Small Intervals

An "interval" is the space between two notes. Shall I be obvious? A small

interval is a situation where there are two notes close together! There are three
small intervals to be dealt with in this lesson: semitone, whole tone, and toneplus-semitone.

SEMITONES:
We have already dealt with the semitone in lesson 3. Now you need to know
that there are two types of semitones. Both sound exactly the same, but they
are written differently. Take a look at this example:

Both of these semitones sound exactly the same. Play them on your instrument.
From your knowledge of semitones, you know that if you were to play both
examples on a musical instrument, you would play the same notes! In other
words, the point here is that G# and Ab are exactly the same pitch. But here's the
difference: we would say that in the first example, "G-sharp is a DIATONIC
semitone lower than A". In the second example, we would say "A-flat is a
CHROMATIC semitone lower than A".
So there are two types of semitones: DIATONIC SEMITONES and CHROMATIC
SEMITONES. Here are quick definitions:
DIATONIC SEMITONE:
The smallest interval in our "western" music culture, in which the
two notes are spelled using different letter names. (A, G-sharp)
CHROMATIC SEMITONE:
The smallest interval in our "western" music culture, in which the
two notes are spelled using the same letter name. (A, A-flat)
Here are some more semitones, correctly labeled:

(You will learn in later lessons that a diatonic semitone is also called a minor
2nd)

WHOLE TONES
A whole tone equals the distance of two semitones. Looking at this view of a
piano keyboard, you can see two notes indicated by dots:

The 'G' and the 'A' are one whole tone away from each other due to the fact that
there is a note in between them: the G-sharp, or A-flat. This distance of two
semitones is called one whole tone.
To write whole tones, we begin by ensuring that they've been placed on the staff
correctly. Whole tones are written on the staff so that if one note is on a line,
the other must be on the space above or below it. If one note is written on a
space, the other must be on the line above or below it. However, just
because two notes are placed on a staff in this manner, don't automatically
assume they are whole tones. Take this interval, for example:
The 'E' is on the line directly below the 'F'. But as you can see from the diagram
of the keyboard above, these two notes are only one semitone apart- there is no
black note in between them. The rule about placement of the notes on the staff is
only part of the procedure. You must now adjust the second note, if necessary. In
this case, you would add a sharp to the second note in order to make it a whole
tone higher:
There is one other place on the keyboard where
there is no black note between white notes: between 'B' and 'C'. So a whole tone
above 'B' would be 'C#'.
Here's a quick definition:
WHOLE TONE
An interval which is the distance of 2 semitones.
Here are some written whole tones:

Notice that whole tones are written on adjacent lines or spaces. (You will learn in
later lessons that a whole tone is also known as a major 2nd.)
TONE-PLUS-SEMITONE
A tone-plus-semitone is the distance of three semitones. On paper, it must be
written so that if one note is on a line, the other note must be in the space
above or below it. If one note is in a space, the other note must be on a line
above or below it. And just as with the situation regarding whole tones, do not
assume that because you have placed the notes correctly on the staff that they
are automatically a tone-plus-semitone apart. You must then adjust the second
note so that the proper interval exists.
TONE-PLUS-SEMITONE
An interval which is the distance of 3 semitones.
Here are some written tone-plus-semitones:

(You will learn in later lessons that a tone-plus-semitone is also known as an

augmented 2nd.)

Major Scales
A scale is a series of notes that proceed up or down by step. ('Step' means by
tone or by semitone). A major scale proceeds by following a certain pattern of
tones and semitones. But we'll get to that in a moment. Make certain that you
fully understand the difference between tones and semitones. If you're still a little
rusty, go back to Lesson 7. Understanding scales depends on your knowledge
of tones and semitones. Please note that when we say 'tone', we mean 'whole
tone'.
We'll go through the process of writing a major scale step by step (no pun
intended), and you'll see that writing scales is actually a fairly simple process! I

would recommend getting a piece of staff paper and writing out the steps as you
see them demonstrated here for you. It will help you to clearly visualize the entire
process. We are going to write an F-major scale in the treble clef, ascending,
using quarter notes.

Writing an F-Major Scale in the treble clef:

STEP 1:
Draw a treble clef on a staff. Then place an 'F' on the staff, the 'F' above middle
'C'.

STEP 2:
Write a note on each line and space, ascending for one octave. Remember, any
note below the middle line 'B' should point its stem upward; any note above the
middle line 'B' should point its stem downward. The 'B' itself can go either way.

STEP 3:
You've now written a scale, but not necessarily a major scale. Major scales follow
a certain pattern of tones and semitones. Here is that all-important pattern:
Tone - Tone - Semitone - Tone - Tone - Tone - Semitone
We now have to examine the intervals between each and every note to see that
they conform to this pattern. If they don't, we can use accidentals (sharps and
flats) to make them conform.
We start by looking at the first two notes, 'F' and 'G'. What is the distance
between these two notes? It is a whole tone. Therefore, the first interval in the
pattern, 'Tone', is correct, and we can go on.
Now let's look at the 2nd and 3rd notes, the 'G' and 'A'. The distance between
these two notes is a whole tone, so that conforms to the second interval
requirement, tone. On we go!

Our next notes to examine are the 3rd and 4th notes, the 'A' and 'B'. This forms a
whole tone. But our major-scale pattern says that there should only be a
semitone between these two notes. No problem! We'll just lower the B to a Bflat, and now it's a semitone.
Here's what we've got so far:

We show whole tones with a square bracket and semitones with a slur (curve).
Just keep going, checking each interval between all notes in the scale. You will
find that in this scale, the B-flat is the only accidental that we have to use. Here is
the complete correct F-major scale:

An F-major scale, as you can see, has one flat. It is the only major scale that has
one flat. All the different major scales use their own set of accidentals. In the next
lesson, you'll learn how to make a proper key signature from the accidentals that
are used.
Make sure that you write your scale using the process mentioned above. Start
with one octave of notes, THEN make your adjustments if necessary.

Intervals
In Lesson 7, you learned how to name "small" intervals. These were intervals
that occupied the space of a "second" - the semitone, whole tone, and the toneplus-semitone. Now we are going to learn how to name intervals that are larger
than a second.
In fact, the method we use to name larger intervals actually applies to all
intervals, big or small. There are two components to the name of an interval:

The first component, in this case the letter 'P', tells us the quality of the interval.
The 'P' stands for 'perfect', but more on that a little later. The second component ,
the number, tells us the distance between the two notes. The number is very
easy to determine. Assigning a '1' to the bottom note and counting upward until
reaching the top note, you can see that the 'D' is five notes higher than the 'G'.
Therefore, the interval shown above is a 5th. So much for the easy part!
There are several different kinds, or qualities, of intervals. You have heard these
terms before in conversation with musicians: major this, diminished that, etc. But
how do we actually determine the quality of an interval?
For our purposes here, all intervals will fall into two main categories: the perfect
ones, and the non-perfect ones. Let's look at the perfect intervals first. There are
four intervals that can be described as being perfect: 1, 4, 5, and 8. For example,
we might say "perfect fifth" in describing a certain kind of fifth. Intervals that are
perfect have a certain sound that is variously described by musicians as "pure",
"hollow" or "bare". Click on the play-bar beside the interval above and listen to
the hollow sound produced by the Perfect 5th. The other intervals, 2, 3, 6, and 7,
are non-perfect ones. They are the ones described as being major or minor.
Depending on the number, these intervals will be described as either "harsh" (2
or 7) or "sweet" (3 or 6).
Back to the perfect ones. If an interval is determined to be a fifth, like the one
above, we need to ask ourselves an important question in order to determine
what kind of fifth the interval is: "Is the top note in the major scale of the bottom
note?" If the answer is "yes", then the interval will be perfect - a "perfect fifth". If
you examine the example above, the question you would ask is "Is the top note
('D') found in a 'G' major scale? You know from the previous scale lesson that the
answer to that is "yes". Therefore, it is a perfect 5th.
But what if the answer was 'No"? What if instead of the above example, we had
one of the following:

or

Would the number of the interval be the same? Absolutely, because the top note
is still five notes above the bottom note. But are they still perfect intervals? Well,
ask yourself the question, "Is there a D# in a G-major scale?" No. "Is there a Db
in a G-major scale?" No. So they're not perfect - they're something different.
With the perfect intervals (1,4,5 or 8), there are three possibilities:

This diagram shows those three possibilities. If the answer to the question is
"yes", then the interval is perfect; this is why there is a rectangle drawn around
the word "perfect". If it is "too large" to be yes (such as is the case with the D#),
then the answer would be "Augmented 5th". That's because D# is one semitone
higher than 'D', and so we go to the next larger interval. If it is "too small" to be
yes (such as is the case with the Db), then the answer would be "Diminished
5th". That's because Db is one semitone lower than 'D', and so we go to the next
smaller interval. Easy!

Now consider the following interval:

What number would be placed under it? A '3', of course, because if you consider
the bottom note to be '1', and then count upward until reaching the top note, the
'A' would be three notes higher. But what kind of '3'?
This interval is a third, and so we know that it is not going to be a perfect interval.
It's going to be given a name like "major" or "minor, or something else. But you
still have to ask the same question: "Is the top note ('A') in the major scale of the
bottom note ('F')"? Checking your Scale Reference Sheet, you can see that the
answer is "yes". But what does that mean?
With the non-perfect intervals (2,3,6 or 7), there are four possibilities:

Notice the rectangle drawn around the word "major". That is there to remind us
that if the answer to the question "Is the top note ('A') in the major scale of the
bottom note ('F')" is yes, then the interval is major. Indeed, the answer to the
question is yes, so the interval is a major 3rd. We can show that by writing
either '+3' or 'M3'. What if the interval were different - say, an 'F' on the bottom
and an 'Ab' on the top. That would be one semitone smaller than a major 3rd - it

would be a minor 3rd ('m3', or '-3'). Here, then, are the four possibilities with the
interval of a 3rd:

There are several things about this example that would actually require some indepth explanations (the double flat, for example!) Do not be concerned about
those issues at this point. Later lessons will deal with double flats (and double
sharps as well). For now, it is important that you realize that all four of the
intervals shown above are considered '3rds'. They are 3rds because the distance
from the lowest note to the highest note is 3, no matter what accidental is in front
of the note. But looking at those four intervals, if you ask yourself the question,
"Is the top note in the major scale of the bottom note?", the only interval for which
the answer is "yes" would be the one with the 'A' on top. Therefore, that's the
one we would call the major 3rd. From left to right, the four intervals are:
diminished 3rd, minor 3rd, major 3rd, and augmented 3rd.
What do you do if the bottom note is a note for which we don't have a major
scale? For example what about this one:
We don't have a B-sharp
major scale. In this case, imagine in your mind that you just lowered both pitches
by a semitone. That would result in an E-flat on top and a B on the bottom. Then
the interval becomes easier to figure out: "Is there an E-flat in a B-major scale?"
No, there's an E-natural. E-flat makes this a diminished 4th. Then, raise both
notes the same amount to get back to the original notes. By raising both notes
the same amount, the interval stays the same size. And so the answer to the
above example is: Diminished 4th.
So to sum up, there are two steps to naming an interval. Here they are:
1) Starting with the number '1', count upward until you reach the top note.
Write that number down underneath the interval.
2) Ask yourself "Is the top note in the major scale of the bottom note?"
IF YES: The interval will be PERFECT (if the number is 1,4,5 or 8), or
MAJOR (if the number is 2,3,6 or 7)
IF NO: It will be one of the other words as described above, taking into
consideration whether it is a [1,4,5 or 8], or [2,3,6 or 7]. For each semitone
smaller, go one word to the left of the word in the rectangle; for each
semitone larger, go one word to the right of the word in the rectangle.
Use the following guide for abbreviations:

Major:

+ or 'M'

Minor:

- or 'm'

Perfect:

Augmented:

Aug or 'X'

Diminished:

dim or 'o'

When it comes to writing a note that is a certain interval above a given note, just
proceed in the manner described above: If you are given this:
and
told to write a note a minor 6th above it, simply count up six notes (the bottom
note is '1'). You'll get this:
Then ask yourself the question, "Is there a
'G' in a B-flat major scale?" The answer is "Yes", and so this is a major sixth. We
want a minor sixth. So what do we do? We lower the 'G' to a 'G-flat', and now the
interval is a minor 6th:

If you are asked to write a note that is a certain interval below a given note, the
process is similar. Simply count down from the given note, starting on the number
of the interval. If you are given a 'G,' and told to write a note that is a diminished
fifth below it, start on that 'G' and count down from 5 until you reach 1. You'll now
be on the note 'C'. Ask yourself the question, 'Is there a 'G' in a 'C' major scale"?
The answer is "Yes", so this is a perfect fifth. We want to make the interval
smaller(to make it diminished), so we raise the 'C' to a 'C-sharp'. (In this case, we
raise the 'C', because the 'G' was the note you were given. Do not change the
given note.)
Here are several intervals all correctly labeled*. Study each one and be sure you
fully understand the process involved in naming intervals before doing the test.

Remember to follow the two steps:

1) Start on 1, and count upward until you reach the top note.
2) Ask yourself, "Is the top note in the major scale of the bottom note?"