Intervals
An interval is the distance between two notes, counted in semitones: twelve to the octave. It is the unit of everything else, because music does not work with absolute pitches but with distances: the same tune started higher is still the same tune. Each interval has its colour — the perfect fourth is the fanfare, the tritone is the one that sounds like danger and was avoided for centuries, the major sixth is the lullaby — and recognising them is the central work of the ear.
Where this sits
- Comes after
- Tone and semitone
- Opens up
- Chords, Scales and modes
Exercises from this rung
Generated by the app, from easiest to hardest
What interval is between the two notes?
- perfect fifth
- perfect fourth
- major seventh
- major sixth
Why A perfect fourth: 5 semitones, ascending. The distance is what counts, not the notes: the same tune started higher is still the same tune.