INTERVALS 1/4

Understanding intervals is beneficial to every musician since intervals are the building blocks of every scale, mode, chord, melody, and transposition.

DEFINITION
An interval - also called a "dyad" - is any combination of two notes played 1.) simultaneously either on their own or as part of a chord (harmonically)
or 2.) one note after the other as part of a melody, riff, bass line, etc. (melodically). There is no limit to how large an interval can be.
Although some musicians refer to dyads/intervals as "chords," the standard definition of a chord is three or more notes played harmonically.

IMPORTANT: All intervals are counted up from the lower note regardless of which of the two notes in the dyad was played first. Thus, even if, say,
an F at the top of the stave is sung/played before Bb in the middle of the stave, the interval is still a Perfect 5th because it's counted from the Bb
(Bb C D Eb F), not from the F.

Special note for absolute beginners: a semitone is the "distance" in sound/pitch between two notes on adjacent frets. Thus, from an open string to
the 1st fret, from the 7th fret to the 8th fret, or from the 3rd fret to the 2nd fret, etc., are all semitones. Semitones are also called half-tones and
half-steps.
A whole tone is the distance in sound/pitch between two notes that have a fret in between them. Thus, from an open string to the 2nd fret, from
the 1st fret to the 3rd fret, or from the 12th fret to the 10th fret, etc., are all whole tones. Whole tones are also called whole steps or simply
"tones."
There are two semitones to a whole tone and six whole tones to an octave.

TYPES / CLASSES OF INTERVALS

There are two types of interval: 1.) Simple - smaller than or equal to an octave, and 2.) Compound - larger than an octave.
There are five classes of interval within each type: 1.) Major, 2.) Minor, 3.) Perfect, 4.) Augmented, and 5.) Diminished.

Perfect intervals are so-called because they were traditionally considered perfectly consonant. Conversely, minor, major, augmented or
diminished intervals are typically considered less consonant, and were traditionally classified as imperfect consonances or dissonances.

By definition, the inversion (reversal) of a perfect interval is also perfect. Since the inversion does not change the pitch class of the two notes, it
hardly affects their level of consonance (matching of their harmonics). E.g., C to F = Perfect 4 (C D E F) whereas F to C = Perfect 5 (F G A Bb C)

Conversely, other kinds of intervals have the opposite quality with respect to their inversion. E.g., inverting (reversing) the order of pitches in a
major interval makes it a minor interval and vice-versa. Inverting a diminished interval makes it an augmented interval and vice-versa.
E.g., C to E = major 3rd, E to C = minor 6th; C to F# = augmented 4th, F# to C = diminished 5th; C to B = major 7th, B to C = minor 2nd.

Tip: Inverted intervals of one octave or less always equal 9 (e.g., M3 & m6; aug4 & dim5; P4 & P5; M7 & m2, etc.)
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"U" = Unison "M" = Major "m" = Minor "O" = Octave
"P" = Perfect "+" = Augmented "d" = Diminished

Major, Minor, and No. of Augmented and

Perfect Intervals Semitones/Frets Diminished Intervals Example using "C" Chromatic Scales
Perfect Unison P1 0 d2 Diminished 2nd C and: C Unison C d2
Minor 2nd m2 1 +U Augmented Unison Db m2 C# +U
Major 2nd M2 2 d3 Diminished 3rd D M2 D d3
Minor 3rd m3 3 +2 Augmented 2nd Eb m3 D# +2
Major 3rd M3 4 d4 Diminished 4th E M3 E d4
Perfect 4th P4 5 +3 Augmented 3rd F P4 F +3
6 +4/d5 Augmented 4th/Diminished 5th Gb d5 F# +4
Perfect 5th P5 7 d6 Diminished 6th G P5 G d6
Minor 6th m6 8 +5 Augmented 5th Ab m6 G# +5
Major 6th M6 9 d7 Diminished 7th A M6 A d7
Minor 7th m7 10 +6 Augmented 6th Bb m7 A# +6
Major 7th M7 11 dO Diminished Octave B M7 B dO
Octave P8 12 +7 Augmented 7th C Octave C +7

As can be seen by the above, when an interval is increased by a When an interval is decreased by a
semitone, semitone,
Major becomes Augmented Major becomes Minor
Minor becomes Major Minor becomes Diminished
Perfect becomes Augmented Perfect becomes Diminished
Dim becomes Minor or Perfect Aug becomes Major or Perfect
Aug becomes Double Augmented (AA) Dim becomes Double Diminished (DD)

Note: The above applies only when both notes within the dyad retain their letter names and the intervalic number remains the same.
E.g., C to F = P4, C to F# = aug4, C to Fb = d4; C# to F# = P4, C# to F = dim4, C# to Fb = double dim4 (DD4); Cb to F = aug4, Cb to F# = double aug4 (AA4)
For instance, although C to F# and C to Gb will sound alike and are both tritones, C to F# is an augmented 4th whilst C to Gb is a diminished 5th.

Even better than the chromatic scale for figuring out intervals is to use a "beefed-up" version of the chromatic scale that includes
enharmonic equivalents (e.g., F#=Gb, Db=C#, etc.). Like the standard chromatic scale, this version can also be started on any note/pitch.
Three of these scales (starting with C, G, and F) are on the next page. The "C" version is extended to two octaves.
Chromatic scale starting on "C" including enharmonic equivalents: 3/4
Simple intervals (smaller than or equal to an octave)
No. of semitones 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Note name C C#/Db D D#/Eb E/Fb E#/F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B/Cb B#/C
Interval PU / P1 +U/m2 M2/d3 +2/m3 M3/d4 +3/P4 +4/d5 P5/d6 +5/m6 M6/d7 +6/m7 M7/dO +7/P8
Also known as: Prime Tritone Octave

Compound intervals (larger than an octave)

No. of semitones 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Note name C#/Db D D#/Eb E/Fb E#/F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B/Cb B#/C C#
Interval +O/m9 M9/d10 +9/m10 M10/d11 +10/P11 +11/d12 P12/d13 +12/m13 M13/d14 +13/m14 M14/d15 +14/P15 +15
Also known as: Tritave Double
Octave

"G" Chromatic scale including enharmonic equivalents:

No. of semitones 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Note name G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B/Cb B#/C C#/Db D D#/Eb E/Fb E#/F F#/Gb G
Interval PU / P1 +U/m2 M2/d3 +2/m3 M3/d4 +3/P4 +4/d5 P5/d6 +5/m6 M6/d7 +6/m7 M7/dO +7/P8

"F" Chromatic scale including enharmonic equivalents:

No. of semitones 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Note name F F#/Gb G G#/Ab A A#/Bb B/Cb B#/C C#/Db D D#/Eb E/Fb E#/F
Interval PU / P1 +U/m2 M2/d3 +2/m3 M3/d4 +3/P4 +4/d5 P5/d6 +5/m6 M6/d7 +6/m7 M7/dO +7/P8

Intervalic scale structure: Examples:

Major Tonic M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 M7 P8 CDEFGABC
Natural minor Tonic M2 m3 P4 P5 m6 m7 P8 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C
Harmonic minor Tonic M2 m3 P4 P5 m6 M7 P8 C D Eb F G Ab B C
Melodic minor
(ascending) Tonic M2 m3 P4 P5 M6 M7 P8 C D Eb F G A B C
(descending) P8 m7 m6 P5 P4 m3 M2 Tonic C Bb Ab G F Eb D C
Jazz Melodic Minor
(ascending and descending) Tonic M2 m3 P4 P5 M6 M7 P8 C D Eb F G A B C
Pentatonic minor Tonic m3 P4 P5 m7 C Eb F G Bb
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Pentatonic major Tonic M2 M3 P5 M6 CDEGA
Minor blues scale Tonic m3 P4 dim5 P5 m7 C Eb F Gb G Bb

Modes: Examples: Key of:

Ionian Tonic M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 M7 CDEFGABC (same as major scale) C
Dorian Tonic M2 m3 P4 P5 M6 m7 C D Eb F G A Bb C Bb
Phrygian Tonic m2 m3 P4 P5 m6 m7 C Db Eb F G Ab BbC Ab
Lydian Tonic M2 M3 aug4 P5 M6 M7 C D E F# G A B C G
Mixolydian Tonic M2 M3 P4 P5 M6 m7 C D E F G A Bb C F
Aeolian Tonic M2 m3 P4 P5 m6 m7 C D Eb F G Ab Bb C (same as natural minor scale) Eb
Locrian Tonic m2 m3 P4 dim5 m6 m7 C Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb C Db

Intervalic chord structure: Examples:

Major triad Root M3 P5 CEG
Minor triad Root m3 P5 C Eb G
Augmented triad Root M3 +5 C E G#
Diminished triad Root m3 d5 C Eb Gb
Major 7 Root M3 P5 M7 CEGB
Dominant 7 Root M3 P5 m7 C E G Bb
Minor 7 Root m3 P5 m7 C Eb G Bb
Augmented 7 Root M3 +5 m7 C E G# Bb
Half-dim (m7b5) Root m3 d5 m7 C Eb Gb Bb
Diminished 7 Root m3 d5 d7 C Eb Gb Bbb (A)
Major 6 Root M3 P5 M6 CEGA
Minor 6 Root m3 P5 M6 C Eb G A
Sus 2 Root M2 P5 CDG
Sus 4 Root P4 P5 CFG
add 9 Root M3 / m3 P5 M9 C E G D / C Eb G D
Major 9 Root M3 P5 M7 M9 CEGBD
Dominant 9 Root M3 P5 m7 M9 C E G Bb D
Minor 9 Root m3 P5 m7 M9 C Eb G Bb D
6/9 Root M3 P5 M6 M9 CEGAD
Minor 6/9 Root m3 P5 M6 M9 C Eb G A D ©2020 by J.D. Avery