2.1. Intervals

😈 Attention: Be careful and concentrated, because this one is harder than previous!

The next theme to talk about is Intervals.

They are the building blocks of Chords 🤘. I guess, that’s why we should know them in person 😀.

Basically – Interval is the distance between 2 notes. When you press 2 different keys on piano it is Interval, I guarantee 😉.

Time to learn the smallest of them. Here is a chart with the Intervals that are built from our good old friend – note C. There is a plethora of namings, so don’t get lost 😱.

The chart shows what interval is produced when you play the C note and another note that you pick in one octave range.

Alert: This chart works only if the first note in interval is C!
Tip: Try Tools->Intervals, where you can build any interval from any note.

Tip: Round brackets show the number of semitones.

To make you even more happy, I should admit that two intervals can have the same amount of semitones, but named differently (As we assign different names to notes in scales).

Augmented Fourth from C:

Diminished Fifth from C:

Augmented Fourth and Diminished Fifth are the same intervals, because both of them are made of 3 tones(6 semitones). By the way, this interval sounds so specifically that he has his own pseudonym – Tritone 😳.

How to name notes in Augmented Fourth 😅 from C:
Fourth note from C is F(We count from C = 1, D = 2, E = 3, F = 4 – The fourth.) Accordingly to the 6 semitones in this interval, F must be raised by 1 semitone up to get 6, because F is only 5 semitones up from C. You might guess – the augmented means raised. That gives us F# as the second note in the Augmented Fourth interval.

Diminished Fifth from C (everything is similar):
Fifth note from C is G(C = 1, D = 2, E = 3, F = 4 G = 5). G must be lowered by 1 semitone down to get 6, because G is 7 semitones up from C. The diminished means lowered. That gives us Gb as the second note in the Diminished Fifth interval.

Mamma Mia, why is this getting so hard 😱😱😱?
I warned you, people.😈 It is Not the easy one.

Remember: Intervals are building blocks of Chords and Scales.
The concepts are built on each other, that’s the only reason we must go through everything and suffer 😅. If you master the basics – your knowledge will pay you back.

The final punch into your face is difference between perfect intervals and non-perfect ones:

To make a long story short – Perfect intervals are Fourths, Fifths and Octaves.

Other ones are Non-perfect.

Difference between them is hidden in Raising and Lowering the upper note. They have 2 different patterns:

Perfect:
Diminished-Perfect-Augmented

Non-perfect:
Diminished-Minor-Major-Augmented

Don’t focus on this complexities now, we will understand it later.

As intervals are the basis of harmony, let’s understand two important concepts:

Consonance – notes are sounding together nicely.

Dissonance – notes are sounding together very uncomfortably and unpleasantly.

By manipulating this concepts you can achieve any possible mood with your sound composition👍.

To make your head twisting – Here is a Rule: The more pleasant interval to hear is the more consonant one, and vice-versa.

The concept you should remember – the most consonant intervals are Perfect Fourths, Perfect Fifths and Octaves. They sound really great.

You are probably discouraged 😳: “Why have so many things just happened here 😱?? That’s music theory. People study it for years. Just deal with it 😎.

By the way, don’t even try to remember everything at once 😅.
Your head may be confused right now. That is normal 😎.
Take a deep breath. Read everything 2-3 times more🤘🤘. Check out
Tools->Intervals to look at how it works on piano.

Keep the tempo. Next topic will clarify more things than you can imagine 👊.