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Easy Intervals

keyboard showing all intervals from a minor 2nd to a perfect 8th (starting from C)

If you’ve ever struggled with ear training, here is a mini lesson on easy intervals. An interval is a musical term used to describe the distance between any two notes.

In ear training, we learn to hear these distances and identify them by how they sound.  The goal is to hear and identify the distances up to and including an octave (from letter note to the same letter note).

In order to learn intervals, it is helpful to use songs to aid in identifying the note distances. The songs that I have collected below give a few options. (For a printable version of this chart, download the PDF here).

EASY INTERVALS – THE CHART

 

Interval

Ascending

Descending

Minor 2nd

A Hard Day’s Night – Beatles

Jaws

Pink Panther

Fur Elise – Beethoven

Joy To The World

O Little Town Of Bethlehem

Major 2nd

Do Re Mi (Sound of Music)

Frère Jacques (Are You Sleeping, Brother John)

Happy Birthday

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer

Silent Night

Deck the Halls

The First Noel

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Three Blind Mice

Yesterday – Beatles

Minor 3rd

Brahms’ Lullaby

Georgia on My Mind

Greensleeves

O Canada

So Long, Farewell (Sound of Music)

What Child Is This

Frosty the Snowman

Hey Jude

Jesus Loves Me

Misty

This Old Man

Major 3rd

For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow

From the Halls of Montezuma

Kum-Ba-Yah

Oh When the Saints

Good Night Ladies

Summertime

Symphony No. 5 – Beethoven

Swing Low Sweet Chariot

Perfect 4th

Amazing Grace

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

Here Comes the Bride

Love Me Tender

Someday My Prince Will Come

Taps

We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Do You Want To Build A Snowman (Frozen)

Eine Kleine Nachtmusik – Mozart

O Come All Ye Faithful

Old MacDonald

Shave and a Haircut

Tritone Aug. 4th/Dim. 5th

Maria (from West Side Story)

The Simpsons Theme Song

Blue Seven – Sonny Rollins

Perfect 5th

ABCs

Star Wars Main Theme

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Feelings

Flintstones Theme Song

Minuet in G – Bach

Minor 6th

3rd and 4th note of The Entertainer

Theme from Love Story

Theme from Love Story

Major 6th

“Dashing Through The Snow” (Jingle Bells)

It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

Music of the Night – Phantom of the Opera

Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen

Minor 7th

La Cumparsita

Star Trek (Original Series) Theme

Somewhere (West Side Story)

Theme from American in Paris – Gershwin

Watermelon Man – Herbie Hancock

Major 7th

Bali Hai (South Pacific)

Theme from Fantasy Island

I Love You – Cole Porter

Perfect 8th(Octave)

Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting….)

Let It Snow!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Wizard of Oz)

Take Me out to the Ballgame

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

There’s No Business Like Show Business

A FEW HELPFUL TIPS ON USING EASY INTERVALS:

  • Use these songs to make your own personal list of songs that you are familiar with and can recognize quickly and easily
  • If you want to simplify this list even further, just have songs for the ascending intervals. The descending intervals are just ascending intervals played in reverse.
  • When you are trying to identify intervals, hum the two notes that you are trying to figure out–match the tone as much as possible and (in order to narrow it down) ask yourself: Is it a large leap? Look at Perfect 5ths and above. Is it a small leap? Look at Perfect 5ths and below.
  • If you hum or sing major scales ascending and descending to yourself, that will also be helpful in deciding what the interval is. Major scales are made up of Perfect and Major intervals. If the note doesn’t sound like it fits in the major scale, it’s probably a minor interval. If it sounds really strange, maybe an augmented/diminished interval).
  • Get yourself an ear training app. If you need suggestions, check out “Free Apps for Piano Students“. (Useful free app #2).
  • Play yourself a starting note and try to hum a chosen interval and your note with a keyboard.

THE FINAL GOAL FOR EASY INTERVALS

You eventually want to get to the point where you don’t even have to go through this process. The songs are to be used as memory aids only. With practice, you’ll soon be able to hear notes and know exactly how far the notes are from each other, i.e. the intervals or relative pitches!!

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