Hey Friend,

Yes, it's true. I slacked. I did not send an email yesterday. 

Truth is, I was wiped out. Physically, that is. On Saturday, we decided to continue our project of tearing out a retaining wall so that we can have some other repairs done. I didn't expect to be at it for six hours in near-100 degree heat (we were in the shade, at least), but we were.

Yes, we were drinking water, but apparently not enough, because there was no energy yesterday to do anything. We were both down for the count.

I did use the down time to brainstorm how best to approach presenting future material to you. 

I also got an email from my friend Nancy about interval names. She wrote, "... the pattern of a major scale includes the words major and perfect. What do those terms mean?  Is there an easy way to send those descriptive words to memory?

I mentioned them because they are the terms handed down to us over the centuries since the time the Classical masters coined them. The intervals were given names based on their sound quality - how consonant or dissonant they happened to be. In today's English, how harmonious (or not) the note is in relation to the tonic note of the key. In even better words, how good a note sounds versus how bad a note sounds when played next to the root note of your scale.

We could go into a complete break down of the frequencies and ratios of intervals, and that would be interesting to a few of us, but that's not super important in the grand scheme of things. 

For our purposes, here's what you need to know about the interval names: that they're just names. Like I'm Dave, you're Nancy, or Peter or Mike or Amanda. 

Knowing the pattern is the most important thing. Sure it CAN help to know the name tells you how many semitones (or frets) above the root - that a major second (M2) is a whole tone (two semitones) above the perfect unison (the tonic or root note), or a perfect fifth is seven semitones about the tonic. 

But practically speaking, the interval names don't really matter when you're learning a song, or playing guitar with a band. If your goal was to become a Classical guitarist, they would come in handy when you're having coffee with your other classically trained friends, but for us Rockers (and Folksters, Bluesters and Country folk), stick to learning the pattern.

I know inquisitive minds want to know "why," and I agree it can be satisfying to understand the origin of how terms come about, but sometimes being curious can get you. Like opening up the back of an old watch - all the springs, gears and sprockets can come flying out if you're not careful! You can end up getting more than you bargained for...

If you want to read up on interval qualities and the hows and whys of frequency, ratios and sound waves, the Wikipedia entry for intervals is pretty comprehensive. I can't say I understand all of it - I tend to have to read something, let it sink in for a bit, go back and read it again, find another author's explanation, and then read it again a few times before I start to get a handle on some stuff.

That's half the fun for me - having the light bulb come on after studying something. It's like listening to a piece of music and hearing something new - even though you've heard the song a hundred times before. Discovery...

Alright, I'm recovered enough to continue on with chords tomorrow. Have the best Monday possible!

Peace~

Dave