The course › Unit 7: Sharps, flats and intervals
Lesson 39 of 72 · Measuring the distance between two notes, by eye and by ear
An interval is the distance between two notes. To name it, count the notes, including the first and the last: from C to E, you count C (1), D (2), E (3) → it’s a 3rd.
The intervals up from middle C, with both notes played together.
Why this way: You already read by 2nds and 3rds. Interval reading methods (Frances Clark, Faber) keep going this way: you read the distance between notes as much as their names, the way you read whole words rather than letter by letter.
Play both notes together: the given note and the interval asked for above it (with a mouse, click one, then the other). Any octave works.
Each interval has its own color. The 2nd moves step by step, the 3rd is sweet, the 5th sounds open and solid, and the octave is the same note, higher up.
Tip: Think of how melodies begin: Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star jumps up a 5th (C… G), When the Saints starts with a 3rd (C… E), Ode to Joy moves by 2nds, and Over the Rainbow leaps up an octave.
The computer plays two notes. The first one lights up: find the second one by ear, thinking of the interval.
As many intervals as you can in 60 seconds, with both notes together.