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Unit 4 - Intervals
Music Theory
Mr. Jackson
Harmony
Harmony refers to the way notes are simultaneously sounded – creating a
vertical element to music.
A single melody line or linear voice added to another line or voice is called
counterpoint.
Intervals / Interval Quantity
An interval is the distance between two pitches.
MELODIC INTERVALS- Sound after each other
HARMONIC INTERVALS- Sound at the same time
Intervals are described by QUANTITY (Size) and QUALITY
Quantity is designated by a NUMBER (1-7)
* When counting intervals, always remember to count the bottom number as 1.
From a line to a line (or a space to a space) is always an ODD number
From a line to a space is always an EVEN number
Interval Quality
When describing intervals, we use the following descriptors:
DOUBLY AUGMENTED
AUGMENTED
MAJOR
MINOR
DIMINISHED
DOUBLY DIMINISHED
Major/Minor Intervals
can NEVER be perfect!
Perfect intervals can
NEVER be Major or
Minor!
Intervals in a Major Scale
ABBREVIATIONS FOR INTERVALS
A or +
M
m
dim or º
= Augmented
= Major
= Minor
= Dimished
For an ASCENDING MAJOR
SCALE, Intervals will be
MAJOR or PERFECT!
2nds, 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths
CANNOT be perfect!!!!
Unisons, 4ths, 5ths, and
Octaves CANNOT be
Major/Minor!
Intervals in a Minor Scale
For an ASCENDING
MINOR SCALE,
Intervals will be
MINOR or
PERFECT! *Except
for the 2nd which
stays Major….
Did you notice that the PERFECTS
stayed the same from Major to
Minor? That’s because they’re
perfect…. Get it? 
Comparing Major / Minor Scale Intervals
The Tritone
A 'tritone' is the name for the musical interval between two pitches an
augmented 4th/Diminished 5th apart. The term 'tritone' comes from the fact
that the interval between the two pitches is a full three "whole tones" apart.
Aug 4
+4
dim 5
º5
Interval Adjustments
Let’s take a look at what happens to intervals when we make
some adjustments. How does the quality change? Watch below…
A2
M2or
+2
Now let’s INCREASE the interval…. What is a larger quality than
MAJOR?
….. AUGMENTED!
So if G to and A is MAJOR.. G to an A# is…
…………… AUGMENTED!
Interval Adjustments
Now let’s take a look at what happens when we DECREASE the
interval.
m2
M2
What is a smaller quality than MAJOR?
….. MINOR!
So if G to and A is MAJOR.. G to an Ab is…
…………… MINOR!
Interval Adjustments
Although we have looked at adding an accidental to the TOP note
to adjust the interval, we can also add an accidental to the
BOTTOM note. Let’s try going from a MAJOR to an
AUGMENTED interval..
Aug
M3 3 or
+3
If we wanted to increase this interval we COULD add a sharp to
the top note, increasing it from Major to Augmented.. But how
ELSE could we increase the interval…..? (Hands Please…)
YES! … Instead of adding a SHARP to the TOP note, we are
going to add a FLAT to the BOTTOM note.. This results in the
same interval… Make sense?
Interval Adjustment Results
Here are some major and perfect intervals transformed into diminished and
augmented intervals. Notice what happens when the accidental is on the
bottom note.
Enharmonic Intervals
Enharmonic Intervals sound the same, but are spelled differently and therefore
function differently.
C# and Db are the same pitch; however they are not notated the same
on the staff.
THE SAME IS TRUE FOR INTERVALS!!!!
For
example… F to Ab is a Minor third.
SAME PITCH, but…
m3
aug 2 or
+2
More Enharmonic Intervals
GOLDEN RULE OF INTERVALS!
More Things to Keep In Mind…
IF an interval is perfect, THEN BOTH the top and bottom pitch is in the
other’s major key.
IF the same accidental is added to both the upper and lower pitch, THEN the
interval remains the same.
IF an accidental is added only to the bottom pitch, THEN the accidental has
the opposite effect than when added to the note above:
If a flat is added to the lower pitch, the interval is larger.
If a sharp is added to the lower pitch, the interval is smaller.
IF the lower note does not represent a standard key, THEN determine
what the interval would be without the accidental and adjust. For example: G#
to E is a minor 6th.
Because G# is not a standard key signature, we determine that G to
E is a MAJOR 6th and because the bottom note is sharp, it reduces
the quality by one half step to a minor 6th.
** Remember that when you are spelling intervals below a given pitch you
must still associate the top note to the major key of the bottom note.You
cannot change the given nore.
Simple/Compound Intervals
Intervals that are one octave or smaller are called simple intervals.
Intervals that are larger than an octave are called compound intervals.
Common compound intervals are 9ths, 10ths, 11ths, and 12ths
Which correspond to an octave plus a 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th.
To REDUCE a Compound Interval can be reduced to a SIMPLE INTERVAL,
you subtract seven.
For example: a Major 9th (-7) reduces to a Major 2nd
To EXPAND a Simple interval to a COMPOUND INTERVAL, you add seven.
For example: a minor 3rd (+7) becomes a minor 10th
!!! THE QUALITY OF THE INTERVAL DOES NOT CHANGE
WHEN REDUCING OR EXPANDING INTERVALS !!!
Inverting Intervals
Sometimes when analyzing music it is helpful to INVERT intervals to make
them a bit more accessible…. It’s fun, trust me..
-Major Intervals invert to Minor Intervals
-Augmented intervals invert to diminished intervals
-Perfect intervals invert to perfect
-A second inverts to a seventh
The Rule of Nine: When any simple
-A third inverts to a sixth
interval is inverted, the sum of the
-A fourth inverts to a fifth
ascending and descending intervals must
add up to nine.
Strategies for Difficult Intervals
Let’s look at a few examples and develop a strategy for identifying and building
intervals that are a little more difficult.
Consonant/Dissonant Intervals
Intervals are classified as either Consonant or Dissonant.
Consonant Intervals are STABLE, and sound pleasing to the ear. They are
often included on the beginning and end of a section of music.
P1, P5, P8, M3, m3, M6, m6 (sometimes the P4 – depending on context)
** The lack of tension in these intervals is why composers
end pieces on Unisons or Octaves! **
Dissonant Intervals are UNSTABLE/TENSE! They usually want to RESOLVE
somewhere.
M2, m2, M7, m7 (sometimes the P4 which is generally considered to be a
dissonant interval when used harmonically above the bass.)