Identifying Intervals by Ear
Since all melodies are made up of a series of intervals, it is essential to learn to identify intervals by ear and be able to reproduce them at will both with your voice and on your instrument. If you can sing something accurately, it means you are hearing it accurately. Here are some ways of developing your ability to identify and reproduce intervals. The example given in the first two exercises is a minor 3rd, but it is essential to go through these processes with all intervals.
- Choose an interval you wish to work on (e.g., minor 3rds). Play a starting note (e.g., C) and sing it. Then sing a minor 3rd up from that note (Eb). Hold the note in your mind while you test its accuracy on your instrument. Then choose another starting note and repeat the process. Keep doing this until you are accurate every time. The next step is to sing the interval (in this case a minor 3rd) downwards from your starting note. Again, do this repeatedly until you are accurate every time.
- Sing the same interval consecutively upwards and then downwards several times. For example, start on C and sing a minor 3rd up from it (Eb). Then sing a minor 3rd up from Eb (Gb). Then another minor third up from Gb (Bbb - which is enharmonically the same as A). Then up another minor 3rd (C an octave higher than the starting note). Once you can do this, reverse the process (start on C and sing a minor 3rd down to A, then another minor 3rd down and then another, etc).
- Play and sing a starting note (e.g., C) and then think of it as the first degree of the chromatic scale - sing "one". Now sing the flattened second degree of the scale - sing "flat two". This note is a minor 2nd up from your C note (a Db note). Then sing the C again ("one"). Then sing the second degree of the scale (a D note - sing "two"). Next, sing your C note again ("one"). Continue in this manner all the way up the chromatic scale until you reach C an octave above. The entire sequence goes: 1, b2, 1, 2, 1, b3, 1, 3, 1, 4, 1, b5, 1, 5, 1, b6, 1, 6, 1, b7, 1, 7, 1, 8, 1. As with the previous exercises, once you can do this accurately (check your pitches on your instrument), reverse the process and sing downwards from the top of the scale, working your way down the chromatic scale again. The downward sequence goes 1 (8), 7, 1, b7, 1, 6, 1, b 6, 1, 5, 1, b5, 1, 4, 1, 3, 1, b3, 1, 2, 1, b2, 1, 1, 1(8).
- As well as hearing intervals melodically (one note at a time), it is important to be able to hear them harmonically (two notes played together). A good way to develop this is to have a friend play random harmonic intervals on either guitar or keyboard while you identify them. Keep your back to the instrument while you do this, so that you cannot identify the intervals by sight.
It is important to work at these things regularly until they become easy. Don’t get frustrated if you can’t hear intervals accurately at first. Most people have trouble with this. If you work at it for several months, you will see a dramatic improvement in your musical hearing, and will be able to improvise much more freely as well as being able to work out parts from recordings more easily.
Here are some exercises to help you become more comfortable playing in any key. Each one is written in a different key, but they are intended to be played in all keys. The first one is a sequence in the key of D major.
This one alternates between the note B and every other note in the B major scale, both ascending and descending.
Don’t forget to practice the chromatic scale in every key. Here it is in the key of G b.
Finally, here is one which alternates between the note A and every other note in the A chromatic scale, once again ascending and descending.
The following example demonstrates a melody in the key of C which contains notes from outside the major scale.
The following examples demonstrate the same melody transposed to the keys of F and G. Once again, you should transpose it to all the other keys. Before doing this it is worth learning to play the chromatic scale starting on any note. If you do this, it will be easier to play melodies in any key and also make it easier to transpose any melody that you learn in any key.
Here is a Jazz Blues solo in the key of F which makes use of many different intervals. Go through it and analyze the intervals and also the scale degrees against the F chromatic scale. Notice the use of both major and minor 3rd degrees, as well as the flattened 5th and 7th degrees of the scale. The b3, b5 and b7 are known as blue notes and are particularly common in all forms of Blues.
Here is a famous Ragtime melody written by Scott Joplin. Originally written for piano, it also sounds great on chromatic harmonica. It is well worth looking for other pieces originally written for other instruments and learning to play them on the chromatic.
