Lesson I sent to a friend of mine- Intro to INTERVALS, good for beginners

[tpmiller08]

*Almost positive I'm on point here. Let me know if anyone sees anything off in this article.

An Introduction to Intervals
Theres two ways of thinking about intervals. Both mean the same thing, get the same results. Its better to think of intervals in ways of distance between notes. But for now you can think in them in terms of distance between frets. Which ever is easier for you for now. Just remember, regardless of where its started (the root note) intervals are always the same.

Whole tone, semi tone
Also called Whole Step, and Half Step. A half step is one fret......always. Guess what a whole step is.........2 frets. Always! Doesn't get easier then that eh? All the scales and modes are made up different combinations of half steps and whole steps. C Major (or any Major scale) goes Whole tone - Whole tone - Half tone - Whole tone - Whole tone - Whole tone - Half tone.
Basically all that means is this :
Start on your third fret on your A string (the C note...yes we're back to C Major!)
Go from your third fret, to your fifth fret ( C to D) This is a whole step (or whole tone)
Now go from your 5th fret to your 7th fret (D to E) This is a whole step
Now your 7th to 8th fret (E to F) This is a half step ( or semi-tone)
From 8th to 10th (F to G). This is a whole step.
From 10th to 12th (G to A) This is a whole step.
12th to 14th (A to B). Whole step
from 14th to 15th (B to C) this is a half step.
*Keep in mind, this is also another way of playing C Major. Look at your fretboard printout. Its the same notes, played on one string rather than on three. These are the same notes, in the same octave. Theres a slight difference in sound. Because its played higher up on the fretboard, it sounds a bit more "Closed" due to the tension.

Play on the same frets you just played on your A string for C major, but on your E string. Start on your third fret (G) and play the SAME frets as if you were on your A. Thats G major (G, A, B, C, D, E, F#, G). Use the same fret distance on your A string, but on the 5th fret. ( IE 5th fret on the A string (which is a D note), then 7th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 14th, 16th, 17th. (D, E, F#, G, A, B, C#, D). This also goes into the cycle / circle of fifths. The cycle starts at C, then moves onto G, then D. Each time you go around the cycle of fifths you play the major scale for that note. So C Major starts off, no sharps. Then comes G Major (the same frets, played one string lower) and it has one sharp. Then D (same fret spacing still, just played on the 5th fret on the A string, or on your open D string) and it has 2 sharps. It keeps going like that ( adding one more sharp as you go "around" the circle of fifths) but we'll get into that later.

Intervals (One Octave Intervals)

Look at your musical alphabet. It goes A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G# (Keep in mind, theres no B sharp, E sharp, or C flat, or F flat. If you chose to read music, you'll see there are B sharps and F flats and such, but it just means to play C if its B sharp, or E if its F flat, yada yada yada.
Heres are the intervals, memorize them as soon as you can, and it'll make wonders in your music communication. If I can say "Play a perfect 4th" and you know where it is immediatly, it'll make teaching you incredibly easy. So do your best! Theres more to intervals, but this is the general way they are composed, and we'll go more into it when you get them down solid.

Lets start with A
If we start with A, then thats called your Root note. (Written as simply R when talking intervals)
A# (when A is the root note) is called the minor 2nd. (Written as m2, notice the lower case m)
B would be the Major 2nd. (M2, note the upper case)

at this point. Play your open A. Then the first fret on your A string ( A#). Thats your m2 (minor 2nd). Now play the 2nd fret on your A string (B). Thats your Major 2nd (M2)

C Would be your minor 3rd (m3)
C# would be your Major 3rd (M3)
D would be your Perfect 4th (P4)

Now, play the R (Root note, its A for this example). Play the third fret(C). Thats the m3 (minor 3rd) of A. Now the the 4th fret (C#), this is M3 (Major 3rd). Finally your P4 is the 5th fret on your A string (D).

D# is called one of TWO things. It would be EITHER an AUGMENTED (higher) 4th, or a DIMINISHED (lower) 5th. Augmented simply means a half step up ( one fret higher), as Dimished simply means a half step lower (one fret down). So the 6th fret on your A string (D#) is an Augmented 4th, or Diminished 5th ( A4, or D5 respectively) with A as the Root note.

E is the Perfect 5th of A (P5) 7th fret - A string
F is the minor 6th (m6) 8th fret - A string
F# is the Major 6th (M6) 9th fret - A string
G is the minor 7th (m7) 10th fret - A string
G# is the Major 7th (M7) 11th fret - A string
When you go back to A ( on the 12th fret) this is called the OCTAVE. The 12th fret on any string is the same note as the open string. (12th fret on your E string, is E, 12th fret on your D string, is D ect ect)

So all the intervals are as follows - R - m2, M2, m3, M3, P4, A4/D5, P5, m6, M6, m7, M7, O (I've seen the octave referred to as Root too, dont like to see it that way though, as its the next octave up. Also as a Perfect 8th. Perfect 8th (P8) is the best way to look at it I think. Because next I'll show you compound intervals, it goes into 9th's and 10th's so P8 makes it easier for me to understand. You can call it Polly Piss Pants for now for all it matters lol. Just remember it ends on the same note you started on, just an octave higher)

Spelled out intervals are called - Root, minor 2nd, Major 2nd, Minor 3rd, Major 3rd, Perfect 4th, Augmented 4th / Diminished 5th, Perfect 5th, minor 6th, Major 6th, minor 7th, Major 7th, Octave

C Major constructed with intervals

The major scales intervals are as follows. Root, Major 3rd, Major 4th, Perfect 4th, Perfect 5th, Major 6th, Major 7th, Octave. (See why its called the major scale?)
Play your C major. The C is your root. D is the Major 2nd. E is the Perfect 3rd. F is the Perfect 4th, G is the Perfect 5th (Notice how G is also the next step in your cycle of 5ths? All the cycle of 5ths so is go from C, then to C's perfect 5th [G], then to G's perfect 5th [D]), A is the Major 6th. B is the Major 7th. Back to C (the octave).

So CDEFGABC is the C Major scale. The Relative Minor scale for C is A. The A minor scale has the SAME notes as the C Major scale. Theres no sharps and no accidentals (accidentals is another word for FLATS, but sounds more important i guess lol). So if it has the same notes, but stats on A, what would it be? Try to figure it out on your own before reading on.

A minor scale, notes and intervals

So we determined that A minor has the same notes as C Major. But A is the root note. So the notes go ABCDEFGA.
The interval structure for A minor is R + M2 + m3 + P4 + P5 + m6 + m7 + P8 (or O)
On your fretbaord it goes :
Open A string.
2nd fret on A (B note, Major 2nd)
3rd Fret on A (C note, minor 3rd)
Open D string (Perfect 4th)
2nd fret on D (E note, Perfect 5th)
3rd fret on D (F note, minor 6th)
Open G (minor 7th)
2nd Fret on G (A note, octave, P8, or Polly Piss Pants)

Thats your Natural Minor scale. Remember its relative to C major, because it has the same notes, just with A as the root note. So the intervals are different, but the notes are the SAME. This is the tip of the iceberg going into Modes of C Major. It makes wonders in not only constructing bass lines and songs, but solo'ing as well. It gives you the ability to play the same tonal notes as the song your playing, but make it happier or sadder sounding (or brighter darker, whichever).
Play your C major, slowly. Then play your A minor. Your ear might not be keen on it yet, but try to notice how C Major sounds really happy, and A minor sounds sad.

You can learn another scale right....MEOW! =) Take the m7 and make it M7. So instead of playing your open G, play the 1st fret on your G string (G#). This is the harmonic A minor. Its a little more "pretty".

*This was an email, and aimed at a friend I am teaching bass to. Feel free to tell me if I'm off here


-Troy

[Richard Lindsey]

Well, you put a lot of effort into this, but I'm afraid the way you deal with enharmonics is going to give your friend some things he'll have to UNlearn if he really wants to understand this stuff. if you want to tell somebody the truth about intervals, you can't ignore all the flats, you can't tell somebody there's no such thing as E# (didn't I mention in another thread that using only sharps doesn't make it easier, it makes it wrong?), and you can't tell somebody that a D# can be either an augmented fourth or a diminished 5th from A (when in fact it can be only one of the two).

[EgoBlood3]

I still find it to be instructional enough to provide his friend a firm foundation. Just make sure once he or she has gotten this down, go over the circle of fourths/fifths with him/her and make sure they thoroughly grasp the concept (meaning they understand things like the order of flats and sharps etc...)

Hey Troy

That's a good lesson and it's logically laid out and the language isn't confusing.

Just as a way to improve it I think there are quite a lot of steps to do and instructions to follow. If it were me I'd lay it out a bit simpler so that the key information stands out among the instructions. For example in your first paragraph on the C major scale you describe each step and whether it's a tone or a semitone, - you don't necessarily need to do that the student will know that 2 frets is a tone after the 1st example, so you can scale that up allowing them to do think it through. Having said that it's just my opinion and I'm sure it would be fine for a lot of students.

It's a good introduction to intervals I'm sure your friend will appreciate it and will definitely learn from it.

[tpmiller08]

Originally Posted by Richard Lindsey

Well, you put a lot of effort into this, but I'm afraid the way you deal with enharmonics is going to give your friend some things he'll have to UNlearn if he really wants to understand this stuff. if you want to tell somebody the truth about intervals, you can't ignore all the flats, you can't tell somebody there's no such thing as E# (didn't I mention in another thread that using only sharps doesn't make it easier, it makes it wrong?), and you can't tell somebody that a D# can be either an augmented fourth or a diminished 5th from A (when in fact it can be only one of the two).

Definatly agree. Don't wanna bury the kid with to much info at once though. I figure once he learns the positioning of the intervals relative to the fretboard, IE where everything is, I'll then go into when to use an A4 or D5.

[Richard Lindsey]

Originally Posted by tpmiller08

Definatly agree. Don't wanna bury the kid with to much info at once though. I figure once he learns the positioning of the intervals relative to the fretboard, IE where everything is, I'll then go into when to use an A4 or D5.

I understand you're taking it slow, which makes sense. But IMO you've really got to start telling him about flats/sharps from the beginning. That A# and Bb occupy the same fret but are technically not the same note is such a basic concept that I think you're not doing him any favors by not giving him that grounding up front. Trying to teach intervals to someone who doesn't even know flats yet is IMO putting the cart before the horse ... and then pushing the cart down a hill. You gotta inculcate a basic understanding of notes--sharp, flat, and natural--before you try to talk about the intervals between the notes.

It's one thing not to try to give all the info at once, so as not to overwhelm the learner. You're right, that's sensible. But you have to be careful (1) not to omit stuff that's essential, like knowing that the note you call A# is fretted the same way as Bb, and (2) not to give information that is factually wrong, like saying that A-D# is EITHER an A4 or a D5. You want your student to know what he needs to know to go on, and not to learn stuff that's wrong and that he'll later have to unlearn.

No offense meant, but you did ask for commentary....

[tpmiller08]

Originally Posted by Richard Lindsey

I understand you're taking it slow, which makes sense. But IMO you've really got to start telling him about flats/sharps from the beginning. That A# and Bb occupy the same fret but are technically not the same note is such a basic concept that I think you're not doing him any favors by not giving him that grounding up front. Trying to teach intervals to someone who doesn't even know flats yet is IMO putting the cart before the horse ... and then pushing the cart down a hill. You gotta inculcate a basic understanding of notes--sharp, flat, and natural--before you try to talk about the intervals between the notes.

It's one thing not to try to give all the info at once, so as not to overwhelm the learner. You're right, that's sensible. But you have to be careful (1) not to omit stuff that's essential, like knowing that the note you call A# is fretted the same way as Bb, and (2) not to give information that is factually wrong, like saying that A-D# is EITHER an A4 or a D5. You want your student to know what he needs to know to go on, and not to learn stuff that's wrong and that he'll later have to unlearn.

No offense meant, but you did ask for commentary....

Oh none taken at all man! I really appreciate it.

Ya think I should teach him the circle of fifths and explain why certain Major scales have flats instead of sharps, then go back to intervals?

[Richard Lindsey]

Originally Posted by tpmiller08

Oh none taken at all man! I really appreciate it.

Ya think I should teach him the circle of fifths and explain why certain Major scales have flats instead of sharps, then go back to intervals?

Not necessarily the circle of 5ths. He won't understand that if he doesn't know what a 5th actually is.

I would say to start by explaining and using flats as well as sharps wherever appropriate to what you're discussing. For example, don't just tell him the notes are A A# B C C# D D# E F F# G G# A. That's not easier in the end, it's just misleading (because incomplete). Tell him about C#/Db, D#/Eb, etc, right up front. That might be confusing at first, but it's stuff he has to know, and he won't understand the later stuff properly without it. And don't tell him that E# "doesn't exist"; tell him it works out to be played in the same place as F on a bass.

Then I'd go to intervals, because you can't really understand the construction of a scale without them. But be sure to explain why any A to any D is a 4th and any A to any E is a 5th, even when the distances in terms of number of frets are the same.

Then I'd explain what a scale is in the first place, and how you string together intervals to construct one, and why different sequences of intervals yield different scales. Start with C major, because it's the easiest (not involving any accidentals), then explain that the same process applies to a scale built from any note. Then, if you like, proceed along the circle of fifths, and then relate that to keys.

And so on.

Just my $0.02. There are a lot of good ways to do this, and my take certainly isn't the only valid one.

My main point was just that however you go about it, it's important not to leave out crucial fundamental stuff, and it's important not to say stuff that's actually wrong. You don't have to (and usually shouldn't try to!) say everything at once, but whatever you do say should be right.

[tpmiller08]

Thanks a bunch man.

Helped more than you'd think!


-Troy