Intervals
The Importance of Intervals in Music
An interval, simply put, is the distance between two notes. We measure music with intervals, similar to the way that a carpenter uses centimeters and inches in carpentry. In order to build a scale or a chord, it is important to understand the intervals from which they are made.
How Intervals Are Named
When naming intervals we use a number that represents the Major scale-step from the root and a value that represents the quality of the interval (minor, major, diminished or augmented). When certain intervals (4th, 5th & Octave) are inverted, the quality of the interval remains the same. For this reason these intervals are known as Perfect intervals. The tri-tone (AKA: Aug.4 or Dim.5) is so named because it spans three (tri) whole-steps.
Interval Chart
(click to enlarge)
