Putting It All Together
130 Comprehensive Review of Intervals
Recommended Solfege for Simple Intervals
Here again is the chart of simple intervals and their recommended solfege from a previous chapter. Memorize the solfege for easy recall:
Interval Name | Abbreviation | Recommended Ascending Solfege |
---|---|---|
perfect unison | P1 | do, do |
minor second | m2 | ti, do or mi, fa |
major second | M2 | do, re |
minor third | m3 | mi, sol |
major third | M3 | do, mi |
perfect fourth | P4 | sol, do |
augmented fourth | A4 | fa, ti |
diminished fifth | d5 | ti, fa |
perfect fifth | P5 | do, sol |
minor sixth | m6 | mi, do |
major sixth | M6 | sol, mi |
minor seventh | m7 | sol, fa |
major seventh | M7 | do, ti |
perfect octave | P8 | do, do |
Well-Known Melodic Contexts for Simple Intervals
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” |
Recordings of Intervals in Context
This playlist contains well-known examples of intervals in common melodic contexts.
Piano Practice
Review the harmonic contexts of intervals by practicing the following chords and their inversions.
Perfect and Imperfect Consonances
“Dominant” Consonances and Dissonances
“Major-Major” Perfect Consonances; “Extreme” Dissonances (M7, m2)
Singing Practice
Review this singing warm-up of intervals and solfege in common contexts. Memorize the solfege and context for easy recall.
Study Skills – Flow Chart
Flow charts are invaluable in helping us identify correct answers and eliminate errors when we are under pressure in an exam. Review the flow chart below for easy categorization of intervals.
Simple vs. Compound
It isn’t hard to “translate” simple intervals into the compound intervals we are now studying. For reference, here is a compound intervals cheat sheet. The procedure? Simply identify the interval and “add 7.”
Simple Interval | Compound Interval |
---|---|
m2 | m9 |
M2 | M9 |
m3 | m10 |
M3 | M10 |
P4 | P11 |
A4 | A11 |
d5 | d12 |
P5 | P12 |
m6 | m13 |
M6 | M13 |
m7 | m14 |
M7 | M14 |
P8 | P15 |