Have you ever wondered why some musical intervals are called Major or Minor and others are called Perfect?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I started studying music, I just memorized that all second, third, sixth, and seventh intervals can be Major or Minor, but the fourth, fifth, and octave can only be perfect. But why?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The explanation for this is related to the distance in semitones between the two notes in an interval. Let’s think about the C major scale. The interval C to D is ascending and the distance between the two notes is two semitones, so this is a second interval because we moved two notes in the scale of C (remember that the C Major scale has no sharps or flats notes). If we move in the opposite direction we have C to B which is a descending interval between two notes, so it is a second, but now the distance is only one semitone. So to differentiate the two second interval we call Major second for C to D (bigger distance) and minor second for C to B (smaller distance).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The distance between the notes on the ascending and descending direction give us the understanding why Major, Minor or Perfect interval.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
If we do the same analysis for the third interval, we have C to E which distance is 4 semitones and from C to A is 3 semitones, so C and E is a major third and C and A is a minor third. For sixth intervals in the scale of C major, we have C to A with 9 semitones and C to E with 8 semitones, so C and A is a major sixth, and C and E is a minor sixth. For the seventh interval, we have C to B with 11 semitones and C to D with 10 semitones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Forth, Fifth and Octave<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Now, pay attention to what happens to the fourth, fifth and octave intervals. Let\u2019s start with the fourth interval. From C to F the distance between the notes is five semitones in the ascending direction. Now let\u2019s count on the descending direction and we have C to G and in this case, we also have five semitones between both notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the same way, doing the analysis for the fifth interval we have C to G and C to F, both cases with a distance of seven semitones. For the octave, we have twelve semitones on both sides (C to C ascending and C to C descending).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the reason why some intervals are called perfect and others Major and minor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"