Hey Friend,
Let’s get back to looking at the various intervals that make up scales. Today, I’m going to give you the names of the intervals.
Let me be clear.
You don’t have to remember these names.
What’s more important is to understand what intervals are and how they work. Each of them play a role in a scale, and knowing how they interact with other notes is the foundation for creating great melodies.
Of course, knowing the interval names helps you to communicate more easily with other musicians, but the names aren’t the most important thing to be concerned with.
To give you the complete landscape of all the possible intervals, let’s fist look at a Chromatic scale. The word “chromatic” means “complexion” or “color,” which is fitting, because the chromatic scale gives us all the colors (or sounds) within a key.
Major and minor scales only have seven notes, but a chromatic scale has all twelve of the possible notes. Here are the names of each interval.
Tonic - we call this the root note most of the time; it’s the first note of the scale. In the key of C major, this note would be C.
Minor Second - this is one half step (semitone) above the tonic.
Major Second - this is one whole step (tone) above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be D.
Minor Third - three half-steps above the tonic.
Major Third - two hole steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be E.
Perfect Fourth - five half-steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be F.
Tritone - three whole steps above the tonic.
Perfect Fifth - seven half-steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be G.
Minor Sixth - four whole steps above the tonic.
Major Sixth - nine half-steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be A.
Minor Seventh - five whole steps above the tonic.
Major Seventh - eleven half-steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be B.
Perfect Octave - six whole steps above the tonic. In the key of C major, this note would be C.
Look at how the names are bolded. This shows you how the major scale pattern works, as the interval between each note is a half step. Between the tonic and a major second, there is another note, but we skip over that and progress to the next note. This is a whole step up in pitch.
Remember, W W H W W W H.
Let that sink in a bit. Send me any questions you have.
Peace~
Dave
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