Simply Music Theory: Chapter 3 - Intervals

YouTube Video: Intervals

Hey guys! Iamyourpeace here, and I’m excited to present Chapter 3 of Simply Music Theory.

For those of you who don’t know, Simply Music Theory is a multi-chapter series in which I break down and simplify Music Theory! Good news for any Music Majors out there!

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1. What is an interval?
1. An interval is the distance in pitch between two tones. It is labeled by a numerical value and it’s quality.
1. For example: If I have two tones, the first one being C and the second one being E (on the treble clef).
2. The C is the tonic, or the root, acting as the foundation for the interval.
3. In the key of C, E is the 3rd note of the scale, so the interval of C and E would be a Major 3rd

1. What Interval Qualities are there?

1. Major, Minor, Perfect, Diminished, Augmented.
1. Perfect Intervals are the distance between the first note of a major scale and Unison, fourth, fifth, and the octave.
2. Major Intervals are measured by the distance between the first note of a major scale and the 2nd, 3rd, 6th, or 7th of the given scale.
3. Minor Intervals are created when a Major interval is lowered in pitch by one half step.
1. Creation of Augmented/Diminished Intervals
1. To make Diminished and Augmented easy:

1.A Diminished interval is any perfect interval lowered in pitch by one half step.
2. An augmented interval is any perfect interval raised up by one half step.

1. How are intervals within a scale labeled?

To save some time, I went ahead and wrote out how intervals within the scale should be labled:
2. Unison - P1 (perfect unison)
3. Minor Second - m2
4. Major Second - M2
5. Minor Third - m3
6. Major Third - M3
7. Perfect Fourth - P4
8. Augmented Fourth (a.k.a Diminished 5th) - a4…d5
9. Perfect Fifth - P5
10. Minor Sixth - m6
11. Major Sixth - M6
12. Minor Seventh - m7
13. Major Seventh - M7
14. Perfect Octave - P8
1. Thank you so much for watching!
1. If this explanation about the quality of intervals makes sense, please let me know in the comments, hit the like and subscribe button for more content like this, and feel free to share your own thoughts about intervals down below!

Intervals