Section 3: Intervals Con't.

As we said before, an interval is the difference between steps. Let us take a look at the C Major Scale again and identify these steps.

Figure 2a (C Major Scale with Intervals)

Here we have broken the scale into eight intervals for you to visually see the steps. If you were to write out an exercise in which you use the first note of the scale to be the first note of the measure, followed by the 2nd note of the scale, then the third, and then the fourth, and so on, (see Figure 2b), you would be able to recognize the different steps between notes on a scale.

Figure 2b (Marked Intervals)

In the Figure 2b, each measure starts with the same note, C. It is the first step. Looking at interval 1 the step is called a second because it starts on the first step, (C), and goes to the second step, (D).

Interval 2 is called a third because it starts on the first step, (C), and goes to the third step, (E).

The distance between the first note of a scale, and the note following it is the interval. So if you look at interval 5, it is called a sixth, because it starts on the first note of the scale and goes to the sixth step.

Major scales are a single type of scale and have its own interval type. There are other scales, (chromatic, minors, etc.), that have their own unique interval types as well. For example, in the C Major scale, the intervals are whole steps. In a chromatic scale, the steps are half steps, (half of a whole step).

One more thing to remember is that the distance between the first step and the eighth, is called an octave.

Octave: A tone that is eight diatonic degrees above or below another given tone.

So if you were to play the C Major scale, C>D>E>F>G>A>B>C - this would be one octave. It would be the same if you were to play the scale backwards.

Diatonic: The first seven notes, (5 tones and 2 semitones), of a standard major or minor scale without any chromatic alterations, (use of accidentals).

In the C Major scale, the diatonic would be the note C>D>E>F>G>A>B.