Questions tagged [intervals]
For questions centered around the ideas about and classification of distances between two pitch.
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How to distinguish two notes played harmonically [duplicate]
I have been practicing intervals for some time now. I have gotten good at recognizing ascending melodic intervals and I am currently trying to learn harmonic intervals. From my knowledge, there are 2 ...
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Can competent brass players play large leaps?
This is a passage for Horn in F in a moderato tempo (the key is 4 sharps):
Though it mostly moves by step, there are several leaps, one of which is by a dissonant melodic interval (diminished third). ...
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Do difference in octaves matter for the intervals?
Should I account difference in octaves between different guitar strings, like between 5th (octave A2) string and 4th string (octave D3), when I'm looking for intervals (for example perfect 4th) ? I ...
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Usage of augmented fourth in minor key: what is the diatonic function?
The piece Für Elise uses a D♯ in the key of A minor in the first bar, which is an augmented fourth above the tonic of A. (I'm focusing on the first part, up to halfway through bar 23 in this score.) D♯...
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Semitones vs perfect fifth
This website:
https://www.musictheoryacademy.com/understanding-music/intervals/perfect-fifth/)
is saying that:
"A perfect fifth is an interval of 7 semitones between 2 notes."
The ...
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Consonant vs. Dissonant Major Thirds: Historical Process and Significance of Tuning System
In the comments to the question Why is the fourth against the bass considered a dissonance?, I wrote
A 5:4 third was considered dissonant until musical tastes changed and declared it consonant.
To ...
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Why is the fourth against the bass considered a dissonance? [duplicate]
The consonance or dissonance of an interval is determined by the simplicity of the ratio between their frequencies. An octave(most consonant interval), has a ratio of 2/1, the perfect fifth has a ...
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Why are diminished fifths called tritones?
The word "tritone" basically means three whole tones. In the C major scale, we find this between F and B as F-G-A-B. This interval is also called an augmented fourth. However, a diminished ...
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Why can't we spell a diminished 3rd or an augmented 5th using only the notes in a major scale?
This might be a silly question, but why can't we spell a diminished 3rd or an augmented 5th using only the notes in a major scale?
I think what I'm really confused is that, for example, A to F has 8 ...
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Historically, what is the difference between the interval qualities "perfect" and "major"? [duplicate]
So I'm trying to wrap my head around intervals. I know that, for instance, a major chord is made up by the fundamental (I), a perfect third (III) and a perfect fifth (V). So, the "important" ...
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Question on the formation of the Harmonic field in general
Given a key note, you can build up any sort of scale, for scales are just patterns of whole and half steps. The minor and major are examples.
Now, if the scale is the set of notes, the harmonic field ...
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Are there optimal intervals for major and minor 3rds?
I've been reading an excellent book on the mathematics and history of scales called "The Arithmetic of Listening".
Based on what I have read, I am thinking that both the 4th and 5th have an ...
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Can my scale have two whole steps of distance?
I want to create scales. I would like to do that to create the most original music as possible.
Now, as a beginner, I don't see why the scales that I studied are composed just by whole steps (W) and ...
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Why was the melodic augmented second forbidden?
When voice leading in the eighteenth-century style, why is the melodic augmented second (e.g., B♮ to A♭ in the same voice) forbidden?
Over the years I've heard reasons ranging from "it's awkward&...
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Functional ear training vs interval ear training for singers
Do singers use functional (scale degree) ear training method or interval ear training method to find a reference pitch from the accompaniments to start singing in key?
for example, the accompaniment ...
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Formal definition of an inverted chord
Question:
Is there a formal definition that would apply to all chords / genres of what an inverted chord is?
Given a chord, I want to formally prove on paper (so not using my ears) that the chord is ...
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Is the tritone (diminished fifth) used in alarm sirens?
I have read claims that the tritone, due to its dissonant nature, is used for things like police, ambulance, rocket or tornado sirens. I am a beginner music theory learner and would not be able to ...
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Are diminished 5ths more dissonant than augmented 4ths?
To me when I play these intervals they sounds the same, yet in my harmony textbooks there seems to be a big difference on how these intervals are treated in voice leading.
The principal difference is ...
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Problems in recognising harmonic intervals when ear training
I have started doing ear training, I've been using an App called Ear Gym. I'm doing OK, first with ascending intervals and now with descending (using the reference song method) but I'm struggling ...
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Ideal Wrist and Finger Technique for Large Interval Ostinatos
A lot of songs I play have ostinatos with riffs over large intervals and include a changing a middle note.
The treble clef in the image below is a good example.
I have been trying to play this with ...
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How many skips are there in this melody
The text says there are 12 skips (intervals that are larger than 2 semitones) in this folk song. I counted it several times, and I see 13 skips, not 12. It's from a highly reputed journal; and also, I'...
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Interval recognition : should I use reference songs?
I am at the beginning of my journey to learn singing.
To master interval recognition, my teacher and many people recommend using reference songs (the first 2 notes of the song corresponding to the ...
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Interval visualization [closed]
I was experimenting with visualizing intervals to assist in learning them, drawing on experience with a 12 hour clock face I decided on:
Do you think such a visualization is helpful for learning ...
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Interval direction
Could someone tell me the usual terminology for moving an interval up vs moving an interval down vs moving an interval distance? When we write things like 1 b3 5 we mean moving up modulus octaves, ...
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What are "apparent octaves and unisons"?
In the workbook for "Harmony and Voice Leading" (5th edition), there is an exercise on page 14 for which I need to write an accompaniment.
As you can see in the instructions, octaves and ...
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Are voices that have very big pitch difference always independent and less dissonant?
Voices can be "blended" or be independent. Independent voices are very distinct, the listener can hear each voice separately. On the other hand, "blended" voices are those which ...
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What mode or scale does Hans Zimmer dwell on in Dune? [closed]
I was listening to the Dune soundtrack just now as background music, and I noticed that it felt very modal. It keeps using the following series of intervals:
wholestep-halfstep-wholestep-halfstep-...
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Is there a name for the interval [1: 5/2]
I was looking at intervals here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pitch_intervals
and I noticed that they are all contained in the octave [1: 2]
How does one talk about something like [1: 5/2]?
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Given a four note combination under the span of a fourth, does this chart correctly show the number of times it will appear in a scale?
I have made this chart
that shows how many times will a four note combination under the span of a fourth whether perfect or augmented appear in a scale and some observations, so I wanted to ask you if ...
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Given a pair of pitches, does this chart correctly show the number of scales containing that pair?
I posted this chart on my page. I created it based on exercise 6 of chapter 1 of Harmony by Piston, to be a kind of help, but as I'm not sure if it's correct or not (if it's not I will take it down to ...
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Harmony exercise, enharmonic equivalence
I'm studying from Walter Piston's book Harmony (5th Ed) so that I'm prepared before the semester starts at UNA.
Exercise 6.D asks: "For each one of the following intervals, name at least two ...
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Why are tritones not consonant, confusion with the definition of a perfect fifth
A fifth is a ratio of 1.5, and 1.5 is the middle between 1 and 2.
A tritone is exactly in the center of my 12 notes.
Stacking two tritones leads to an octave.
Adding 1 + 0.5 + 0.5 leads me to the next ...
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Interval quality in key signatures
I have plotted all m2, M7, M2, m7, m3, M6, M3, m6, aug4, dim5 intervals in all key signatures, and it seems that the notes don't move vertically or change accidentals (barring for accidentals in the ...
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Intervals in scale context
Does the intervals in a scale context sounds different from playing it without any notes in the middle?
example to clarify: if i played the major scale ascendingily (C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C) does every ...
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How do I make sure I'm hitting the right notes when I sing?
I'm a beginner. I think I will get a new vocal coach since my current vocal coach is ineffective and doesn't help me at all. I asked my question on reddit and asked a singer I know, my question is: ...
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Inverted Interval Frequency Relationship
I’ve been recently interested in the idea of ‘pull’ in music. I’m almost certain this this set of ideas is not new in any way, but I’ve found it hard to find good material for this.
I’m interested in ...
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Music Theory and Intervals [closed]
Why do the same intervals sound less resolved on different areas of the fretboard?
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Where is the descending tritone in "I Hope I Get It" from "A Chorus Line"? [closed]
I am looking for reference songs for intervals, and I am told that there is a descending tritone in "I Hope I Get It" from "A Chorus Line". The trouble is, I have no idea where in ...
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Completing a chord progression
I am looking to complete a chord progression of 3 chords that I try to identify first before continuing the progression. However having no theoretical background I am struggling if you could please ...
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What are some good resources for exercising on calculating intervals? [closed]
I'm asking for a textbook, website or whatever that is filled with "musical interval equations" to solve and that can check me.
By "musical interval equations" I mean something ...
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Are A6, A3, D4, and D7 intervals consonant or dissonant?
I am aware of the more common intervals and whether or not they are dissonant, but these confuse me. Are any consonant, or are they all considered dissonant?
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Can I identify any note by ear by knowing one single note and all intervals?
I assume that learning to identify intervals by ear is easier than learning to identifying notes by ear.
So if one is capable of playing sound of only one note in his head and comparing it to the ...
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Why are augmented 2nds not used in 4-part harmony?
Here is just one example, but all throughout my textbook they seem to be saying that it is bad voice leading using aug 2nds. However, I tried to play a lot of the examples and they sound ok on piano. ...
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Is it practical to be able to quickly jump to another octave in another position while still remaining in key, without having to do much thought?
This question is going to seem weird, so I will do my best to describe the problem. Are musicians able to jump to any arbitrary note without giving it much thought and not go out of key?
Assume for ...
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terminology for intervals within scales
Is a minor second half a semitone from the first note, or is it the actual second note played on the scale? For example, in a C minor scale, the starting note is C, and D is the second note one plays; ...
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How does counting E twice explain the discrepancy between the 5th between C and G vs. the 3rd between C and E, 3rd between E and G?
I still don't grasp the "source of the discrepancy". "the E got counted twice when we went C,D,E and then E,F,G, but only got counted once when we went C,D,E,F,G." — So what? How ...
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How can I learn to sing swaras (notes) correctly without an accompanying instrument?
I'm trying to sing swaras correctly without the harmonium or identify a swara when played. But I'm finding it very hard to do. What is the best way to gain mastery over swaras so that one can sing ...
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How do I practice relative pitch effectively?
The cause of a lot of my anxiety, and the reason I've been too frustrated to practice music for the last few months, is because I do not have an effective way to work on my relative pitch. I taught ...
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How to calculate the extra semitone in one circle of fifths
This is an extension to my previous question when I tried to do the math to prove the following statement:
going up 12 perfect fifths takes one up 7 octaves plus one-fourth
of a semitone extra
Going ...
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Sweet child - scale and chord discrepancy
This is not about "identifiying a chord". The chord is already identified. This is about how a chord can be replaced with another, changing the flavor of a song.
I have played the rythm ...
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