Intervals
An interval is the distance between two notes. Its name has a number (count the letter names, including both ends: C up to E is C-D-E, a 3rd) and a quality (perfect, major, minor, augmented or diminished) that pins down the exact number of semitones.
Direction
Every interval within an octave
Tap a row to hear it from the note picked above.
| Interval | Short | Semitones | From C |
|---|
How the qualities work
- Perfect intervals: unison, 4th, 5th and octave. One semitone bigger is augmented, one smaller is diminished.
- Major and minor: 2nds, 3rds, 6ths and 7ths. Minor is one semitone smaller than major. Make a major one bigger and it is augmented; make a minor one smaller and it is diminished.
- The same keys can have different names. C to F♯ is an augmented 4th but C to G♭ is a diminished 5th: both are 6 semitones (a tritone), but the letters count differently.
- Inverting an interval (flip it, so the bottom note goes on top) gives numbers that add to 9 and swaps the quality: a major 3rd becomes a minor 6th, a perfect 4th becomes a perfect 5th.
- Harmonic intervals are played together; melodic ones are played one note after the other, going up or down.