Interval
basics
An interval in music is a measurement of distance and sound between
two different notes. The first thing that you should understand
in your interval journey, is what the intervals are in a major
scale. Remember that the major scale is a constant in music
theory. You will be using it again and again to compare and relate
other topics.
C
Major scale = C D E F G A B C
Below are all of the intervals from C in a C major
scale.
C
D E F G A B C
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8
|_| = Major 2nd (M2)...AKA Whole step
C
D E F G A B C
1 2 3
4 5 6 7 8
|___| = Major 3rd (M3)
C
D E F G A B C
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
|_____| = Perfect 4th (P4)
C
D E F G A B C
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
|_______| = Perfect 5th (P5)
C
D E F G A B C
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
|_________| = Major 6th (M6)
C
D E F G A B C
1
2 3 4 5 6 7 8
|___________| = Major 7th (M7)
C
D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
|_____________| = Perfect 8th, or Octave (P8)
Page 2, playing the intervals
of a major scale on the bass 
|
