Intervals 2A: 2nd and 3rd
Topic outline
-
With this course you can practise:
- Major and minor seconds
- Major and minor thirds
Recommended to study before this course:
- Notes 1A-D
- Intervals 1
-
The name of any interval is qualified using the terms perfect (P), major (M), minor (m), augmented (A), and diminished (d). This is called its interval quality. (Wikipedia)
With this course you can practise seconds and thirds which can be major or minor.
2 3 6 7
1 4 5 8
augmented
augmented
MAJOR
PERFECT
MINOR
diminished
diminished
Nice to know. Intervals can be classified into two groups:
- 2, 3, 6, 7 are usually major or minor (sometimes also diminished or augmented)
- 1, 4, 5, 8 are usually perfect (sometimes also diminished or augmented)
-
The quality of a diatonic second is major or minor.
Seconds in C major scale are shown in the picture below. There's two minor seconds E-F and B-C. Others are major seconds.
A major second is also called as a whole step and minor second is a half step.
-
The quality of an interval is also influenced by accidentals. The major can become minor and vice versa.
Hence if
- the upper note of a major second is lowered or the lower note is raised it becomes minor second
- the upper note of a minor second is raised or the lower note is lowered it becomes major second
- both notes have same accidental, the interval (distance) doesn't change
Example:
-
In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive sounds. Consonance is associated with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability; dissonance is associated with harshness, unpleasantness, or unacceptability. (Wikipedia)
Seconds are dissonant intervals. A minor 2nd is even more dissonant than major 2nd.
Melodic (successive)- major 2nd is DO-RE
- minor 2nd is TI-DO
-
Thirds
A third indluding two major seconds is a major third (M2+M2 = M3).
A third including a minor second is a minor third (M2+m2 = m3).
-
The quality of a third is also influenced by accidentals. The major can become minor and vice versa. For example:
- C-E is M3
- C-Eb is m3
- C#-E is m3
- Cb-Eb is M3
etc.
-
Major third is the lower interval of a major triad DO-MI.
Minor third is the lower interval of a minor triad LA-DO.