workbook / musical intervals

1) In your own words, why is the theoretical knowledge of musical intervals potentially important for the creative artist?                                                  

2) From one perspective, musical intervals are simply numerical labels to measure the distance between two pitches as written on the staff. 

Yes?  No?

3) The force of tonal gravity is in part determined by musical intervals. 

Yes?  No?

4) Simple intervals are so named because they fall within the span of one                            .

5) Fill in the following chart identifying the 7 pitches of the major scale with their interval names. All of the intervals in the following chart are measured from the root C.

6) If we get confused about an interval, we can simply count lines and spaces.  Yes?  No?

7) The overtones of the prime, unison and perfect intervals are more closely in tune with the fundamental pitch. The mathematical ratio of the prime, unison and perfect intervals / pitches are equally divisible by the number of cycles per second created by the fundamental.

Yes? No?

8) Major and minor intervals do not have this perfection of ratios of numbers, they are not quite so in tune in the naturally occurring overtone series and thus have to be more "tempered" or tuned to take their place in the system of modern music theory.

Yes?  No?

9) Fill in the following chart identifying the seven diatonic pitches of the natural minor scale with their interval names. 

10) Fill in the letter names comparing the pitches of the C major and C natural minor scale.

11) Lowering the major intervals by half step, they become minor.

Yes?  No?

12)The chromatic scale is created by consecutive half steps.

Yes? No?

13) Fill in the following charts naming the intervals of the chromatic scale.

14) The chromatic scale is cool in that it contains all of the 12 pitches within the octave as prescribed by the equal temperament system, so all of our scales we can create from the chromatic grouping of pitches?

Yes. No?

15) In your own words, why is the blues scale a bit more complex to create?                            

16) Fill in the interval names of the following chart which spells the above chromatic scale by its enharmonic equivalents.

17) To musically "augment" an interval, means to simply enlarge an interval by half step.

Yes?  No?

18) Does a minor second interval from C to Db equal the augmented unison from C to C#?

Yes?  No?

19) Does the augmented fourth interval from C to F# equal the diminished fifth interval from C to Gb?

Yes?  No?

20) Whichever you choose, the interval of the root to #4 / b5 motion still sounds most often like a tritone.

Yes?  No?

21) Fill in the proper number of half steps for each interval of the chromatic scale from the following chart.

22) How many half steps in a whole step? ______.

23) Major intervals are found on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th degrees of the major scale.

Yes?   No?

24) Minor intervals are found on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th and 6th degrees of the natural minor scale.

Yes?  No?

25) To "augment" an interval increases its size by half step.

Yes? No?

26) To "diminish" an interval is to reduce its size by half step.

Yes? No?

27) Perfect intervals are found on the root or tonic, fourth, fifth and octave degrees of the major and natural minor scales.

Yes?  No?

28) Compound intervals are musical intervals that exceed the span of one octave.

Yes?   No?

29) Fill in the blanks within the following chart for the compound intervals.

30) Inverting musical intervals we simply means to reverse the direction of the interval.

Yes?  No?

31) Inverting a perfect 5th interval creates the interval of a perfect 4th.

Yes?  No?

32) To arrive at the same pitch from the same place but from a different direction, we must use different intervals.

Yes?  No?

33) Complete the blanks within the following chart of intervalic inversions.

34) Complete the blanks within the following chart of intervalic inversions.

35) Does the numerical distance of a simple interval and it's inversion add up to nine? Yes? No?

Why?                               .

36) Another cool thing about studying music theory is that once the principles are committed to memory, the knowledge is ours forever.

Yes?  No?

37) Fill in the blanks of the following chart to exercise your knowledge of harmonic intervals.

38) From a scale we can create an arpeggio, from which we create chords.

Yes?   No?

39) Use the following music to help fill in the chart below of harmonic intervals and the slang often used to designate them when thinking harmonically.

40) Fill in the blanks within the following chart concerning the various aspects of musical intervals.

Well, how'd it go? Is there more beyond the # 15 to the theory of the intervals? Yes, but is the theory a part of the popular American styles? No, not at all. Folk music is mostly triadic, using the 1, 3 and 5. Rock and blues is the same with the added 7th and the blue notes. Any kind of tonal jazz tops out at the # 15 or so, although more players are moving into the pitch cycles of the major 3rd / minor 3rd and it's inverse, the minor 3rd / major 3rd. In this text this expansion beyond the # 15 is termed: tonality without a tritone, which is more about a cycle of tonalities than chords or scales.

So, proably best for now to think of your style and the intervals you need, while knowing that the other styles could use other musical intervals. Is it all about perspective and understanding in regards to the resource and the sounds and styles we can create?

Lest we forget perhaps to simply express the art in our hearts and to share our music with those we love.