Songs and melodies for intervals' recognition

Interval recognition is difficult for everyone, especially at the very beginning. Only few are able to promptly recognize a new interval. For those who cannot do this, much help is provided by songs beginning with different intervals. The point is to associate melodies with intervals, and thus memorize, name or be able to sing the latter. Beneath you can find several examples.

Interval recognition is difficult for everyone, especially at the very beginning. Only few are able to promptly recognize a new interval. For those who cannot do this, much help is provided by songs beginning with different intervals. The point is to associate melodies with intervals, and thus memorize, name or be able to sing the latter. Beneath you can find several examples:

The most important thing is to find songs you know and like. It is also worth to listen to your favourite songs and check what intervals they start with. It may be pretty surprising to find out that you are able to sing “Love me tender” starting at just any sound, but it is not that easy to sing a perfect fourth downwards even though it is just the same interval as the one Elvis’ evergreen piece starts with. This is exactly why finding the right melody is essential in interval recognition. If you want to do some exercises on interval singing and recognizing, please go to the INTERVALS section.

After some time, thanks to such exercises you will be able to recognize intervals without help of interval-associated melodies. If you are able to instantly associate an interval with a melody, it is already a great achievement. Now all you have to do is to replace song names with interval names and you can celebrate yet another victory. However, if it is still a problem for you, maybe it is worth to search for different songs that would be easier for you to associate with intervals.

Unfortunately sometimes it seems impossible to find a perfectly matching song – well, all-time hits rarely begin with a major seventh or a tritone, don’t they?

What can you do in such a case? The answer is: counterattack! A solution might be simply using a scale and counting sounds. For example, if you want to sing a perfect fourth, you loudly sing the first sound of a major scale, then you quietly sing the two following sounds, and then – loudly again – you sing the fourth sound. This is how a perfect fourth can be found. Still, if we want to “count” a major or minor seventh, we must sing through almost the whole scale. A shorter way to do it is to put a large interval together using smaller intervals. Although quicker, this method is quite difficult since it requires a thorough knowledge regarding intervals. A minor seventh can be put together from one major third and two minor thirds or from a perfect fifth and a minor third. You can also subtract (i.e. sing downwards) a major second from a perfect octave. It is very much like mathematics: every number can be obtained in multiple ways:

2+2+3 = 7

4+3=7

5+2=7

6+1=7

etc.

Intervals work similarly. Thus, you can use intervals you are familiar with to create an interval which, let us say so, is not necessarily on of your favorites. In the end, essential is the number of semitones in an interval. As for the rest – it’s no holds barred! ;-)