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Practical Theory:
Lesson #2 - Intervals
By Pi |
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Hello, and welcome to Lesson 2 of Practical Theory.
I'm back from tour, so log onto http://www.babeswithbeats.com
and read all about it. By now you surely know ALL the notes on your
instrument. Of course you do! This month we will build upon your
impeccable note knowledge and start learning intervals. This
is some exciting stuff, for songwriters, because the more flexible
and competent you are with intervals, the more interesting and fluid
your melodies will be. So let's get to it!
Last lesson, we discussed how the half step is the smallest distance
between any two adjacent notes. This distance can also be called
the minor 2nd interval. In fact, any distance between any 2 notes
is called an interval. It's a very good idea for you to be so familiar
with intervals that you can recognize them and sing them at will.
Impossible? No Way Jose! Here is a simple method that you can use
to memorize intervals just by singing them. Plus, you can drive
your friends and loved ones batty by walking around singing these
old gems- heh heh heh.
Looking below, you may have noticed that there are two categories
of intervals, Major/minor, and Perfect/Augmented/diminished. These
"categories" referred to what is known as the "quality" of the interval.
The Major Intervals
The Major intervals are derived from the major scale (Doe a
deer, etc.) which we all know, and will be covered in depth later.
The minor intervals are major intervals that have been flatted by
1/2 step.
The Perfect Intervals
The Perfect intervals are named as such because they remain
the same distance from the root note regardless of what scale you
are in. (You will also notice that the Perfect intervals are extremely
"consonant" sounding, perhaps because they occur most commonly in
nature. For example, the strongest harmonics you can play on any
guitar will be the 4th, 5th and octave of any open string, but I
digress.)
The Augmented Intervals
The Augmented intervals are any perfect interval raised by 1/2 step,
while diminished intervals lower a perfect by 1/2 step.
Major and minor intervals
minor 2nd
Major 2nd
minor 3rd
Major 3rd
minor 6th
Major 6th
minor (Dominant) 7th
Major 7th
Perfect, Augmented or diminished intervals
Perfect 4th
Perfect 5th
Perfect Octave
Augmented (Sharp) 4th (often notated as +4)*
diminished (Flat) 5th (often notated as b5)*
*notice these two are enharmonic, or tones that are identical
in pitch but are written differently according to the key in which
they occur, (as C sharp and D flat) and also sometimes called the
Tritone.
Now, sitting with your instrument in hand, lets have you sing and
play these intervals! Start from low E if you're a guitar player,
middle C if you're a keyboardist, and have fun!
Note that the emboldened words are the notes that make up the intervals.
Now, sitting with your instrument in hand, lets have you sing and
play these intervals! Start from low E if you're guitar player,
middle C if you're a keyboardist, and have fun! Note that the bolded
words are the notes that make up the intervals.
Ascending m2: "Stor-my Weather"
Ascending M2: "Happy Birthday"
Ascending m3: "what child is this..", Greensleeves, "To
Dream
the Impossible Dream"
Ascending M3: "Kum-ba-ya"
Ascending P4: "Here Comes the Bride", "A-a-ma-zing
Grace" Ascending Aug.4 or dim. 5: "Ma-ri-a" from West Side
Story
Ascending P5: "Twin-kle twin-kle little star" The Entertainer
"Drop off the pick-up notes, and the whole first measure of the
tune is just a m6.
Ascending M6: "N B C," "My Bon-nie Lies Over
the Ocean"
Ascending m7: the theme from the original "Star Trek" show (the
opening), "Somewhere there's a place for us" from West Side
Story.
Ascending M7: "Some-where Ov-er the Rainbow", sing
the first three syllables (8ve (octave) to a M7). "Ba-li
Hai" song from South Pacific (first an 8ve then steps down
to a major 7).
Ascending P8: "Some-where over the Rainbow"
Descending m2: The beginning of "Joy to the World," Beethoven's
"Für Elise,"
Descending M2: "Three Blind Mice", "Ma-ry had a Little
Lamb" Descending (and ascending again) m3: the middle section
of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow ("Some-day I'll wish upon a star.
. . "). "Hey Jude"
Descending M3: "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot", "Sum-mer
Time and Livin' is Easy"
Descending P4: "Born Free", "Old McDon-ald"
Descending P5: "Flint-stones, meet the Flint-stones"
Descending m6: the first 2 notes of the Theme from Love Story
Descending M6: "No-body Knows the Troubles I've seen"
Descending m7: "None but the Lonely Heart"
Descending M7: Down an octave and up 1 half step or semitone.
Descending P8: "There's No Bus-iness like Show Business"
Quality Abbreviations:
lower case m = minor
Upper case M = Major
P = Perfect
Aug = Augmented
Dim = diminished
Now that you've tried them all, go to this link, and give yourself
a little test: http://www.good-ear.com/servlet/EarTrainer.
This is a great FREE site, check out their homepage for additional
educational materials.
Now, one last little task: obviously the list of songs above
is one of those classic 'dorky textbook' exercises. Now, these things
work (I learned them that way) but how much cooler would it be if
we were to make the 'modern pop rock' interval trainer? So here's
your exercise this month. Lets make a list of well known popular
songs that contain examples of all the intervals. I'll get the
list started, but you ladies help me finish it. The goal here is
to find the coolest, most memorable song examples for your
list. E-mail me your ideas, and I'll publish the list in next
month's column with your names next to the best ones! Here goes:
Ascending m2: "aiee-aiee-aiee-aieeaiee-aiee-aiee-aiee where
do we go now" in GnR Sweet Child of Mine. Also "ah-ah ah-ah ah-ah
ah-ah ah-ah ah-ah ahh, sing women sing for the years, singin
for the laughter singing for the tears" in Dream On by Aerosmith.
(are you cracking up yet?)
Ascending M2: "Je -re-my spoke in class today" Pearl Jam,
Jeremy.
Ascending m3: "Je -re-my spoke in class today" Pearl
Jam, Jeremy.
Ascending M3: "When I'm a walkin I strut my stuff, man I'm
so strung out" Blister in the Sun, The Violent Femmes
Ascending P4: "He's a real nowhere man" Nowhere man, the
Beatles.
Ascending Aug.4 or Dim. 5: The Simpsons
Ascending P5: "So no one told you it was gonna be
that way" theme from 'Friends'
OK - here's where you take over…
Ascending m6:
Ascending M6:
Ascending m7:
Ascending M7:
Ascending P8:
Descending m2:
Descending M2:
Descending m3:
Descending M3:
Descending P4:
Descending P5:
Descending m6:
Descending M6:
Descending m7:
Descending M7:
Descending P8:
Have fun, don't forget to E-mail me your results, and I'll post
them next month,
Pi |
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_________________________________
 Practical
Theory Lesson # 1 appeared in the September Issue of WOMANROCK.com.
Pi's album Irrational is available for purchase at
the WOMANROCK MusicShop. |
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_________________________________
Pi
is a singer-songwriter who once thought she would be the female
"Jaco Pastorius" . After getting a BA in Music, she worked as a
studio and touring musician/teacher. Pi recently landed a deal with
the Atoll label in France. She performs in NYC, and tours regularly.
For more information, please visit her Web site: http://www.thatcrazychick.com. |
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