Interval guide · No account needed
Music intervals explained: what is an interval?
An interval is the distance between two pitches. Its name has two parts: a number that counts letter names, and a quality that fixes the exact size in half steps.
What is an interval in music?
An interval is the distance between two pitches. Play them together or one after the other, and the space between them is the interval.
A melody is a sequence of intervals and a chord is a stack of them, so naming what you hear starts here rather than with chord names.
What is the difference between a half step and a whole step?
A half step is the smallest distance on a keyboard, from one key to the very next key, black or white. A whole step is two half steps.
C to C sharp is a half step, and so is E to F, because no black key sits between them. Every interval below is counted in half steps, so it helps to know where the black-key groups put each white key.
How are intervals named?
An interval name has a number and a quality. The number counts letter names from the lower note to the upper one, and the quality fixes the exact size.
Count inclusively: C up to E covers C, D and E, which makes it a third. The quality then says which third, a major third of four half steps or a minor third of three.
How large is each interval?
Sizes are counted in half steps from the lower note. Every simple interval, from a unison to an octave, fits inside twelve.
| Interval | Half steps | How it sounds |
|---|---|---|
| Perfect unison | 0 | The same pitch twice, with no distance at all. |
| Minor second | 1 | The tightest step there is, tense and unsettled. |
| Major second | 2 | One whole step, the ordinary step of a scale. |
| Minor third | 3 | Dark and inward, the third of a minor chord. |
| Major third | 4 | Bright and open, the third of a major chord. |
| Perfect fourth | 5 | Firm and slightly hollow. |
| Tritone | 6 | Restless, leaning hard towards a resolution. |
| Perfect fifth | 7 | Hollow and stable, the frame of a chord. |
| Minor sixth | 8 | Yearning, with a touch of melancholy. |
| Major sixth | 9 | Warm and wide. |
| Minor seventh | 10 | Tense, but settled enough to sit still. |
| Major seventh | 11 | Sharp tension a half step under the octave. |
| Perfect octave | 12 | The same letter name, one register higher. |
An augmented fourth and a diminished fifth both span six half steps and both sound like a tritone; only the spelling on the page separates them.
Which songs help you remember each interval?
Anchor each size to a tune you can already sing, then compare what you hear to the anchor before you name it.
- Minor second
- The two alternating notes of the Jaws motif.
- Major second
- The first two notes of Happy Birthday.
- Minor third
- The first two notes of Greensleeves.
- Major third
- The first two notes of When the Saints Go Marching In.
- Perfect fourth
- The first two notes of Amazing Grace.
- Perfect fifth
- The first two notes of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.
- Major sixth
- The first two notes of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean.
- Perfect octave
- The first two notes of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
Why are some intervals perfect and others major or minor?
Unisons, fourths, fifths and octaves come in one plain size and are called perfect. Seconds, thirds, sixths and sevenths come in two sizes a half step apart, and those are major and minor.
Shrink a minor or perfect interval by another half step and it becomes diminished; widen a major or perfect one and it becomes augmented. The number never changes when the quality does, because the letter names stay the same.
How do you practise hearing intervals?
Take the size first and the quality second, and check yourself against a sound rather than a memory.
- Sing the anchor tune, then sing only its first two notes.
- Play two notes and decide whether the second is higher or lower before naming anything.
- Count the letter names to get the number, then listen for major or minor.
- Mix the directions so that an ascending answer never becomes your default.
If the direction is the part that slips, the ascending-or-descending drill isolates it before the names come back in.
Start the interval practiceQuestions about intervals
What is an interval in music?
It is the distance between two pitches, named by a number that counts letter names and a quality that fixes the exact size in half steps.
How many half steps is a major third?
Four. A minor third is three, which is why the same third sounds bright or dark depending on a single key.
Is a tritone the same as an augmented fourth?
In sound, yes. Both span six half steps, and the spelling decides whether it is written as an augmented fourth or a diminished fifth.
Do you need to read music to name intervals?
No. You can count half steps on a keyboard and compare what you hear to a familiar tune. Notation only makes the letter names quicker to count.
Sources and review
The definitions, the number-and-quality naming and the split between perfect and major or minor follow the references below; the anchor tunes and the practice order are original to ClefPulse.
Published and reviewed by ToolForge.
Content reviewed on .
- Open Music Theory: Intervals
Reference for interval size and quality, half and whole steps, and the perfect, major and minor families.
- LilyPond music glossary: interval
Reference for the definition of an interval and the names its qualities take.
Keep going with ClefPulse
Hearing an interval is a separate skill from naming one. Both drills below run anonymously, and the piano guide covers the keyboard the counting sits on.