Interval Examples

Quentin · Post by **Quentin** » May 08, 2007 6:09 am

[color=red][Edit Nov. 13, 2009]: A free [b]Interval Examples Chart Generator[/b] is now available from [url=http://www.earmaster.com/intervalsongs/]www.earmaster.com/intervalsongs/[/url] . It lets you browse, audition and watch videos from a huge list of songs and melodies that you can compile into a custom list in a ready-to-print format![/color]

After reading a post by [b]Frambo[/b] on this forum, I decided to open a new topic in which you'll all be able to come up with some interval examples....

Take them from songs you know, all styles/genres are welcome!!

Now bring it on people!

Frambo · Post by **Frambo** » May 10, 2007 3:06 am

Descending Maj 6: 'Sweet Caroline' ~ Neil Diamond; "Sweet Caroline"

Bojan · Post by **Bojan** » May 14, 2007 12:29 am

Ascending Maj 2nd: Nightwish: "Sleeping Sun"
Ascending Maj 3rd: Red Hot Chili Peppers: "Scar Tissue"

Frambo · Post by **Frambo** » May 14, 2007 3:10 am

Ascending minor 6: 'Brown girl in the ring' ~ Boney M; "...in the ring. Tra la...". This occurs the second time this phrase is sung (over the V cord).
The first time this phrase is sung (over I cord) the interval on the words "...ring. Tra..." is an ascending Maj 3rd.

Bojan · Post by **Bojan** » May 17, 2007 4:53 am

Descending Maj 5th: "The Flintstones Theme"

Quentin · Post by **Quentin** » May 24, 2007 2:24 am

SingingFool wrote:Main theme of Tschaikovsky's 5th Symphony begins with minor 6th descending..
Scott Joplin's Theme from 'The Sting' arranged by Marvin Hamlisch has a succession of minor 6ths ascending within the main theme.
Theme of 'Lawrence of Arabia' by Maurice Jarre starts with a descending 4th
If anyone remembers an old TV western called 'Cheyenne' with Clint Walker;
the song 'Cheyenne' starts with an ascending 4th. As does the Theme from the TV show, 'Leave it to Beaver'. It also starts with an ascending 4th
The Theme from 'Fantasy Island' (De plane, De Plane) begins with a major 7th. (Already mentioned in EarMaster 5 Help notes.)
A succession of minor 3rds descending starts off the song, ' Nothin' could be finer than to be in Carolina , in the morning'.
A succession of major 2nds can be heard in Roger's & Hammerstein's 'South Pacific' in the song, ' We are not alike. Probably I bore him. He's a cultured Frenchman. I'm a little hick."
I'm now starting to be aware that there are successions of major & minor intervals both ascending and descending in famous riffs in various popular songs. Could anyone help me point these out?

That was an awesome reference list!!
Remember this is the place where you're supposed to write that kind of posts

vincent.croquette · Post by **vincent.croquette** » May 26, 2007 8:36 am

Here's my very own list, I hope it helps though it contains French songs

Ascending:
2m: Jaws theme
2M: Happy birthday
3m: Greensleeves
3M: Nous n'irons plus au bois
4: Mon beau sapin / La Marseillaise (French hymn)
5b: The Simpsons / Maria (West side story)
6m: 1492 (Vangelis - 1492, Conquest of paradise)
6M: Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre
7m: Maman les ptis bateaux
7M: Nada Surf - Popular / Superman theme
Octave: Somewhere over the rainbow

Descending:
2m: Beethoven's Fur Elise
2M: The Beatles - Yesterday
3m: Trois jeunes tambours
3M: Guy Beart - L'eau vive
4: White town - Your Woman
5b: The Simpsons again
5: Carmen - L'amour est enfant de boeme (entre L'a et mour)
6m: Love story theme
6M: Il etait un petit navire
7m: ?
7M: Steve Vai - Salamenders in the sun

mpl · Post by **mpl** » Jul 26, 2007 1:07 am

Hello, I decided to attach my list as well, for it helped me to recognize all intervals up to octave.

MINOR 2nd (this one's rather easy though, if You can't insert anymore semitones between between the 2 notes it's a m2)
Al Di Meola - Mediterranean Sundance

MAJOR 2nd (I go chromatics to recognize this one)
Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony 1 - III. Allegro scherzando giocoso
Gordian Knot - Grace (the main melody on Chapman Stick, this one's probably the best example)
Nobuo Uematsu - Main Theme of FFVII

MINOR 3rd
Necrophagist - Stabwound (the 1st two notes on guitar, may be tricky)
Niccolo Paganini - 24th Caprice (theme, 1st variation...; if You can sing this caprice on the two, believe me, this is minor 3rd)

MAJOR 3rd (I tend to check if it's a minor 3rd, then sing major scale, it's about 85%. If You want 100, check for perfect 4th)
Al Di Meola - Short Tales of The Black Forest (on that theme with pull-off thirds, that's also a bit tricky)
Al Di Meola - Double Concerto (I don't use this one, but it should be in the melody after 2:00 since I really like it)

PERFECT 4th
Nobuo Uematsu - Blue Fields (the viola/cello solo at about 0:10; 100% guess, it's the best example I've ever had)
Nobuo Uematsu - Shuffle or Boogie (for harmony intervals, it's that shuffling rhythm in the piano version played with diads)

Augmented 4th / Diminished 5th / Tritone (I don't use specific examples to know this one, I compare it to the almighty 'Blue Fields' and check if it's close. If yes, it's not a major 7th.)
Voivod - Brain Scan (the verse is constructed with only tritones)

PERFECT 5th (I usually compare it to Blue Fields for perfect 4th, if it's a step higher, must be perfect 5th. Although I played a bunch on guitar I don't associate it with power chords)
Metallica - One
Cynic - Textures
J.S. Bach - Prelude in D
(had many more examples but they're unnecessary as I don't use any)

MINOR 6th
Love Story works perfect for me. If You don't remember it, search google for 'love story midi' and it's a perfect example
Trivium - The End of Everything
Al Di Meola - Libertango (in the main melody)

MAJOR 6th
Nobuo Uematsu - Find Your Way (this one was very tough to find, but it usually works so make sure it's not minor 7th and You're probably right)

MINOR 7th (two semitones to octave, it's not tough!)

MAJOR 7th
Metallica - One (5th-6th note when guitar comes in)
Nobuo Uematsu - Via Purifico (piano collections version)

PERFECT 8th (octave)
Cynic - How Could I (the ending synth melody, two first notes, sometimes helps)
Nobuo Uematsu - To Zanarkand

There You go. I know these aren't the most known tracks, but they're very close to me. Hey, someone here must've played Final Fantasy! Look for the italicized examples, these are the ones that I actually use. I usually get 26/26 on lessons 20-22 of interval identification.

V for Vincent · Post by **V for Vincent** » Sep 10, 2007 8:16 am

Two's better than nothing, right?

harmonic fourth: smoke on the water
harmonic fifth: money for nothing

edit: just thought of another one for you gamers out there

descending minor third: epona's song from ocarina of time

amcen · Post by **amcen** » Sep 27, 2007 6:02 am

Hello,

Major 2d descending: La Lambada
Perfect 4th ascending: El Condor Pasa

Regards

Olle · Post by **Olle** » Nov 25, 2007 2:56 pm

Classic tritonus example: First bars of Purple Haze

STITCH · Post by **STITCH** » Jul 20, 2008 8:32 pm

Descending tritone,7th and octave still very difficult to find. Any leads?

Quentin · Post by **Quentin** » Jul 21, 2008 4:27 am

I'm might remember wrong, but doesn't purple haze start with an ascending octave?

A little descending tritone: Sepultura Refuse/Resist

Shura · Post by **Shura** » Sep 21, 2008 11:46 am

My personal references are:

Minor third
The first interval in the main melody of the windmill-song-whatever from Zelda - Ocarina of time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-ZPpGdt1xQ - 00:08
Minor sixth
Chopin's "Valse Op.64 No.2", the first interval in the song is a minor sixth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfCHYMG-E54
Major sixth
Chopin's "Nocturne Op.9 No.2", the first interval here as well.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGRO05WcNDk

If you want a good reference for the tritone, then I suggest Buckethead - Jordan's guitar break! It's made of almost only tritones!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynmh6uSP ... re=related