Interval Recognition
Interval recognition is also a useful skill for musicians: in order to determine the notes in a melody, a musician must have some ability to recognize intervals. Some music teachers teach their students relative pitch by having them associate each possible interval with the first two notes of a popular song. However, others have shown that such familiar-melody associations are quite limited in scope, applicable only to the specific scale-degrees found in each melody. Here are some examples for each interval:
| interval | ascending | descending |
|---|---|---|
| unison | Happy Birthday to You La Marseillaise Hava Nagila Jingle Bells America the Beautiful (on oh beautiful) |
|
| minor second | Theme from Jaws Nice Work If You Can Get It As Time Goes By |
Stella by Starlight Joy to the World Für Elise The Sailor's Hornpipe |
| major second | Frère Jacques Silent Night Never Gonna Give You Up Strangers in the Night |
Mary Had a Little Lamb Three Blind Mice Satin Doll The First Noel So What |
| minor third | Axel F (the Beverly Hills Cop theme song) Greensleeves Cowboys From Hell Smoke on the Water O Canada The Impossible Dream So Long, Farewell Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone Iron Man by Black Sabbath Theme from Rocky Brahms's Lullaby |
Hey Jude The Star-Spangled Banner Frosty the Snowman Theme to Hook This Old Man or I Love You, You Love Me from Barney & Friends Ring Around the Rosy |
| major third | When the Saints Go Marching In While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks Spring from Vivaldi's Four Seasons Kumbaya I Could Have Danced All Night |
Summertime Swing Low, Sweet Chariot Westminster Quarters Goodnight, Ladies" Beethoven's 5th Symphony, 1st Movement, opening phrase |
| perfect fourth | Taps Auld Lang Syne O Tannenbaum Apache Here Comes the Bride Amazing Grace Constant Motion by Dream Theater Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata |
Eine kleine Nachtmusik Adeste Fideles (O Come All Ye Faithful) Theme From Dynasty Theme From A-Team |
| tritone | Maria (West Side Story) The Saint The Simpsons Theme listen,learn,read on (chorus) |
YYZ Turn Back Oh Man Black Sabbath |
| perfect fifth | Twinkle Twinkle Little Star My Favorite Things Scarborough Fair Also sprach Zarathustra Theme from Star Wars Diary of Jane - Breaking Benjamin Can't Help Falling in Love (on Wise Men) |
Seven Steps to Heaven What Do You Do With A Drunken Sailor? Swan Lake The Flintstones Theme Back to the Future Theme Copacabana |
| minor sixth | Bashana Haba'ah Bei Mir Bistu Shein Black Orpheus Conquest of Paradise, Vangelis, Theme of 1492 Pity and Fear (Death Cab for Cutie Song) saxophone hook from Baker Street A Change of Seasons I. The Crimson Sunrise - Dream Theater (second and fourth notes) The Entertainer (big interval after pick-up) Because (The Beatles song) |
You're Everything Where Do I Begin? (Theme from the movie Love Story) |
| major sixth | My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean NBC Theme Song Leia's Theme (from Star Wars) It Came Upon a Midnight Clear Jingle Bells (on "dashing" through the snow) America the Beautiful (on "America," America) My Way (song) volta la carta (verse) All Blues |
A Weaver of Dreams Take the A-Train Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen The Music of the Night Over There |
| minor seventh | Theme from Star Trek Somewhere (West Side Story) Embers Fire (Paradise Lost) The Take Over, The Breaks Over (Fall Out Boy) |
Watermelon Man An American in Paris Lady Jane (refrain) |
| major seventh | Take on Me Pure Imagination Theme from Fantasy Island |
I Love You |
| octave | Over the Rainbow Blue Bossa The Christmas Song Sweet Child O' Mine Let It Snow Purple Haze intro Hey there Delilah intro How Many More Times My Sharona |
Willow Weep For Me Doogie Howser, M.D. Theme To Zanarkand, Final Fantasy X Bulls on Parade intro |
In addition, there are various systems (including solfeggio, sargam, and numerical sight-singing) that assign specific syllables to different notes of the scale. Among other things, this makes it easier to hear how intervals sound in different contexts, such as starting on different notes of the same scale.
Read more about this topic: Ear Training
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