Do you know?

[Bojan]

Can anyone tell me what do Black Sabbath, Wagner's Götterdämmerung, West Side Story, and The Simpsons theme have in common? I'm not gonna give you the answer straight away, try to find out yourself, and only if there are no correct answers I'll tell you.

[Frambo]

The Simpsons theme and 'Maria' form West Side Story open with an ascending dim5 interval. I'm not into Black Sab and dont know the German one. Or is it that they've all been busted for drug dealing 8-|
I got hold of a video of Westside Story a couple of days ago and the first words of one of the songs "Theres a place for us" use an ascending minor 7. Also found a video of Fiddler on the Roof. You can use the opening line from 'Sunrise, Sunset' to get an ascending minor 6 interval. Anyone got anything else? There must be something by System of a Down that uses some uncommon intervals 8o
Frambo out

[Bojan]

Yep, you got it right, Frambo. I only wanted to wait a bit to have some more answers, but never mind. It's the TRITONE, as I prefer to call it, although some say diminished 5th or augmented 4th, but that's stupid and too geeky, tritone is really cool, 'cause it's simple and recognizable and you don't have to think how you got the interval.

Anyway, highly suppressed in the medieval times by the church, called the "Devil's note" because of it's dissonance, tritone nowadays comes in use pretty often. Examples are already mentioned "Simpsons theme" (first and third note of the main instrumental theme), in classical music Wagner use it quite a lot in his opera "Götterdämmerung", Beethoven also uses it in his "Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor" (also called "Pathétique"). In the heavy metal music examples are Dream Theater "As I Am", Metallica "For Whom The Bell Tools" and "Enter Sandman", Black Sabbath's signature song "Black Sabbath" in it's opening, Nirvana in "Heart Shaped Box" in the end. Hell, even Mac uses tritone for the startup sound.

Tritone is subjectively very unstable interval and therefore suitable for expressing tension - war (opposed gangs in West Side Story), destruction, death, disharmony, restless fear of death... But bare in mind, this all is in our Western tonal system (with 12 notes). You can't use it in pentatonic systems.

[SingingFool]

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?

[SingingFool]

I've just realized in writing the last post that there is a wealth of songs in which the memory can be triggered into instantly recognising all intervals.

Even music you hate could trigger instant recognition. I still have a great deal trouble recognising major & minor 9ths. Once you start recognizing them harmonically (together) as well as melodically; you're home and hosed and can really start kicking butt in music.

I think that this is the 'bothersome obstacle' that the young composer, Richard Wagner,was not only worried but traumatized and tormented about when he studied counterpoint and harmony because it's recorded that unlike Mozart and Bach; he lacked absolute pitch.

Here are some possible recommended sources;
Gilbert and Sullivan
Rogers & Hammerstein
Rogers & Hart
Beatles
Bobby Dylan
Al Bowlly
Al Jolson
Bing Crosby.
Famous Themes of the Classical Composers
TV program themes
Blockbuster movie themes .......and so forth.

Even music you hate with a passion could be a help in recognizing intervals.

[Quentin]

Hi Singing Fool!
Great list! I quoted it in the Topic intended to list interval examples entitled.....Interval Examples
I encourage everyone to participate like other dedicated individuals on this forum did!