Understanding Intervals



Hi Everyone!  I decided to write a blog on understanding intervals since a good number of my parents have been asking about this concept.  We'll start with labeling a few of the piano keys.
The musical alphabet consists of 7 letters A-G which repeats itself over and over up and down the piano.  So every white note is a letter from A-G.
The note with the blue tab will be the starter note which is C.  The 2nd note after C (to the right of C) is D.  The 3rd note after C is E, etc.  Intervals are the distance between two notes.  How far one white note is from another.  Translating the top example into intervals:  E is the 3rd note after C or an interval of a 3rd up from C.  G is the 5th note after C or G is an interval of a 5th up from C.

Going the other direction: B is the 2nd note down from C (to the left of C) or an interval of a 2nd down from C.  G is the 4th note down from C or an interval of a 4th down from C.


Application:  Now the blue tab is on the letter E.  E is now the starter note.  What's an interval of a 4th up from E?  What's an interval of a 2nd down from E?

Until next time, Piano blogger signing off.........

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