to a minor.
Other examples: 6, 9, 9, 11(=4), 11, 13, 13(=6). Note: mostly odd numbers.
9 is often added to 7th chords of minor-key songs. 9 can make a major chord also sound minor.
11 is often added to minor chords; 11 is often added to major chords.
Sometimes one of the lower-numbered notes, especially 5, is omitted. Omit 5 in every 13 chord.
Often lesser extensions are OK to add, e.g., C13 may often be played C, E, B , D, F , A
(= 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, 13). Note that the G (5) has been deleted and B , D and F have been added.
So you see that there are about 10 possible individual chord extensions; consequently there are very many
distinct chords which may be formed using them. This subject will be reserved for Part II.
12. Slash-bass chord symbols are a popular way to specify, and think of, extended chords having lots of
deletions. It works thusly: after a normal chord symbol there appears a slash, followed by the name of a note
which is to be played in the bass (pronounced the same as “base”), bass being the lowest note played by a band,
orchestra or choir. For example, the symbol F/G indicates an F major chord with a G note added below all the
others, and typically spelled G, F, A, C. This example chord is used a lot; it can resolve to a G chord (as does a
Gsus4 or Gsus2)--or it can resolve to a C chord (as does a G7). Because of these two ways in which it resolves, it
Paul -Music Theory & Ear Training– Page 5 of 7
is usually more expedient to think of it more as a type of G chord, as opposed to a type of F chord.
13. Tritone substitution - A tritone is another name for the interval called a diminished 5th or an augmented 4th.
A flat-5 chord (e.g., C7-5 = C E G B ) contains two tritones (C to G and E to B ). The customary bass note is
C, but especially in jazz, the bass may become a G . This is because a G 7-5 contains the very same notes as
C7-5 and they both can resolve to the same chord, in this case, an F chord of some type. So instead of hearing
simply C7-5 F in jazz you’ll often hear C7-5 G 7-5 F. The bass player drops down by a tritone. Often
jazz players will turn a chord into a flat-5 just to make the tritone substitution work.
14. Tempered tuning [a bit of an aside…] The 12 notes of the music of European-American culture attempt to
split each octave into 12 equal parts. I.e., each half-step is just as big as each other half-step. Pianos, organs and
guitars are tempered instruments. Tempering means to tune each half-step to be exactly equal--in contrast to
just tuning, which makes one key (for example, C major) sound wonderful at the expense of all other keys. For
any given pitch, the difference between just tuning and tempered tuning may be as much as 16 cents (hundredths
of a half-step). Also, some uses of just tuning demand that a pitch be split into two slightly different choices,
e.g., an F may no longer be exactly the same as a G . A thorough treatment of just tuning is beyond the scope
of this Part I. [Techies: moving up by an octave represents increasing the frequency (the number of sound
waves per second) by a factor of 2. Tempering means that each half-step up multiplies the frequency by the 12th
root of 2, which is 2 to the 1/12 power, which is a frequency jump of just under 6%. In just tuning, each of the
most important intervals is tuned so that the ratio of its two frequencies is a ratio of two small integers. For
instance, in the case of the interval of a 5th, a G vibrates exactly 3 times for every 2 vibrations of the C just below
it. In contrast, a tempered 5th is slightly smaller, resulting in a shimmering sound (“beats”) when the C and G
are played together. To minimize this effect, piano tuners often stretch the octaves on a piano by 2 cents or so.]
DIAGRAMS:
There are 12 notes in all:
•
7 notes in the major scale, plus
•
5 “blue” notes, each of which has two names, using
or .
Using numbers:
Blue (#)
Major
Scale:
#
1
1
Blue (bb)
#
2
2
b2
#
4
3
4
b3
#
5
5
#
6
6
b5
b6
b7
Fi
Si
Li
7
8
Ti
Do
Using Solfeggio syllables:
Blue (#)
Major
Scale:
Blue (bb)
Di
Do
Ri
Re
Ra
Mi
Me
Fa
Sol
Se
La
Le
Te
Copyright (c) 2001 Jerome E. Paul
Paul -Music Theory & Ear Training– Page 6 of 7
The Circle of Fifths
is extremely useful in showing each chord’s harmonic “neighbors” and in
predicting which chords might follow after others. The Circle has 12 positions like the face of a clock, listing
respectively all 12 notes in a particular order: as you move counterclockwise you descend by the interval of a 5th.
With C up top, s fall on the right and s fall on the left. Five different naming systems for pitches are shown
here, so you can begin to capture the richness of associating them with each other. Listed from the middle of the
diagram and proceeding outward, they are: alphabetical pitch name, solfeggio name, major scale degree using
Roman numerals, ancient scale degree name, and in italics, the name of the Mode having that major scale
degree as its root. Here are several of the many ways the Circle is used:
• when a 7th chord or augmented chord is played, it is typically succeeded by a chord found one notch counterclockwise on the diagram. E.g., after a G7 chord, one is likely to hear a C chord of some kind. Lots of songs
contain chains of 7th chords along the right-hand side of the Circle: VII III VI II V I IV. Very important;
memorize it like a phone number 736-2514 or at least 36251 (e.g., like “5 Foot 2” in C: E7, A7, D7, G7, C).
• Similarly, but to a less compelling extent, diminished chords and m6 chords tend to resolve to a chord found
one notch clockwise. E.g., Fdim and Fm6 both tend to resolve to C. (Note, however, that a diminished chord
may also resolve to another chord of the same root. E.g., Fdim may resolve to F instead of C.)
• Relative major & minor are 3 “hours” apart: e.g., C & Am; or G & Em. Similarly, Cm to Adim is 3 “hours”.
• The diagram is presently oriented with C as the Tonic key. To transpose a song to a different key, simply
rotate the inside of the Circle so that the desired key name moves to “12 o’clock”, where C appears now.
The Circle of Fifths is sometimes called the Circle of Fourths because a jump down in pitch by the interval of a
fifth lands on the same note name as does a jump upward by the interval of a fourth. Similarly, it is sometimes
drawn as a mirror image of this drawing, since either rendering contains the same information and relationships.
Seventh and augmented chords resolve counter-clockwise
.
Relative Major and
Relative Major
Ionian Mode
Relative Minor
Lydian Mode
Tonic
Mixolydian Mode
have the same
Subdominant
I
Dominant
scale notes.
IV
Do
V
R
Fa
Sol
Dorian Mode
e
o
Supertonic
l.
o
o
C
F
VII
II
M
G
Te/Li o
Re
i
o
n
B
D
o
r
of
III Me/Ri o E
A o La Submediant VI Aeolian Mode
Circle
Fifths
o
Le/Si
VI
A
E
D
o
G
F
B
Mi
o
o
Ra/Di
II
Se/Fi
V
o
III
Mediant
Phrygian Mode
Ti
VII
Locrian Mode
Copyright © 2009 Jerome E. Paul
Paul -Music Theory & Ear Training– Page 7 of 7
Learn INTERVALS easily -- using FAMILIAR SONGS
by Jerry Paul
Version 4.1 - 7/24/09
Copyright © 2003 Jerome E. Paul.
An INTERVAL is the difference in pitch between two notes.
By the
NUMBERS
(Italian Names)
SOLFEGGIO
7 notes of the
MAJOR
SCALE
the 5
7 notes of the
the 5
"BLUE"
MAJOR
"BLUE"
NOTES
SCALE
NOTES
8
+Do
7
Diminished 2nd - Joy to the World; Ave Maria;
Beautiful Dreamer; Fly Me to the Moon
7th, Minor 7th, Flatted 7th, Augmented 6th
There's A Place For Us (Sol, +Fa)
Major 2nd - Deck the Halls (Sol, Fa); The First Noel
(Mi, Re, Do); Button Up Your Overcoat (Sol, Fa)
La
Major 6th - If I Loved You (3rd note); My Bonnie
Lies Over the Ocean (Sol, +Mi)
Minor 3rd, Augmented 2nd - Tea For Two; A- - men
(from Lillies of the Field); Volga Boatmen (Me, Do)
Major 3rd - Goodnight Ladies (Mi, Do); Summertime
(Sol, Me); Beethoven’s Fifth (Sol, Sol, Sol, Me)
Sol
Minor 6th, Aug. 5th - In the Mood (3rd note)(Mi, Sol,
+Do); Love Story (3rd & 4th notes) +Me, Sol, Sol, +Me,
+Me
Perfect 5th - Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star (3rd note);
God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen (3rd note)
Perfect 4th - Oklahoma; Shave and a Haircut;
All of Me; Born Free
Augmented 4th, Diminished 5th, Tri-tone –
Maria (from West Side Story)
Augmented 4th, Diminished 5th, Tri-tone – Something’s Coming (“Could be-ee”, from West Side Story)
Fa
Perfect 4th - Here Comes The Bride (Sol, +Do);
Auld Lang Syne (“Should old”)(Sol, +Do)
Perfect 5th – Star Spangled Banner (“Oh - say can you
see”) (3rd note: Sol, Mi, Do); Feelings (Sol, Do)
Mi
Major 3rd - Anchors Aweigh; For He’s a Jolly Good
Fellow; Kum Ba Ya; If I Loved You
Minor 6th, Augmented 5th - All of Me (3rd note);
Beautiful Dreamer (5th note)
Minor 3rd, Augmented 2nd - (the villian bit: Do, Me,
Sol, +Do, Le...); Greensleeves; Smoke on the Water
Major 6th - School Days (+Mi, Sol); Bye Bye Blues
(+Mi, Sol); Crazy (+Mi, Sol); Over There (+Mi, Sol)
Re
Major 2nd - Do-Re-Mi (“Doe, a Deer”); Stand By
Your Man; Alouette; Rudolph (Sol, La)
7th, Minor 7th, Flatted 7th, Augmented 6th –
Willow, Weep for Me (3rd note: +Do, Do, Re)
Do
Diminished 2nd – Jaws (Do,Ra, etc.); Hava Nagila (4th
note: Do Do, Mi Ra Do); I Remember You (Ti, +Do);
Shave & a Haircut, 6 Bits (+Do Sol Sol La Sol,Ti +Do)
Unison - California, Here I Come; One Note Samba
(Sol, Sol); Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Major 7th - (use a 2-step: +Do, silent Do, Ra).
NOTE: any large or difficult interval can be
constructed using this two-step method.
Octave - Willow, Weep for Me (+Sol, Sol); Close
Encounters (3rd & 4th notes: +Re, +Mi, +Do, Do, Sol)
#6 = b7
Li =Te
#5 = b 6
5
Si = Le
#4 = b 5
4
3
Fi = Se
#2 = b 3
2
Ri = Me
#1 = b 2
1
Key: Names of the intervals are shown in Boldface. Most of these songs
begin with Do, followed by the note listed in the left-hand part of this chart. In the lyrics, said note also is
underlined. Exceptions are noted in parentheses ( ). If the interval example begins with a note other than Do, that
note will be double-underlined. A plus sign (+) before a note shifts it up by one octave.
ASCENDING
DESCENDING
The first note is low Do, the second note is higher.
The first note is high +Do, the second note is lower.
Octave - Bali Hai (Sol, +Sol); Dance Ballerina Dance
Unison - California, Here I Come; One Note Samba
(4th note); When You Wish Upon a Star (Sol, +Sol)
(Sol, Sol); Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Major 7th - I Could Have Danced All Night (5th note);
Bali Hai (3rd note: Sol, +Sol, +Fi)
Ti
6
EXAMPLE SONGS
Di = Ra
.
.