Neutron2K's Guitar Tutorials and Resources

Neutron2K's Guide to Intervals

It has been said that INTERVALS are the building blocks of music. They are measures of music, just like inch's is a measurement of distance. If a musician wants to compose music, they have to understand INTERVALS.

INTERVALS are defined by the MAJOR SCALE, just like every other aspect of music is compared to the MAJOR SCALE, to see how things work.

INTERVALS are very easy to understand. They are nothing more than the distance between two notes, and the notes of a MAJOR SCALE provide us with a reference point.

C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

The note of 'C' is the ROOT note, and is INTERVAL #1. The INTERVALS are for each other note are sequentially incremented. In other words:

NOTE	INTERVAL
C	1
D	2
E	3
F	4
G	5
A	6
B	7
C (Octave)	8

Please note that the MAJOR SCALE can start on any note in the CHROMATIC SCALE. The root of C here is just used as an Example

Before you continue this Tutorial, you must make sure you understand how the 'W/H' step pattern works as it is what really defines intervals. If you do not fully understand how MAJOR SCALES are constructed, you need to read [this] tutorial first.

The MAJOR SCALE is the *only* musical element that has the straight forward INTERVAL structure of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. Everything else has a different structure of INTERVALS. This is because INTERVALS are very similar to notes in that they can be SHARP (#), or FLAT (b).

This method of numbering intervals is known as the Formula. Scales, chords, chord progressions and even songs them selves can be analyzed by there underlying formula. All other musical structures can learned on the guitar by understanding their formula.

As an example, lets look at the Harmonic Minor Scale in comparison to the Major Scale, (In the key of C).

C Major:
C - D - E - F - G - A - B - C

Harmonic Min:
C - D - Eb - F - G - Ab - B - C

As we already know that the INTERVALS of a major scale increment through 1-8 with no sharps or flats, we can compare the MAJOR SCALE with the HARMONIC MINOR SCALE of the same key. When we compare the two, we notice that the 3rd and the 6th INTERVAL of the HARMONIC MINOR SCALE are flattened. This gives use the following INTERVAL STRUCTURE.

1 - 2 - b3 - 4 - 5 - b6 - 7 - 8

This means that the INTERVAL STRUCTURE of any HARMONIC MINOR SCALE, regardless of the key, is the same as the INTERVAL STRUCTURE for the MAJOR SCALE, with the exception that the 3rd and 6th INTERVAL are flattened, (the equivalent of 1 guitar fret/half-step).

It is vital that you understand that the notes and the intervals are one and the same, but just because a note is sharp or flat, does not mean that the interval is sharp or flat. In order to grasp the concept of intervals, you need to fully understand the MAJOR SCALE. As previously mentioned, the INTERVALS are dictated by the major scale.

To make sure we understand INTERVALS, let us derive the HARMONIC MINOR SCALE in the Key of E.

Although we know that the formula for the HARMONIC MINOR SCALE is 1, 2, b3, 4, 5, b6, 7, 8; we need to know the note for the third and sixth intervals from the MAJOR SCALE before we can flatten them.

Intervals	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
E MAJOR	E	F#	G#	A	B	C#	D#	E

Now that we have the MAJOR SCALE in the key of E, we can derive the HARMONIC MINOR SCALE in the key of E by simply flattening the 3rd and 6th notes of the MAJOR SCALE:

Intervals	1	2	b3	4	5	b6	7	8
E MAJOR	E	F#	G	A	B	C	D#	E

See, easy as that. You absolutely have to know this stuff before even considering analyzing any other form of music theory. If you are unsure of how this stuff works, revise the section again.