Recognising a pair of notes as a “perfect fifth” might be a neat party trick but it’s not all that useful. What you need to know is that they’re a means to an end. This is a pity because learning intervals is powerful. When intervals are taught in a dry, music-theory way, they seem like useless abstract things. Unfortunately students are rarely told why they should bother learning interval recognition. Intervals are often recommended as the place to start with ear training. You can learn to recognise these different distances by ear, which is called “learning intervals” or “learning interval recognition”.Īn interval is the distance in pitch between two musical notes. We call the pitch distance between two notes the interval between them. The further apart two keys are physically, the further apart their pitches are.
The leftmost notes are low in pitch, the rightmost notes are high in pitch. Some notes are the same pitch or close together while others are further apart. That means that between any two notes there is a difference in pitch. How will intervals help me play by ear?Įvery note in music has a pitch: how high or low it is.How will intervals help me recognise chords and progressions?.Why does singing intervals help you learn them?.What if I get stuck learning intervals?.Do I need to master certain intervals before moving on?.How can I learn intervals by just doing it?.Where can I find good interval reference songs?.What are “compound” intervals and do I need to learn them?.How can I learn to recognise intervals?.How is it possible to recognise intervals?.What are “melodic” and “harmonic” intervals?.