Intervals

Lesson 5 of 8 · ~6 min · Interactive

Welcome to Part 2! You can name every note - now we start combining them. An interval is the distance between two notes, and it’s the single most useful idea in music theory: melodies are chains of intervals, and chords are stacks of them.

1.What is an interval?

Play any two notes, together or one after the other, and the distance between them is an interval. You already know the two smallest ones from Lesson 1: the half step (C→C♯) and the whole step (C→D). Every other interval is just a bigger stack of half steps.

2.Counting intervals

Intervals are named by counting letter names, including both ends. The same note twice is a unison - one letter. C up to E covers C-D-E, three letters, so it’s a third. C up to G covers five letters, so it’s a fifth. Eight letters brings you back to C - the octave you already know. All eight, from unison to octave - hear them grow:

3.Sweet or tense?

Intervals have personalities. Some sound stable and sweet (consonant) - thirds, fifths, octaves. Others sound tense, like they need to move somewhere (dissonant) - seconds and the infamous tritone. Composers use that tension and release to make music feel like it’s going somewhere. Play these together and feel the difference:

4.Practice: train your ears

Now the musician’s skill: hearing intervals. Press Play - two notes sound, one after the other. How far apart are they?