Introduction to Intervals
5 Making Contexts for Intervals
The trick to identifying melodic intervals quickly and easily is to refer to a melodic context you can remember easily. The table below shows some well-known melodies that use melodic intervals in their most common contexts. Try to find some of your own.
| Interval | Ascending | Descending |
| m2 using mi/fa | 
Berlin, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” |
“Happy Birthday to You” |
| m2 using ti/do | 
“Joy to the World” |
|
| M2 using do/re or re/mi | 
“Are You Sleeping?” |
“Hot Cross Buns” |
| m3 using mi/sol | 
“O Canada” |
“America the Beautiful” |
| M3 using do/mi | 
“Oh When the Saints” |
“Skip to My Lou” |
| P4 using sol/do | 
“Here Comes the Bride” |
Handel, “Hallelujah Chorus” |
| tritone using ti/fa | 
Williams, Indiana Jones theme |
|
| P5 using do/sol | 
Williams, Star Wars theme |
Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake |
| m6 using mi/do | 
Joplin, “The Entertainer” |
Alexander, “All Things Bright and Beautiful” |
| M6 using sol/mi | 
“My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” |
“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” |
| m7 using sol/fa | 
Bernstein, “There’s a Place for Us” |
|
| M7 using do/ti | 
Williams, Superman theme continuation |
|
| P8 using do/do | 
Arlen, “Somewhere, Over the Rainbow” |
Listen to this Spotify playlist for recordings of these contexts for intervals.
