Intervals
An interval is the space between two pitches.
Semitones: The smallest interval in western music is the semitone, or half step. On the guitar, an inteval of a semitone is of one fret - that is, the distance between two adjacent frets. The next building block is the tone, or whole step, two frets. In other words, each of the notes in the chromatic scale is separated by a half step.
Microtones: On the guitar your are also able to make pitches between semitones, often refered to as micro tones, or in blues - the flattened third, flattened fifth, and flattened sevenths scale degrees, the blue notes.
Tones: Two halv steps is a whole step, or a tone.
Interval numbers: The interval numbers is generated from the scale degrees - that is, the counting of the notes of the major scale:
C D E F G A B C D E F G A | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Intervals of the C Major Scale
C D E F G A B C | | | | | | | | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 |<------------------------->| Octave P8 = VIII |<--------------------->| Major 7th M7 = VII |<----------------->| Major 6th M6 = VI |<------------->| Perfect 5th P5 = V |<--------->| Perfect 4th P4 = IV |<----->| Major 3rd M3 = III |<->| Major 2nd M2 = II | Unison P1 = I
So what about the notes in between?
Intervals on the fretboard
1 fret: C| | C-Db = Minor 2nd 2 frets: C|—|D| C-D = Major 2nd 3 frets: C|—|D|—| C-Eb = Minor 3rd 4 frets: C|—|D|—|E| C-E = Major 3rd 5 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F| C-F = Perfect 4th 6 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—| C-Gb = Augmentet 4th 6 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—| C-Gb = Tritone 6 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—| C-Gb = Diminished 5th 7 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G| C-G = Perfect 5th 8 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—| C-Ab = Augmented 5th 8 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—| C-Ab = Minor 6th 9 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A| C-A = Major 6th 10 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A|—| C-Bb = Minor 7th 11 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A|—|B| C-B = Major 7th 12 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A|—|B|C| C-C = Octave 13 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A|—|B|C|-| C-Db = Minor 9th 14 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A|—|B|C|-|D| C-D = Major 9th 15 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A|—|B|C|-|D|—| C-Eb = Minor 10th 16 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A|—|B|C|-|D|—|E| C-E = Major 10th 16 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A|—|B|C|-|D|—|E| C-E = Diminished 11th 17 frets: C|—|D|—|E|F|—|G|—|A|—|B|C|-|D|—|E|F| C-F = Perfect 11th notes: C| |D| |E|F| |G| |A| |B|C| |D| |E|F| frets 1 3 5 7 9 12 15 17
Frets = try it out starting on C on the 1 fret, 2. string
Symbols | Name | Semitones | Example | Mind map by tune | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | P1 | Unison | 0 | C - C | Jingle Bells | |
b2 | -2 | m2 | Minor 2nd | 1 | C - Db | Fur Elise, Isn't she lovely, Jaws (movie theme), Nice work if you can get it, O little town of Bethlehem, Pink Panther, Sophisticated lady, White Chrismas |
2 | M2 | Major 2nd | 2 | C - D | Do-Re, Happy birthday; Pop Goes the Weasel; M.A.S.H.; Mary had a little lamb; Satin doll; Strangers in the night; Yesterday | |
b3 | -3 | m3 | Minor 3d | 3 | C - Eb | A foggy day; Frosty the snowman; Georgia on my mind; Greensleeves; Hey Jude; This Old Man |
3 | M3 | Major 3d | 4 | C - E | Do-Mi, Big Ben; Come rain or come shine; From the Halls of Montezuma; Giant steps; Good night ladies; Kum Ba Ya; Morning has broken; Oh, when the Saints; Summertime; Swing Low Sweet Chariot; Well I Come from Alabama ; When the Saints go Marching in; While Shepards Watched | |
4 | P4 | Perfect 4th | 5 | C - F | Do-Fa, Amazing Grace; Auld Lang Syne; Born Free (movie theme); Here Comes the Bride; Home on the Range; I've Been Working on the Railroad; Love me tender; Make New Friends; O Come All Ye Faithful; Oh, come all ye faithful; Someday My Prince Will Come; The British Grenadiers; We wish you a merry Christmas; Yardbird suite | |
#4, b5 | TT, +4 | d5, A4 | Diminished 5th (Augmented 4th). tritone | 6 | C - Gb | Maria (West Side Story) |
5 | P5 | Perfect 5th: | 7 | C - G | Do-So, Flintstones Theme (descending) | |
#5, b6 | -6 | m6, A5 | Minor 6th: | 8 | C - Ab | |
6 | M6 | Major 6th | 9 | C - A | Do-La, My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean, Take the A-Train | |
b7 | -7 | m7 | Minor 7th: | 10 | C - Bb | Somewhere (West Side Story) |
7 | M7 | Major 7th | 11 | C - B | Do-Ti, Over the Rainbow (first and third notes) | |
8 | P8 | Octave, , doubling | 12 | C - C' | Blue bossa; Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire; Let it snow; Some-where over the rainbow | |
b9 | m9 | Flat ninth | 13 | C - Db | ||
9 | M9 | Ninth | 14 | C - D | ||
#9 | m10 | sharp ninth | 15 | C - D# | ||
10 | M10, d11 | 16 | C - E | |||
11 | P11 | Eleventh | 17 | C - F | ||
#11 | A11 | Sharp eleventh | 18 | C - Gb | ||
b13 | m13 | Thirteenth | 20 | C - Ab | ||
13 | M13 | Thirteenth | 21 | C - A |
M = Major
m = minor
P = Perfect (1, 4, 5, and 8)
d = diminished (b5)
A = augmented
TT = Tri-Tone (b5)
Semitone = one half step on the fretboard
Chords and Scales
Triads
The major triad chords are buildt by piling minor thirds (3 frets) on top of major thirds (4 frets). Minor triads are buildt in reverse order.
Major triads are build by stacking minor third on major thirds.
Minor triads are build by piling major triads on minor triads.
Scales
Notes and Intervals on The Guitar Fretboard - C Major Scale
NOTES INTERVALS 0 |E|A|D|G|B|E| |3|6|2|5|7|3| ============= ============= 1 |F| | | |C|F| |4| | | |1|4| 2 | |B|E|A| | | | |7|3|6| | | 3 |G|C|F| |D|G| |5|1|4| |2|5| 4 | | | |B| | | | | | |7| | | 5 |A|D|G|C|E|A| |6|2|5|1|3|6| 6 | | | | |F| | | | | | |4| | 7 |B|E|A|D| |B| |7|3|6|2| |7| 8 |C|F| | |G|C| |1|4| | |5|1| 9 | | |B|E| | | | | |7|3| | | 10 |D|G|C|F|A|D| |2|5|1|4|6|2| 11 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 12 |E|A|D|G|B|E| |3|6|2|5|7|3|
External links
- teoría.com's Interval Constructor - Applet that will help you build and listen to an interval over any note.
- Dolmetsch - intervals - the most comprehensive music theory site on the internet?