61 Ear Training – Mastery of Melodic Simple Intervals

The Theory of Melodic Intervals

In an earlier chapter, “Making Contexts for Intervals,” we began the study of simple intervals in their most logical melodic contexts within major keys. Later, we added logical melodic contexts in minor keys to the logical solfege possibilities for the intervals.

Interval recognition and notation is easy as long as you can quickly do the following:

• contextualize them in a melody that is well known to you
• identify their solfege
• place the given starting pitch within a key signature
• notate accordingly

For example, you may hear this interval:

Using the above procedure, you might:

• place it within the context of “Here Comes the Bride”
• recognize that it is a perfect fourth – sol, do
• label the starting pitch of A-flat as do. If A-flat = do, do must be D-flat
• The key signature of D-flat major is, of course, five flats. Therefore, the second pitch must be notated as a D-flat.

Suggested Melodic Contexts

The images below show some possible melodic contexts for the intervals. Don’t know these songs? Listen to the Spotify playlist “UI Aural Skills III Simple Intervals In Context.”

If these examples aren’t personally meaningful to you, there are lots of sites around the internet with different suggestions. Get creative and invent your own chart!

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”