Learn how to identify and memorize different musical intervals using your ears.
Learning how to identify musical intervals is an important part of music theory, and it’s a skill that can be picked up over the span of a couple weeks with a little bit of practice each day. A musical interval is merely the difference between two pitches.
Some people can hear a pitch (out of context) and identify the frequency of the note by specifying it’s note name; this is referred to as absolute pitch or perfect pitch. Roughly 1 out of 10,000 people have perfect pitch, so it’s quite a rare ability. On top of this, many people never realize they have perfect pitch unless they’ve put in the time to learn some music theory fundamentals.
One of my friends has perfect pitch. It seems almost like a superpower because we’ll be sitting around, and then something like an alarm will go off, someone will laugh, or a dog will bark and they’ll call out the note the sound source is playing. They don’t have to think about which note is playing, they just know. People with perfect pitch describe this phenomenon “like seeing in color.” Unfortunately, you either have perfect pitch, or you don’t.
If you don’t have perfect pitch, don’t worry. Most amazing musicians don’t have perfect pitch either, but they’ve developed their relative pitch. Relative pitch is the ability of a person to identify a musical note by comparing it to a reference note and determining the interval between those two notes. This is a skill that can be learned, meaning you don’t have to be born with it. It allows you to re-create melodies, identify the notes that are apart of chords, and much more.
Everything in music is relative, meaning the notes played before and after a note are just as important as the note itself. For example, the Jaws theme song is only a handful of notes that play a minor 2nd interval repeatedly. A minor 2nd interval is created by playing a note on your keyboard, and then moving up your keyboard one semi-tone and playing that note (for example, playing a C and then a D flat). Regardless of which note you start on, playing the note that’s one semi-tone up from it will create a minor 2nd interval.
The minor 2nd interval in the Jaws theme song creates tension, suspense, and fear because it’s eerie, and many people associate it with a movie about a killer shark. My main point here is that the specific notes used in the Jaws theme song don’t matter. Regardless of what key the Jaws theme song is played in, you’re going to be able to recognize it as the Jaws theme song. If you hear two notes played either back-to-back, or simultaneously, and they remind you of the Jaws theme song, the interval being played is likely a minor 2nd.
Perfect pitch is a neat party trick, but it’s not necessary to write great music. Relative pitch is what you should work on developing. The way you develop relative pitch is by memorizing different intervals. When the notes that make up intervals are played simultaneously, they create a diatonic chord; a chord made up of two notes. You already know one of these intervals (the minor 2nd), but there are 12 other basic intervals you should memorize as well. From there, you can move onto memorizing other types of chords, such as triads, 7th chords, 9th chords, 11th chords, etc.
The 13 Basic Intervals
There are 13 intervals that you should memorize:
- Unison
- Minor 2nd
- Major 2nd
- Minor 3rd
- Major 3rd
- Perfect Fourth
- Tritone
- Perfect 5th
- Minor 6th
- Major 6th
- Minor 7th
- Major 7th
- Octave
These intervals can span beyond a single octave, but recognizing them doesn’t become much more difficult. A C1 to an E2 (Major 3rd + 1 Octave) isn’t too hard to recognize if you can recognize a C1 to an E1 (Major 3rd). It’s important to be able to recognize intervals when they’re ascending, descending, and when both notes of the interval are played at the same time. I’ve included what the interval looks like on a keyboard, and a YouTube video containing a memorable song that will help you to remember what each interval sounds like below.
Repetition is the name of the game, and if you practice for about 15-20 minutes per day for a couple weeks, you should be able to identify all of the intervals listed above with no issues at all. You’ll see better results if you spread out your practice time throughout the week. It’s more effective to practice a little bit each day than it is to practice a lot in one day, even if the total time you’ve practiced is the same.
1. Cheat Sheet, Audio Samples & iTunes Playlist (Free)
You can download a list of all the intervals listed above with their reference song titles, and audio files here. An excellent way to practice these intervals is to have a friend randomly play them out of iTunes for you, or create a playlist that contains these intervals, shuffle it, and guess which interval is playing. I recommend learning intervals in the following order, adding more of them to your playlist in the following groups as you progress:
- Unison
- Tritone
- Octave
- Minor 2nd
- Major 7th
- Major 2nd
- Minor 7th
- Minor 3rd
- Major 6th
- Major 3rd
- Minor 6th
- Perfect 4th
- Perfect 5th
2. EarMaster ($59.95)
There are apps for music producers that allow you to develop your ability to recognize intervals and chords, as well as work on many other music theory skills; my favorite of these apps has to be EarMaster. It’s a comprehensive ear training software that covers intervals, chords, rhythms, and melodies. If you’re looking for software that will streamline your voyage through the world of music theory, EarMaster is what you’re looking for.
I want to invite you to join me in the Black Ghost Audio group on Facebook; it’s full of producers currently working in the music industry who are more than happy to help you improve your productions. Leave a comment below if you have any questions regarding this article. Your feedback is always appreciated, and we’ll take it into account when we publish future articles.
