If you'd like to improve your perception of intervals then do consider ToneGym. They make it fun and easy to improve your ear tonegym.co?aff=2104 👂🏻🎵 And check out Part 2 to this video here: ua-cam.com/video/vJnAnrX2uXQ/v-deo.html
great video. brilliantly informative.. if I might add some constructive criticism .. the position of the mic is very distracting. maybe put it besides the piano or record with two cameras: one focused on your hands and one on your face .. otherwise .. perfect video
Imagine if they started playing intervals on slap bass or sax instead. (Too much 80s disparagement in this video... I want to see David present the next one on keytar - embrace the cheese!)
Alright so... here's what I use: Minor 2nd up & down: Eyes Wide Shut piano thing Major 2nd up: Happy Birthday Major 2nd down: Yesterday (Beatles) Minor 3rd up: Seven Nation Army (White Stripes) Minor 3rd down: Hey Jude (Beatles) Major 3rd up: Oh, When the Saints Major 3rd down: Big Ben chimes or Summertime (Gerschwin) Perfect 4th up: Amazing Grace Perfect 4th down: Under Pressure bassline (Queen) Tritone up: The Simpsons Tritone down: Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath) Perfect fifth up: Star Wars theme Perfect fifth down: Game of Thrones or Zelda themes Minor 6th up: In my life intro(Beatles) Minor 6th down: Love Story theme Major 6th up: Fake Plastic Trees (Radiohead) Major 6th down: Il Était un Petit Navire Minor 7th up: Original Star Trek Theme Minor 7th down: Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock) Major 7th up & down: Popular guitar intro (Nada Surf) Octave up: Somewhere Over the Rainbow Octave down: Bulls on Parade (RATM) Minor 9th up: Killing in the Name Bass thing (RATM) And that's about it... Good video!
1:52 Minor 2nd - Jaws / Fur Elise 2:47 Major 2nd - Halo Theme/ Frere Jacques / Happy Birthday 3:39 Minor 3rd - Pure Imagination/ Mad World (All around me are familiar faces) 4:22 Major 3rd - Subway Surfer / Wipe Wipe Wipe It Down Wipe /(descending) Golden Wind 5:34 Perfect 4th - Amazing Grace 6:03 Tritone - Regular Show / The Simpsons 8:55 Perfect 5th - Star Wars 10:02 Minor 6th - The Entertainer / (descending) Love Story 11:54 Major 6th - Chopin - Nocturne op.9 No.2 12:52 Minor 7th - Can't Stop / Somewhere 14:16 Major 7th - Take On Me 15:35 Octave - Somewhere Over The Rainbow 16:48 Intervals beyond the octave 19:02 Minor 9th - Killing in The Name
Don't know how you could leave out "Can't Stop" by RHCP for Minor 7th example. It's a much more recognisable and iconic song than Somewhere from some movie from the 60s (or was it a play) most people never heard of. The moment I hear E followed by D, i instantly hear Frusciante's intro in my head and just want to resolve it up to the E an octave up. But maybe that's just a guitarist in me talking.
The chorus of "Into the Unknown" actually uses an 11th! It's the interval the third time she sings "into the unknown" and is part of what makes the song feel so epic and dangerous.
In the BTS, the song authors specifically cite the unusual size of the interval as what gives the melody its emotional sense of breaking free from what's traditional or comfortable.
Ad: "Regardless of what you might think, interval exercises are ineffective. It's not just my opinio-*skipped*" David: "This video is sponsored by ToneGym. Being able to identify an interval by ear..." *Laughed so hard*
Actually the ad made me think and I listened to it to its end. But it didn’t explain why it’s ineffective. Maybe learning to recognize which note in the scale we’re listening to is more effective than learning intervals. I don’t know.
@@error50012 Go watch the video “why you don’t want perfect pitch” by adam neely, it’s quite interesting. Basically, interval training is not ineffective, but there are other skills that you should be training as well.
"Take on Me" is brilliant. I always recognize the major seventh simply by its proximity to the octave, but that's a really great example that I had never thought of.
@@318h7 It's 2 over 3. If you play the rhythm with your hands, it's obvious - the frequencies "sync up" on every other oscilliation of the lowest. So the "synced" oscilliations are at half the frequency of the lowest note, one octave below. More dissonant intervals will create lower pitch undertones for this reason, i.e. the longer the time between each synced oscilliation, the lower the note produced. Sorry about the non-technical language, these are not concepts I have been taught.
@@polyphony250 that sounds correct, and that's the reason there is a distinct throbbing in a minor 2nd or, stronger still, in a just slightly out-of-tune unison
David's Examples: Minor 2nd: Jaws Theme - John Williams Major 2nd: Frère Jacques - traditional Minor 3rd: Mad World - Tears for Fears (But it Really should have been Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer) Major 3rd: Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder / Let's Dance - David Bowie Perfect 4th: Summer Nights - from Grease Tritone: YYZ - Rush / The Simpsons Theme - Danny Elfman Perfect 5th: Star Wars Title Crawl Theme - John Williams / ET Theme - John Williams Minor 6th: Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty / The Entertainer - Scott Joplin Major 6th: The Holly and the Ivy (Christmas song) - traditional Minor 7th: Somewhere - Leonard Bernstein, from West Side Story / Bass from Can't Stop - Red Hot Chili Peppers Major 7th: Take on Me - A-ha Octave: Somewhere Over the Rainbow - from The Wizard of Oz Minor 9th: Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine
"Into the Unknown" from Frozen features intervals of an octave, 9th, 10th, and even an 11th in its masterful chorus. In the BTS, the song authors specifically cite the unusual size of the interval as what gives the melody its emotional sense of breaking free from what's traditional or comfortable.
@@gamechimp869 Weird and pretentious for the basic knowledge that people can sing more than a fifth? Also big talk coming from an industry that considers Lloyd Webber "beneath them".
I've been playing guitar (badly, but I enjoyed it), for the past thirty years. Watched hundreds if not thousands of of videos. Got a basic understanding of music. Stumbled on your website and in six months I have improved a thousand fold. Thank you,your a true breathe of fresh air. Keep up the good work.
best thing I can say is learn C maj scale and how to hear these intervals. C Maj forms the foundation for all the other modes and makes it VERY easy to learn them while knowing the intervals by ear will let you more easily ear learn songs or when writing, allow you to know how to get the right feel or emotion for something you want to play
Nice! You can also use various Star Wars tunes to identify most of these intervals. The Force theme for a perfect 4th, Han and Leia's theme for a major 6th, The Emperor's theme for a minor 3rd, and the Love theme from AOTC for a minor 6th. :)
Was mentally preparing to hear you talking about the tritone being the Devil's chord, and then you mentioned Neely, and I was unreasonably happy about that.
@@informant09 It *was* banned. Just because a #4th existed in pieces from that period doesn't mean it wasn't still thought of as the devil's interval and banned by the church. THAT is the lie. Sure it existed. Yes it was used. To pretend the church didn't ban it in many places in Europe is an outright denial of reality (but that's what woke leftist's do... try to change word meaning, history [Virginia statues say hello], and of course... minimize anything church related).
Now I know about the tritone, I appreciate the irony of The Simpsons welcoming us with a heavenly choir and background using such a devillish sounding musical arrangement.
David, can you do a video analyzing this theme song? Please!!?! I tried to analyze it once as a youth and I gave up. All I remember is that it's in Lydian.
Some songs that I use: m3 - Seven Nation Army, Greensleeves M3 - Oh When the Saints P4 - Bridal Chorus ("Here comes the bride") Tritone - Maria (West Side Story) P5: Twinkle Twinkle M6: Jingle Bells ("Dashing through the snow"), My Bonnie
Such a great reference tool. I remember learning similar techniques in choir. We never learned the minor intervals just the major, though I can always recognize minor thirds. We were taught the “doorbell” for major thirds and the song “Taps” for major fourths. John Williams REALLY likes his major fifths. The Superman Theme also uses that.
In choir I learned the rising major sixth is My Bo(nnie Lies Over the Ocean.) And “Do, a deer, a female deer” gives both rising and falling major thirds. Both ones I’ve never forgotten. I like most of his examples, though a few were too recent for me.
Ha, we used "Here Comes the Bride" for perfect fourths. And then my music professor in college said to be cautious using that one, since it's Sol->Do, not Do->Fa. Still works, but it's a different vibe.
For our 4ths in choir our teacher uses "here come the bride", specifically the "here comes" part! Neat to see other choirs do this too. Also when we were doing a chromatic scale in one of our songs she used the Jaws theme.
As you were talking about Mad World, you said, "it's going.." and my daughter just blurts out "going nowhere!" and I didn't even know that she knew that song. It was an awesome moment. Thank you for that.
I live in central Europe, in the Czech Republic and because of that, the major 6 interval actually to me sounds perfectly stable and consonant. It is often used in our folk songs, when there's more then one voice. The voices often go in major (or minor) thirds and major sixths, and often without "resolving" to e.g. a P.5. at the end of a song, and it's been like that for centuries. It's quite interesting to note, because compared to this, christian chant music (gregorian chants, etc.) in history uses almost exlusively the "cleanest", most stable intervals - the octave the P5 and the P4 (with occasionally using thirds).
@@nakejtypek1829 Hej, prakticky každá druhá lidovka, či její sborová úprava (od dětství zpívám ve sboru, takže toho mám naposlouchaného hodně). Tzv. lidový dvojhlas je, když se k původnímu hlasu souběžně zpívají tercie nebo sexty, čili to má dokonce i název. Jako příklad uvedu např. Nepi Jano, nebo Chodila Maryška.
That's so cool to know. I compose for community theater, and sometimes I'm asked to come up with music that evokes a place and time, and I like to study traditional music from the region and pick up things that give them their unique flavor. I'll file this in my Czechia box! (My sister-in-law is Czech, and therefore so are my nephews, usually spending at least part of their summers in Prague. Funny we've never talked about Czech music.)
I really appreciate that you went to the effort of naming the intervals in the font and style of the movie poster. That visual cue really helps with my memory
Yeah, I always watch that, to make sure I don't skimp on the descending. For minor third and major 2nd, I use the line from Somewhere over the Rainbow, 'if happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow' But I also try to hear the inversion inside the interval. So if I hear a minor third, I want to hear the major 6th at the same time.
Not sure if any other commenters mentioned this, but the YYZ “vamp” you brought up for the Tritone is actually the letters YYZ in Morse code. The dots are the tonic and the dashes are the tritone. As always, great video and thanks for being an awesome music theory resource!!
@@DavidBennettPiano The best example I know is "Waves" by the french singer Camille. The background vocals literally sing "dot" and "dash" spelling out "show me the waves". ua-cam.com/video/S0PMZg8lZ-M/v-deo.html
Ah! How times have changed! When I was in music school this is how we learned them: m2- train sound, M2- beginning of M scale, m3- Brahms Lullaby, M3 From the Halls of Montezuma, P4- Here Comes the Bride, Aug4- Maria(West Side Story) P5-Twinkle Twinkle, m6 Where Do I Begin? (Love Story) M6 My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean or the NBC logo, m7 - There's a Place for Us (West Side Story) M7- Bali Hai (South Pacific). However, for teaching purposes now, new examples would be needed for those who did not grow up with those musicals. Thank you!
Black Sabbath, the song, is G. Octave G and then mashing the tritone. The main riff is just TWO notes. Entirety of Metal is built on this interval but it's also called a "blue" note because the diminished fifth is the one note Blues scale adds to the Pentatonic. So if it sounds like blBlues or Metal, it's the tritone.
Ditto! I also immediately thought of Top Gun for the perfect 5th, and given how the other two examples were movies from 1977 & 1982, I thought for sure he'd incorporate it. Oh well, he's a young one. ;)
Great video! I'd love to see a sequel where intervals are compared in ascending and descending forms. Even good musicians are sometimes thrown when they hear an interval moving in the opposite direction to the example they've memorized.
Thanks so much for this. I was doing an interval training app and felt really stuck just trying to listen to the tones without mental associations. Now I hear Jaws and Let’s Dance and I immediately started improving. I am doing to to try and get better at music in order to express myself, so you really helped me with that. thank you.
This might be one of the MOST USEFUL music-related UA-cam videos I have ever come across. It is pitch perfect (if you'll excuse the pun!) Also fantastic thumbnail! Will be coming back to this again and again when composing, transcribing, recording... and will probably share this with my friends for all eternity hahhaha. P.S. Radiohead's new song If You Say The Word starts with a major third!! (Eb to G, in the key of C minor)
Back in the 60's my Mom - a music teacher - taught me intervals with songs - I learned the major 6'th as the first two notes of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. We mostly had to use different songs back then - lol
It’s really cool to see how many chords are shared by very different songs! Here’s my personal list: Min. 2nd - Jaws Maj. 2nd - Happy Birthday Min. 3rd - Oh Canada/Greensleeves Maj. 3rd - Oh When the Saints Per. 4th - Amazing Grace Per. 5th - Star Wars Min. 6th - The Entertainer Maj. 6th - My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean Min. 7th - The Winner Takes It All Maj. 7th - Take On Me Per. Octave - Somewhere Over the Rainbow Thanks for the vid!
@@jsabados Recently I am listening a lot to Donald Byrd - Onward 'Til Morning, which I believe is in the key of C# minor. The bass and main vibe regularly jumps up to G natural, then progresses back down to C#. Augmented 4th!
I use "Here Comes the Bride" to identify a perfect fourth. I think of the first two notes of "Maria" (from "West Side Story") to identify a tritone. I am only at the beginning of this video but I'm already finding it helpful and kinda fun. Thanks!
Yes! I've always, always used "Maria" as the example of a tritone -- the West Side Story score is actually spilling over with tritones, all over the place -- and I was shocked it wasn't mentioned. :)
I'm a huge advocate for learning theory in context- in a more musical way, that's both more enjoyable and makes more sense. I think this approach is invaluable and brilliant. Another one that I thought of is the Universal theme for the perfect fifth.
@@nat91307 that's silly you don't do ear training in "video form" . This just wants you to pay for something you can do for free. The only way to practice recognising intervals is to do it, not listen to videos
I’m so grateful for my choir teacher teaching me some of these in middle school, as they helped me with choir and learning music in the future. Here are the ones I remember being taught: m2 - Jaws M2 - Happy Birthday m3 - Greensleeves M3 - When the Saints Go Marching P4 - Here Comes the Bride TT - Maria/The Simpsons Theme P5 - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/Alphabet Song/Baa Baa Black Sheep m6 - forgot :/ M6 - NBC Theme/My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean m7 - forgot this one too! oh well. M7 - Take On Me P8 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
18:52 I believe "Defying Gravity" from the movie "Wicked" has a major 11th in it, between the words "the rules" near the start, in "I'm tired of playing by *the rules* of someone else's game".
defying gravity also has a massive leap at the end on the word "down", i dont remember what the interval is exactly but it was drilled into me at gcse haha
The moment David played the major 10th I instantly heard Romy singing in my head : "You, you used to have all the answers / And you, you still have them too". Major 10th: The XX's VCR... ♥️
It's interesting to me that minor thirds sound more tense going up (Mad World, Greensleeves), and more resolved coming down (Hey Jude, the Star Spangled Banner), while major thirds sound more consonant going up (When the Saints come Marching in, Kumbaya) and more dissonant coming down (Beethoven's 5th, Imperial March).
This has everything to do with the function of the interval within the chord. (Hey Jude is the distance beteeen 5 and 3 of the major chord). This immediately showcases the risk of this method. Be aware of the context.
Maria is perfect for Tritown star… If you’re familiar with the song of course!… The other great one from Westside story is the first two notes of there’s a place for us which I think is called somewhere… That’s great for a minor seventh… There’s a place for us
You are a most intelligent young sage. I am very well entertained by your delivery. Kudos fellow musician/musicologist. I have been teaching for decades and you have got the gift! The theory mystery continues...
I don't wanna sound weird, but I really appreciate the para-social relationship I've created with you since I found your channel. I've said this before in your videos, and I'll say it again: as a harmonica teacher I usually struggle making music theory easy for my students, but your content really helps me getting the right definitions for every concept. So, once again, thank you very much for your beautiful work. Cheers from Temuco, Chile!
Thanks for using the American terminology as well as the British terminology. I teach college music classes and your demonstrations are very good. When I use your videos for my lessons my students get to hear BOTH the American term and the UK term.
I wonder how many people have you helped so far to create music or study, but the answer I think is A LOT of people, I just needed to find a major third interval, and couldn't find something that will stay in my head as it happens to me with other intervals, so thank you so much. I send you a big hug from Mexico City. 🤍
Algunos himnos latinoamericanos comienzan con un intervalo de tercera mayor, y el de México no es excepción. Por lo que veo en la partitura, la primera palabra "Me-xi-ca-nos" es la tríada Do-Mi-Sol, por ende un intervalo de 3ra mayor y 5ta justa ;)
Im so happy i have found this. Ive been in music scho for 8 years and i never knew how to get rhese right but now i do. I am preparing for audicions for music conservatory and i really needed this. Thank you very much!
Here are some of the ones I use (where different from David's): Minor 3rd 1st 2 notes of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" riff Major 3rd Opening theme of Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony (1st 2 notes) Perfect 4th drums in 2nd movement of Beethoven's 4th, opening flourishes of Mozart's "Jupiter" symphony Perfect 5th 1st 2 notes of Metallica's "One" guitar intro Minor 6th 1st 2 notes of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" (the famous Tristan chord) Major 6th "In My Life" by the Beatles (the words "some remain") Minor 7th 1st 2 notes sung in "Star Trek" theme
perfect 5th example and probably the easiest to remember in my opinion is the last post. the opening is Bb. it also has the octave as the 3rd note and d as the 10th interval. a pretty good example
**Warning: possible intense, fan-level bias shown in this comment. You have been warned.** 😂 For the perfect 5th example, and staying with the Williams discography, is the Superman theme. Someone mentioned paying just as much attention to descending intervals, and the beginning of "Superman" has both descending and ascending perfect 5ths as well as a descending octave. In fact, if you listen to most of the soundtrack, Williams has those obvious, notable intervals strung throughout, including the love theme. Even in his theme for Lex Luthor, there are catchy intervals that highlight the smarminess of that character. Like I said in the "warning", I have a bit of a fan-level "bias". I have listened to that particular soundtrack since I was around 5 or 6. 😅 I could even tell the difference between the themes for "Superman" and "Star Wars," and I knew most kids my age wouldn't be able to do that.
I actually ran to grab pen and paper and write all this down when I saw the notification on my phone. I am not studying music at all, but this is really useful information to have. Also, when you played the Minor 7th interval, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac was all I could think of
Very well known example of a tenth interval in popular music: the iconic bass line of Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side', recorded by Herbie Flowers. It's actually two separate bass parts, one on upright bass, and one on electric. It's a beautiful interval on bass. I think Indiscipline by King Crimson uses it too (among others), but spread among different instruments.
this was actually super helpful and I've been playing instruments for 8 years, genuinely didn't understand how people knew this but wow its super simple
For me these are the themes I assosiate (sometimes you need a low and a high one, or one going up and one going down). Minor 2nd: Jaws, Jurassic Park Major 2nd: Toad's Factory (Mario Kart Wii) Minor 3rd: ... Major 3rd: Harry Potter Perfect 4th: Anything that starts on the 5th and goes to the 1st, Legend of Zelda Tritone: Back to the Future (second interval) Perfect 5th: Back to the Future (first interval), ET, Schindler's List Minor 6th: Across the Stars (Star Wars), Superman (intro section) Major 6th: Leia's Theme (Star Wars) Minor 7th: ... Major 7th: Superman (ending of main theme) Octave: Somewhere over the Rainbow Minor 9th: Doctor Who Theme I really need a minor 7th used in something I actually know... A minor 3rd I can live without, it's easy enough to recognise.
Long ago a music student I knew told me to think of the Wedding March to memorize the perfect 4th and perfect 5th. 1-444, 1-5-1-4. It worked for me! :)
Another fifth is the first notes from the very old TV-series Ivanhoe. First notes of Two of Us by The Beatles are also iconic. Funny how we 'know' intervals in ascending order. I suddenly wondered about the famous first notes of Beethovens Fifth Symphony (of which I once read it was 'Fate knocking on the door'). Very inspiring video. (Edited the order of the sentences).
@@Ana_crusis ' Another' in my comment refers to the one mentioned in the video. I was very much aware the other two examples in my comment weren't fifths. An F for me for clarity, an A for trust in the reader.
You mention Beethovens fifth symphony during a discussion of intervals and then say "another 5th" after that. Beethovens 5th symphony starts with a descending major 3rd. Not sure if you meant to word it the way you did or were confused about the interval or not...just wanted to clarify for everyone else.
Tenths are great. I love them and I use them. A guitar teacher of mine, Serge Lazarevitch, taught us that tenths somehow almost sound like a chord, rather than just an interval. I can hear what he meant when I use them. Bach wrote fantastic things in tenths, as did so many other classical composers, but those amazing structures can also be found in Paul McCartney's Beatles classic, Blackbird. I also love hearing it in the Foo Fighters' Walking After You. It's a bit of a magical chord-like interval, waiting to be needed as the right addition to the song, or be the basis for a song. Rocking regards to all, BBH
for the Octave I just always imagine the bassline from Autobahn, which just moves between the interval of the octave for the entire time it plays during the song (though not for all 22 minutes)
Loved the fact that you gave great song examples to back your clear explanations of each music interval. Definitely, looking forward to more tutorials like this from you. Thank you!
I was genuinely taken back when the Minor 3rd wasn't Axel F. It seems so perfect to me, since it plays the A, the C, and then the A twice more. Really vivid sound. And my go-to for the perfect fifth is Something In The Way by Nirvana. The opening is just Kurt Cobain playing the very stripped back A5 and F5
minor 3rd is the first 2 notes of the blues scale, so there's sooooo many examples in blues inspired genres like rock'n'roll, later rock, and rock-inspired music in general. smoke on the water, whole lotta love, are you gonna be my girl, you spin me round (chorus), muse - psycho, even flippin wannabe by spice girls. too many to name
Thank you for this! When you played the perfect fifth ( I didn't know it was called that ) , I was only able to think about Hans Zimmers' Man of Steel OST ( Song: What are you going to do when you're not saving the world - 30 seconds in soft piano notes. Flight , from the same OST uses that same interval with a lot more flair and power - synth, and strings I think ) Really fits, it is an uplifting tone , of hope , and the first song was during a soft moment, but Flight was when Superman flew for the first time - unleashing all that potential. Thanks for the technical explanation , really makes me appreciate Hans Zimmers' score even more! Going to try and watch out for these :)
The fifth is the typical horn sound, because without valves (which horns didn't have up until the last few centuries), you can only produce the harmonic series. The fifth (the second harmonic) is one of the few intervals that is relatively easy to produce on a horn without valves. That's why a lot of horn music to this day uses a lot of fifths, it's that powerful sound associated with chivalry, honour and heroism for literally longer than we have written records of music. This interval was used to announce cavalry charges on the battlefield or kings arriving at court. So it is quite suited for superhero movies (and a staple of the genre, both DC and Marvel have used it tons in a lot of their movies). It is after the octave (the first harmonic) the simplest of intervals (every 3 waves of the higher tone is exactly 2 waves of the lower tone). That's why it sounds so open and clean.
The two that always helped me were "Here Comes the Bride" for Perfect 4th and the original Star Trek intro song for a Minor 7th. You offered some great examples here though!
With the string sound you had on the minor 7th, I was sure you were about to break into "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac. I don't know if it's technically an interval, but those are the notes they hit most hard in the intro so it functions as an interval.
Great vid! Thanks! (I'd studied intervals back in University days, but had forgotten the reference songs for some of them.) This vid was helpful and I appreciate the way you articulate the ideas presented.
Very helpful! I was already familiar with this concept - a high school music theory teacher did this with us - but it was really nice hearing your examples! YYZ was a perfect example for the tritone! (at least for me)
This video has made me realize that the song "Supporting Me" from the SA2 soundtrack has a giant tritone in vocal line. Definitely enhances the spooky atmosphere of the track in addition to sounding really, really cool.
The octave jump that I remember from my childhood was the beginning of "Hi, Ho" from Diney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. That opening 2 Hi - Ho were the octave jumps.
I think I found my perfect teacher! Honestly, you make learning what can be a pretty dry subject such fun. There's something about the way you teach and make your videos that really clicks for me. Thank you!
Perfect 5th: Iron Man by Black Sabbath (power chords = perfect fiths). Also the first part of of the Master of Puppets intro riff by Metallica. Power chords are everywhere in Rock and pop music. When unsure of what chord to play for a piece of music you write, just hit some good ol' fiths and they tend to be your all rounders. Also The Number of The Beast by Iron Maiden uses broken up power chords (or fifths) for the riff. Octave: Murmaider by Dethklok (the riffs consist of octave notes and pedal notes. The octaves create some awesome sounding harmonies, which are further harmonised by the other guitar, creating the melodic and (Deth)harmonic feel that most of the riffs the band comes up with have). Minor 2nd: Dead Skin Mask Slayer (and probably a multitude of other pieces by them) minor seconds also sound pretty dissonant and bands like Slayer, Cannibal Corpse and (name band that uses loads of dissonance) come up with some pretty crazy riffs just by playing semitones and often going with what sounds best (chromatic) as opposed to playing to scales or keys. Tritone: Black Sabbath (by Black Sabbath) and Raining Blood by Slayer. Dissonant as fuck and sounds terrifying when played with some distorted guitars.
Taking a perfect 5th for an octave even "spoilt" my teachings in Electric Power Systems at a high school ... Most of today's trains use pulse width modulated converters to supply the motors. Usually, the pulse frequency is kept constant throughout the entire speed range. But there is a train type where the pulse frequency is switched to a higher value during the acceleration phase. Since the pulse frequencies lie at several hundred hertz, they are very well audible ... and I thought to hear the frequency jump as an interval of an octave. So, I told my students that the pulse frequency would be switched to its double value during acceleration, and I illustrated this in diagrams ... But the next time I heard such a train accelerate, I realized: "Oops ... that isn't really an octave, it is a fifth!" And I had to change my script, both text and graphs, using the correct frequency ratio of 1:1.5 instead of 1:2 ... By the way - musical examples which help me distinguish the 5th from the octave are: Typical song endings used by Paul McCartney, who often added an upwards octave jump at the end of his vocal part (e.g. "Let It Be"), and Keith Emerson, who obviously liked to play up and down jumps of a 5th with his Moog synthesizer (e.g. in "The Endless Enigma, Part 2", just before the reprise of the vocal part). Unfortunately, I didn't think of that while listening to "my" train! But if I really want to be sure about an interval, I just sing the scale and count with my fingers ... Takes more time, but not being a professional musician, it is safer!
Perfect Fourth: The "Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, commonly known as "Here Comes the Bride". Also, the interval between open strings on the guitar and double bass. Perfect Fifth: The interval between open strings on the violin, viola, and cello.
I believe it's more efficient to just remember a song that you reaaaallly love, that is also complicated enough (for me the Jurassic Park theme) to contain (almost) all the intervals, either ascending or descending in the song, just not too complicated that it might become bewildering. In that way if that song missed any interval, I only need to remember very few more songs that cover them, which is much less of an effort.
What a great video. I had to teach ear training and sightsinging in graduate school -- and because I did electronic music and multitrack recording at an alternative college, I had never taken a proper class in it. Wow did I learn fast!!! Wish I'd had something like this to help me learn back then. I learned major sixth with "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean."
I grew up loving Movie Soundtracks and often piddle with them for fun. I was leaving intervals just as you show and it has helped me significantly. Thanks
For a minor 6th, I use "Across the Stars" by John Williams. It's Padme and Anakins love theme from the Star Wars Prequels and it's one of my favorites from that trilogy.
If you'd like to improve your perception of intervals then do consider ToneGym. They make it fun and easy to improve your ear tonegym.co?aff=2104 👂🏻🎵
And check out Part 2 to this video here: ua-cam.com/video/vJnAnrX2uXQ/v-deo.html
I hope you have a nice week
Just a way to get people to pay for something you can do yourself for free. No one should fall for this.
great video. brilliantly informative.. if I might add some constructive criticism .. the position of the mic is very distracting. maybe put it besides the piano or record with two cameras: one focused on your hands and one on your face .. otherwise .. perfect video
@@a_witcher94 "brilliantly informative" 🤣😂 you lot are weird!
@@Ana_crusis awww thanks
Fun fact: If you play the lowest and highest notes on a full-size piano, that interval is a Minor 52nd!
Wow.
(Happily throws fact onto the massive pile of fun facts in my brain)
And this particular interval can be heard in every primary school music lesson 😏
It's more fun than a fact though
That is a fun fact. Thank you.
Imagine taking a music theory exam and hearing someone singing "all around me are familiar faces" very quietly
😂
Imagine if they started playing intervals on slap bass or sax instead.
(Too much 80s disparagement in this video... I want to see David present the next one on keytar - embrace the cheese!)
@@george474747 that would be interesting to see
@@DavidBennettPiano hello there I love your videos please keep on doing them thanks keizo tim or @keizotim
Yeah, or any exam would be great.
Alright so... here's what I use:
Minor 2nd up & down: Eyes Wide Shut piano thing
Major 2nd up: Happy Birthday
Major 2nd down: Yesterday (Beatles)
Minor 3rd up: Seven Nation Army (White Stripes)
Minor 3rd down: Hey Jude (Beatles)
Major 3rd up: Oh, When the Saints
Major 3rd down: Big Ben chimes or Summertime (Gerschwin)
Perfect 4th up: Amazing Grace
Perfect 4th down: Under Pressure bassline (Queen)
Tritone up: The Simpsons
Tritone down: Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath)
Perfect fifth up: Star Wars theme
Perfect fifth down: Game of Thrones or Zelda themes
Minor 6th up: In my life intro(Beatles)
Minor 6th down: Love Story theme
Major 6th up: Fake Plastic Trees (Radiohead)
Major 6th down: Il Était un Petit Navire
Minor 7th up: Original Star Trek Theme
Minor 7th down: Watermelon Man (Herbie Hancock)
Major 7th up & down: Popular guitar intro (Nada Surf)
Octave up: Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Octave down: Bulls on Parade (RATM)
Minor 9th up: Killing in the Name Bass thing (RATM)
And that's about it...
Good video!
If you really wanna be able to detect major 10ths, a great song for that is VCR by The XX
Our hero
Don't get him started on Yesterday!!
I don't get the min6 reference to in my life. Otherwise, great list.
Copy, paste. Thanks!
1:52 Minor 2nd - Jaws / Fur Elise
2:47 Major 2nd - Halo Theme/ Frere Jacques / Happy Birthday
3:39 Minor 3rd - Pure Imagination/ Mad World (All around me are familiar faces)
4:22 Major 3rd - Subway Surfer / Wipe Wipe Wipe It Down Wipe /(descending) Golden Wind
5:34 Perfect 4th - Amazing Grace
6:03 Tritone - Regular Show / The Simpsons
8:55 Perfect 5th - Star Wars
10:02 Minor 6th - The Entertainer / (descending) Love Story
11:54 Major 6th - Chopin - Nocturne op.9 No.2
12:52 Minor 7th - Can't Stop / Somewhere
14:16 Major 7th - Take On Me
15:35 Octave - Somewhere Over The Rainbow
16:48 Intervals beyond the octave
19:02 Minor 9th - Killing in The Name
Thanks
np
Don't know how you could leave out "Can't Stop" by RHCP for Minor 7th example. It's a much more recognisable and iconic song than Somewhere from some movie from the 60s (or was it a play) most people never heard of. The moment I hear E followed by D, i instantly hear Frusciante's intro in my head and just want to resolve it up to the E an octave up. But maybe that's just a guitarist in me talking.
@@BL00DYME55 Thanks for the suggestion, I was struggling to find one for Minor 7th
Thanks!
The chorus of "Into the Unknown" actually uses an 11th! It's the interval the third time she sings "into the unknown" and is part of what makes the song feel so epic and dangerous.
I love 7th's,9th's and 11ths
Whoa, you're right. I thought that was a tenth, but she goes all the way up to the upper 4th. Neato.
So THAT'S why I love singing it so much
As a subnautica fan I was so confused what you were on about. Then I realised you’re speaking about a song from Frozen
In the BTS, the song authors specifically cite the unusual size of the interval as what gives the melody its emotional sense of breaking free from what's traditional or comfortable.
Ad: "Regardless of what you might think, interval exercises are ineffective. It's not just my opinio-*skipped*"
David: "This video is sponsored by ToneGym. Being able to identify an interval by ear..."
*Laughed so hard*
Same xD
Lol what's there reasoning even why they are inefective?
Actually the ad made me think and I listened to it to its end. But it didn’t explain why it’s ineffective. Maybe learning to recognize which note in the scale we’re listening to is more effective than learning intervals. I don’t know.
@@PedroMachadoPT Don’t do anything, ever, because it’s hard for someone.
@@error50012 Go watch the video “why you don’t want perfect pitch” by adam neely, it’s quite interesting. Basically, interval training is not ineffective, but there are other skills that you should be training as well.
Minor 3rd
Me: Ah yes, Crazy Frog
David: Mad World
Me: That works too
This is so helpful
Axe f
Definitely, I heard Axel F then he starts playing Mad World!
lmao, this is now my reference point
When he started, I thought Send in the Clowns lol. Heard that ad nauseam growing up.
"Take on Me" is brilliant. I always recognize the major seventh simply by its proximity to the octave, but that's a really great example that I had never thought of.
Fun fact: A perfect fifth sounds similar to an octave because when played in produces an octave undertone or subharmonic of the fundamental note.
Science is cool 🤓
1-5 => power chord, because science :)
Finally, a logical explanation! Thanks
@@318h7 It's 2 over 3. If you play the rhythm with your hands, it's obvious - the frequencies "sync up" on every other oscilliation of the lowest. So the "synced" oscilliations are at half the frequency of the lowest note, one octave below. More dissonant intervals will create lower pitch undertones for this reason, i.e. the longer the time between each synced oscilliation, the lower the note produced. Sorry about the non-technical language, these are not concepts I have been taught.
@@polyphony250 that sounds correct, and that's the reason there is a distinct throbbing in a minor 2nd or, stronger still, in a just slightly out-of-tune unison
David's Examples:
Minor 2nd: Jaws Theme - John Williams
Major 2nd: Frère Jacques - traditional
Minor 3rd: Mad World - Tears for Fears (But it Really should have been Axel F by Harold Faltermeyer)
Major 3rd: Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder / Let's Dance - David Bowie
Perfect 4th: Summer Nights - from Grease
Tritone: YYZ - Rush / The Simpsons Theme - Danny Elfman
Perfect 5th: Star Wars Title Crawl Theme - John Williams / ET Theme - John Williams
Minor 6th: Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty / The Entertainer - Scott Joplin
Major 6th: The Holly and the Ivy (Christmas song) - traditional
Minor 7th: Somewhere - Leonard Bernstein, from West Side Story / Bass from Can't Stop - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Major 7th: Take on Me - A-ha
Octave: Somewhere Over the Rainbow - from The Wizard of Oz
Minor 9th: Killing in the Name - Rage Against the Machine
Yeah, I really thought he was going to go with Axel F based on the notes he played for the minor 3rd.
Major 6th: the first verse of Jingle Bells at the word "dashing".
@@woutere Good one. “O’er the” (fields we go).
The Shins’ James Mercer sings some very wide intervals, like in the song Phantom Limb
I was thinking Axel F too
"Into the Unknown" from Frozen features intervals of an octave, 9th, 10th, and even an 11th in its masterful chorus. In the BTS, the song authors specifically cite the unusual size of the interval as what gives the melody its emotional sense of breaking free from what's traditional or comfortable.
The wider interval is right at the end, sung by Aurora
I was wondering why I loved that track so much! It's beautiful, even though I don't remember much else about the movie.
You don't listen to opera much do you?
@@thesoubretteoftheopera7313 you can be less pretentious. Weirdo
@@gamechimp869 Weird and pretentious for the basic knowledge that people can sing more than a fifth? Also big talk coming from an industry that considers Lloyd Webber "beneath them".
I've been playing guitar (badly, but I enjoyed it), for the past thirty years. Watched hundreds if not thousands of of videos. Got a basic understanding of music. Stumbled on your website and in six months I have improved a thousand fold. Thank you,your a true breathe of fresh air. Keep up the good work.
best thing I can say is learn C maj scale and how to hear these intervals. C Maj forms the foundation for all the other modes and makes it VERY easy to learn them while knowing the intervals by ear will let you more easily ear learn songs or when writing, allow you to know how to get the right feel or emotion for something you want to play
fun fact: you can use Somewhere Over The Rainbow to identify the octave (some-where), the major sixth (way-up), *and* the minor sixth (there's-a).
Nice! You can also use various Star Wars tunes to identify most of these intervals. The Force theme for a perfect 4th, Han and Leia's theme for a major 6th, The Emperor's theme for a minor 3rd, and the Love theme from AOTC for a minor 6th. :)
And minor 7th - 'over'
@@EmpiricalPragmatist I always use these too! I just didn't know what the actual themes were called lol
@@EmpiricalPragmatist also, the cantina band is really useful for perfect 4ths
Minor Third: “Someday I’ll wish upon a star”
Was mentally preparing to hear you talking about the tritone being the Devil's chord, and then you mentioned Neely, and I was unreasonably happy about that.
@@JimmyTulip1 it's not well known?
6:31 *BULLSHITE~*
@@JimmyTulip1 It's a not a myth... Adam Neely is a woke lefty that lies about shit in his vids (see: White Supremacy vid).
@@VanessaHolguin It is a myth. You are right about Adam being a woke lefty but that doesnt make everything he says false.
@@informant09 It *was* banned. Just because a #4th existed in pieces from that period doesn't mean it wasn't still thought of as the devil's interval and banned by the church.
THAT is the lie. Sure it existed. Yes it was used. To pretend the church didn't ban it in many places in Europe is an outright denial of reality (but that's what woke leftist's do... try to change word meaning, history [Virginia statues say hello], and of course... minimize anything church related).
An example using both the octave and the tritone is Black Sabbath's "Black Sabbath".
E - E - A#
So maybe this is the Devil's work after all ! (jk)
Now I know about the tritone, I appreciate the irony of The Simpsons welcoming us with a heavenly choir and background using such a devillish sounding musical arrangement.
I find a lot of comedic / wacky music will lean on those tense moments to resolve.
The Simpson's and "Maria" from WestvSide Story are strange identical twins.
David, can you do a video analyzing this theme song? Please!!?! I tried to analyze it once as a youth and I gave up. All I remember is that it's in Lydian.
***Reverend Lovejoy has left the chat***
Danny Elfman knew what he was doing
Some songs that I use:
m3 - Seven Nation Army, Greensleeves
M3 - Oh When the Saints
P4 - Bridal Chorus ("Here comes the bride")
Tritone - Maria (West Side Story)
P5: Twinkle Twinkle
M6: Jingle Bells ("Dashing through the snow"), My Bonnie
Greemsleeves
THIS IS SO HELPFUL
Such a great reference tool. I remember learning similar techniques in choir. We never learned the minor intervals just the major, though I can always recognize minor thirds. We were taught the “doorbell” for major thirds and the song “Taps” for major fourths.
John Williams REALLY likes his major fifths. The Superman Theme also uses that.
I came here to see if anyone else uses doorbell and Superman!
How about Come As You Are by Nirvana for a Perfect 4th?
In choir I learned the rising major sixth is My Bo(nnie Lies Over the Ocean.) And “Do, a deer, a female deer” gives both rising and falling major thirds. Both ones I’ve never forgotten. I like most of his examples, though a few were too recent for me.
I was wondering if anybody else would bring up Superman too. :) Though I usually use it to remember how the major 7th goes.
Ha, we used "Here Comes the Bride" for perfect fourths. And then my music professor in college said to be cautious using that one, since it's Sol->Do, not Do->Fa. Still works, but it's a different vibe.
For our 4ths in choir our teacher uses "here come the bride", specifically the "here comes" part! Neat to see other choirs do this too. Also when we were doing a chromatic scale in one of our songs she used the Jaws theme.
Also, Maj 6th: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean ( first two notes ).
Black Orpheus by Bonfá
YES THIS IS WHAT I DO TOO
I learned it with My Bonnie....
53 years ago. I still remember that lesson. A light went on
Thank you... I don't know "Holly and the Ivy". I'm american, maybe it isn't as big here for xmas stuff?
The downside of this: you then have My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean stuck in your head for the next five fucking hours ;)
As you were talking about Mad World, you said, "it's going.." and my daughter just blurts out "going nowhere!" and I didn't even know that she knew that song. It was an awesome moment. Thank you for that.
I live in central Europe, in the Czech Republic and because of that, the major 6 interval actually to me sounds perfectly stable and consonant. It is often used in our folk songs, when there's more then one voice. The voices often go in major (or minor) thirds and major sixths, and often without "resolving" to e.g. a P.5. at the end of a song, and it's been like that for centuries. It's quite interesting to note, because compared to this, christian chant music (gregorian chants, etc.) in history uses almost exlusively the "cleanest", most stable intervals - the octave the P5 and the P4 (with occasionally using thirds).
Kterou písničku máš na mysli, co se týče tý sexty? :D
@@nakejtypek1829 Hej, prakticky každá druhá lidovka, či její sborová úprava (od dětství zpívám ve sboru, takže toho mám naposlouchaného hodně). Tzv. lidový dvojhlas je, když se k původnímu hlasu souběžně zpívají tercie nebo sexty, čili to má dokonce i název. Jako příklad uvedu např. Nepi Jano, nebo Chodila Maryška.
Interesting. Ca you name some exemplary songs that I can listen to on UA-cam?
thanks
That's so cool to know. I compose for community theater, and sometimes I'm asked to come up with music that evokes a place and time, and I like to study traditional music from the region and pick up things that give them their unique flavor. I'll file this in my Czechia box! (My sister-in-law is Czech, and therefore so are my nephews, usually spending at least part of their summers in Prague. Funny we've never talked about Czech music.)
I wish people also showed songs where the interval descends rather than ascends
That song from Love Story is perfect for a minor 6th down, for instance.
I thought the same. Off the top of my head, there is Fur Elise and Yesterday for descending minor and major seconds respectively.
@@deyama2012 _Yesterday_ begins with three notes on the same pitch. Listen to the Beatles original.
@@JiveDadson yes but I think he does it in the 2nd verse. Good observation though
Flintstones, meet the Flintstones. Perfect fifth down.
I really appreciate that you went to the effort of naming the intervals in the font and style of the movie poster. That visual cue really helps with my memory
i was SURE you were gonna do Dr Who for the minor 9th
Same here.
Same
'Need to' by Korn
1:13 I thought he was going into Shine On You Crazy Diamond
rage all the way
Nice simple examples. As a music teacher, I’d love to see your examples for descending intervals, we only ever do ascending choices.
Yeah, I always watch that, to make sure I don't skimp on the descending. For minor third and major 2nd, I use the line from Somewhere over the Rainbow, 'if happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow'
But I also try to hear the inversion inside the interval. So if I hear a minor third, I want to hear the major 6th at the same time.
Radiohead - The National Anthem
has descending maj3 min3 and maj2 all in the same riff!
fun fact: Gangsta Rap - Nigga Nigga Nigga is a rather astute example of OP's point.
David uses YYZ by Rush as an example of a tritone interval. This is actually a descending interval, although he used it as ascending.
Not sure if any other commenters mentioned this, but the YYZ “vamp” you brought up for the Tritone is actually the letters YYZ in Morse code. The dots are the tonic and the dashes are the tritone. As always, great video and thanks for being an awesome music theory resource!!
I love Morse code in music! Another example is the Mission Impossible riff which is based on the Morse for "M.I."
Rats! I was coming here to say that. I snoozed, I loozed. :-D
@@DavidBennettPiano ooh nice! Future video topic maybe??
But Jeff, what about the airport?
@@DavidBennettPiano The best example I know is "Waves" by the french singer Camille. The background vocals literally sing "dot" and "dash" spelling out "show me the waves". ua-cam.com/video/S0PMZg8lZ-M/v-deo.html
Ah! How times have changed! When I was in music school this is how we learned them: m2- train sound, M2- beginning of M scale, m3- Brahms Lullaby, M3 From the Halls of Montezuma, P4- Here Comes the Bride, Aug4- Maria(West Side Story) P5-Twinkle Twinkle, m6 Where Do I Begin? (Love Story) M6 My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean or the NBC logo, m7 - There's a Place for Us (West Side Story) M7- Bali Hai (South Pacific). However, for teaching purposes now, new examples would be needed for those who did not grow up with those musicals. Thank you!
Interesting; I also thought of the NBC jingle, though I'm only 33.
LOL these are the songs I use to this day… M7 Bali Hai is not familiar to me but Take on Me is😊 this is a good video
@@tammyrobinson6409 ua-cam.com/video/81NROmUb7o0/v-deo.html the Bali Hai interval is at 42 seconds.
@@jaroslaval9159 thank you… I can hear the M7 interval perfectly
@@tammyrobinson6409 Great!
Black Sabbath, the song, is G. Octave G and then mashing the tritone. The main riff is just TWO notes. Entirety of Metal is built on this interval but it's also called a "blue" note because the diminished fifth is the one note Blues scale adds to the Pentatonic.
So if it sounds like blBlues or Metal, it's the tritone.
I'm on (the older) team Axel F for a Minor 3rd. Coming up in the 80's it was unavoidable!
That one has a bunch of nice clean intervals both up and down, which was a definite help while learning theory 35+ years ago.
As soon as I heard it I started singing it and got distracted
-"Smoke on the Water" for m3-
Ditto! I also immediately thought of Top Gun for the perfect 5th, and given how the other two examples were movies from 1977 & 1982, I thought for sure he'd incorporate it.
Oh well, he's a young one. ;)
No joke, that's what first came to mind for me.
Great video! I'd love to see a sequel where intervals are compared in ascending and descending forms. Even good musicians are sometimes thrown when they hear an interval moving in the opposite direction to the example they've memorized.
^ This! Invaluable sequel
Indeed
Min 7th is also Star Trek, the tv show theme ( 1st two notes ).
That's the one I hear. When he added the second example and said he grew up with it, I thought for sure Star Trek was coming out. heh
@@jeremyowens3319 That's funny, when I heard the sound he chose I immediately thought of The Chain
especially since that sounds almost EXACTLY like Lindsey's(sp?) guitar.
@@S0loChr1st0 interesting
Nah. With that tone he had its immediately Josie by Steely Dan
Thanks so much for this. I was doing an interval training app and felt really stuck just trying to listen to the tones without mental associations. Now I hear Jaws and Let’s Dance and I immediately started improving. I am doing to to try and get better at music in order to express myself, so you really helped me with that. thank you.
This might be one of the MOST USEFUL music-related UA-cam videos I have ever come across. It is pitch perfect (if you'll excuse the pun!) Also fantastic thumbnail! Will be coming back to this again and again when composing, transcribing, recording... and will probably share this with my friends for all eternity hahhaha. P.S. Radiohead's new song If You Say The Word starts with a major third!! (Eb to G, in the key of C minor)
Thank you!!!
Totally agree!
This is a common well known technique for ear training. There's a list online by Earmaster on ascending and descending intervals with you tube URLs.
@@Ana_crusis you know what's also common, tools like you..
@@miller13ico *yawn* sure kiddy. Some people can't accept information. Like you. They prefer to remain stupid
Back in the 60's my Mom - a music teacher - taught me intervals with songs - I learned the major 6'th as the first two notes of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean. We mostly had to use different songs back then - lol
Can you tell me the si gs she used? I don’t know many of the the songs he’s using
Same. Also the Wedding March for perfect 4th.
This is how I learned in the 1980s. The major 7th was “Somewhere” from
West Side Story.
Damn you played the minor third and I completed it in my mind with Cruel Angels Thesis
Great video!
It’s really cool to see how many chords are shared by very different songs! Here’s my personal list:
Min. 2nd - Jaws
Maj. 2nd - Happy Birthday
Min. 3rd - Oh Canada/Greensleeves
Maj. 3rd - Oh When the Saints
Per. 4th - Amazing Grace
Per. 5th - Star Wars
Min. 6th - The Entertainer
Maj. 6th - My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
Min. 7th - The Winner Takes It All
Maj. 7th - Take On Me
Per. Octave - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
Thanks for the vid!
Just for fun - what would your Augmented 4th be?
@@jsabados Never had one before this video; doing piano exams and Tritone hasn’t been required yet
@@jsabados Recently I am listening a lot to Donald Byrd - Onward 'Til Morning, which I believe is in the key of C# minor.
The bass and main vibe regularly jumps up to G natural, then progresses back down to C#. Augmented 4th!
I use "Here Comes the Bride" to identify a perfect fourth. I think of the first two notes of "Maria" (from "West Side Story") to identify a tritone. I am only at the beginning of this video but I'm already finding it helpful and kinda fun. Thanks!
I always use Mozart's Eine kleine Nachtmusik. I simply cannot NOT hear it.
Yes! I've always, always used "Maria" as the example of a tritone -- the West Side Story score is actually spilling over with tritones, all over the place -- and I was shocked it wasn't mentioned. :)
I use the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
@@namibia584 Good one! Several perfect fourths in a row!
@@snicky58 There's also "Take off Ya Hoser."
I'm a huge advocate for learning theory in context- in a more musical way, that's both more enjoyable and makes more sense. I think this approach is invaluable and brilliant. Another one that I thought of is the Universal theme for the perfect fifth.
The way I remember a perfect 5th is "someBODY", thats all I need
Thanks, you have now ruined Star Wars for me forever.
Oh yeah? WHEN I WAS is a Perfect 4th. Fuck any of your other songs you claim on that interval, homie.
Comment of the year here, folks
This is also my go to example for a pickup beat
fuck you I love it xD
I sat through all of this and was able to pay attention the whole time which is rare so thank you for making this!
I'd love to see a companion video where you show some examples of descending intervals. (Since audiating backwards is hard.)
Good idea. Has one up now
minor 6th, "Love Story" theme, first two notes
18:54 Widest vocal interval I've found: P11 up (G3 to C5), Sleeping with Sirens - If You Can't Hang pre-chorus: "There's **the door / Aah**"
ua-cam.com/video/_UwWYtLWEZg/v-deo.html
wait i actually really needed this im taking a music theory exam in december and recognizing intervals is part of it so thank you so much ❤️❤️
Great!!
All the best 🙌🏽❤️
I'm really surprised your teachers haven't suggested this technique
@@Ana_crusis she has i'd just rather learn about it in video form
@@nat91307 that's silly you don't do ear training in "video form" . This just wants you to pay for something you can do for free.
The only way to practice recognising intervals is to do it, not listen to videos
David. You’re an amazing teacher. I’m an non-musician and I appreciate what yo do. Learning much as I watch you.
I’m so grateful for my choir teacher teaching me some of these in middle school, as they helped me with choir and learning music in the future. Here are the ones I remember being taught:
m2 - Jaws
M2 - Happy Birthday
m3 - Greensleeves
M3 - When the Saints Go Marching
P4 - Here Comes the Bride
TT - Maria/The Simpsons Theme
P5 - Twinkle Twinkle Little Star/Alphabet Song/Baa Baa Black Sheep
m6 - forgot :/
M6 - NBC Theme/My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean
m7 - forgot this one too! oh well.
M7 - Take On Me
P8 - Somewhere Over the Rainbow
18:52 I believe "Defying Gravity" from the movie "Wicked" has a major 11th in it, between the words "the rules" near the start, in "I'm tired of playing by *the rules* of someone else's game".
defying gravity also has a massive leap at the end on the word "down", i dont remember what the interval is exactly but it was drilled into me at gcse haha
I’m not even a musician , but I got this video in my recommended , and it’s really interesting and calming .
The moment David played the major 10th I instantly heard Romy singing in my head : "You, you used to have all the answers / And you, you still have them too". Major 10th: The XX's VCR... ♥️
I hear many melodies in my head but don’t know how to translate them. This type of video is essential for someone like me. Thank you, infinitely.
I'm a beginner (guitar) & I'm trying to absorb all the many aspects of music. This is bloody genius. Cheers ✌
It's interesting to me that minor thirds sound more tense going up (Mad World, Greensleeves), and more resolved coming down (Hey Jude, the Star Spangled Banner), while major thirds sound more consonant going up (When the Saints come Marching in, Kumbaya) and more dissonant coming down (Beethoven's 5th, Imperial March).
This has everything to do with the function of the interval within the chord. (Hey Jude is the distance beteeen 5 and 3 of the major chord). This immediately showcases the risk of this method. Be aware of the context.
Also Brahms lullaby is a minor third (I think). Kinda funny
Very wise response. Thank you, Bekahoot. I agree.
West Side Story is truly a treasure trove of weird intervals, I also use Maria for the tritone
same "Maria"..."The Simpsons" :D
Maria is perfect for Tritown star… If you’re familiar with the song of course!… The other great one from Westside story is the first two notes of there’s a place for us which I think is called somewhere… That’s great for a minor seventh… There’s a place for us
You are a most intelligent young sage. I am very well entertained by your delivery. Kudos fellow musician/musicologist. I have been teaching for decades and you have got the gift! The theory mystery continues...
I don't wanna sound weird, but I really appreciate the para-social relationship I've created with you since I found your channel. I've said this before in your videos, and I'll say it again: as a harmonica teacher I usually struggle making music theory easy for my students, but your content really helps me getting the right definitions for every concept. So, once again, thank you very much for your beautiful work.
Cheers from Temuco, Chile!
Just don’t let it go to your head! XD
Thanks for using the American terminology as well as the British terminology. I teach college music classes and your demonstrations are very good. When I use your videos for my lessons my students get to hear BOTH the American term and the UK term.
I was so convinced you'd go for 'The Chain' by Fleetwood Mac for the minor 7th. The sound matches so well, and it's in the same key too.
From the instrument selection i though that was he he was going too.
Yeah same tbh
i literally just commented the same thing lol
ua-cam.com/video/JDG2m5hN1vo/v-deo.html
Thanks David! 🙌
As soon as you played the minor seventh, I thought “Josie” by Steely Dan. Thanks again!
So did I.
Me too!!! That also kind of shows my age!!!
Oh good it wasn't just me.
Ditto! love that song
I couldn't think of the name, but as soon as I heard it I was like "That's a Steely Dan song"
I'm 2:32 in and this video is a goldmine! thanks for the great lesson AND the great, no-frills delivery!
Thanks!!
I wonder how many people have you helped so far to create music or study, but the answer I think is A LOT of people, I just needed to find a major third interval, and couldn't find something that will stay in my head as it happens to me with other intervals, so thank you so much.
I send you a big hug from Mexico City. 🤍
Thank you!
I learned the major third as ‘While Shepherds Watched’
@@aDifferentJT Thank you so much for the extra recommendation. ⭐
2nd and 3rd note of the American national anthem is a major third. Both directions!
Algunos himnos latinoamericanos comienzan con un intervalo de tercera mayor, y el de México no es excepción. Por lo que veo en la partitura, la primera palabra "Me-xi-ca-nos" es la tríada Do-Mi-Sol, por ende un intervalo de 3ra mayor y 5ta justa ;)
For old-timers, the best minor 3rd is "Five Foot Two", perfect fourth is "Here Comes the Bride" and major 6th is "My Bonnie lies over the ocean".
Thanks! I am too old to identify some of Bennet's song examples!
So now I'm officially an old-timer...
Im so happy i have found this. Ive been in music scho for 8 years and i never knew how to get rhese right but now i do. I am preparing for audicions for music conservatory and i really needed this. Thank you very much!
Here are some of the ones I use (where different from David's):
Minor 3rd 1st 2 notes of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" riff
Major 3rd Opening theme of Beethoven's "Eroica" symphony (1st 2 notes)
Perfect 4th drums in 2nd movement of Beethoven's 4th, opening flourishes of Mozart's "Jupiter" symphony
Perfect 5th 1st 2 notes of Metallica's "One" guitar intro
Minor 6th 1st 2 notes of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" (the famous Tristan chord)
Major 6th "In My Life" by the Beatles (the words "some remain")
Minor 7th 1st 2 notes sung in "Star Trek" theme
Live long and prosper, Aaron G ! 🖖
perfect 5th example and probably the easiest to remember in my opinion is the last post. the opening is Bb. it also has the octave as the 3rd note and d as the 10th interval. a pretty good example
**Warning: possible intense, fan-level bias shown in this comment. You have been warned.** 😂
For the perfect 5th example, and staying with the Williams discography, is the Superman theme. Someone mentioned paying just as much attention to descending intervals, and the beginning of "Superman" has both descending and ascending perfect 5ths as well as a descending octave. In fact, if you listen to most of the soundtrack, Williams has those obvious, notable intervals strung throughout, including the love theme.
Even in his theme for Lex Luthor, there are catchy intervals that highlight the smarminess of that character.
Like I said in the "warning", I have a bit of a fan-level "bias". I have listened to that particular soundtrack since I was around 5 or 6. 😅 I could even tell the difference between the themes for "Superman" and "Star Wars," and I knew most kids my age wouldn't be able to do that.
I actually ran to grab pen and paper and write all this down when I saw the notification on my phone. I am not studying music at all, but this is really useful information to have.
Also, when you played the Minor 7th interval, The Chain by Fleetwood Mac was all I could think of
Felt crazy because that's what I heard too, but couldn't figure out where exactly in the song it is
@@excelsior501 the riff at the very beginning of the song
Very well known example of a tenth interval in popular music: the iconic bass line of Lou Reed's 'Walk on the Wild Side', recorded by Herbie Flowers. It's actually two separate bass parts, one on upright bass, and one on electric. It's a beautiful interval on bass.
I think Indiscipline by King Crimson uses it too (among others), but spread among different instruments.
Fully agree, love the tenth on bass! Especially on fretless with some reverb, so mellow.
this was actually super helpful and I've been playing instruments for 8 years, genuinely didn't understand how people knew this but wow its super simple
For me these are the themes I assosiate (sometimes you need a low and a high one, or one going up and one going down).
Minor 2nd: Jaws, Jurassic Park
Major 2nd: Toad's Factory (Mario Kart Wii)
Minor 3rd: ...
Major 3rd: Harry Potter
Perfect 4th: Anything that starts on the 5th and goes to the 1st, Legend of Zelda
Tritone: Back to the Future (second interval)
Perfect 5th: Back to the Future (first interval), ET, Schindler's List
Minor 6th: Across the Stars (Star Wars), Superman (intro section)
Major 6th: Leia's Theme (Star Wars)
Minor 7th: ...
Major 7th: Superman (ending of main theme)
Octave: Somewhere over the Rainbow
Minor 9th: Doctor Who Theme
I really need a minor 7th used in something I actually know... A minor 3rd I can live without, it's easy enough to recognise.
m7 = star trek, m3 = smoke on the water
Minor 7th, I use the chain by Fleetwood Mac
Minor seventh for me is the main theme of shine on you crazy diamond from pink Floyd. At 4:04 of the music
Or, Hysteria by muse
For minor third i use “le velo pour doux” by the Brobecks!
Long ago a music student I knew told me to think of the Wedding March to memorize the perfect 4th and perfect 5th. 1-444, 1-5-1-4. It worked for me! :)
Another fifth is the first notes from the very old TV-series Ivanhoe. First notes of Two of Us by The Beatles are also iconic. Funny how we 'know' intervals in ascending order. I suddenly wondered about the famous first notes of Beethovens Fifth Symphony (of which I once read it was 'Fate knocking on the door'). Very inspiring video. (Edited the order of the sentences).
Two of Us by The Beatles doesn't start with a perfect 5th it's a major 6th. and Beethoven's Fifth is a major third
@@Ana_crusis ' Another' in my comment refers to the one mentioned in the video. I was very much aware the other two examples in my comment weren't fifths. An F for me for clarity, an A for trust in the reader.
@@fritsvanzanten3573ok. it wasn't clear. Looked like you were saying they were all 5ths
@@Ana_crusis Yes, my fault ;-)
You mention Beethovens fifth symphony during a discussion of intervals and then say "another 5th" after that. Beethovens 5th symphony starts with a descending major 3rd. Not sure if you meant to word it the way you did or were confused about the interval or not...just wanted to clarify for everyone else.
Tenths are great. I love them and I use them. A guitar teacher of mine, Serge Lazarevitch, taught us that tenths somehow almost sound like a chord, rather than just an interval. I can hear what he meant when I use them. Bach wrote fantastic things in tenths, as did so many other classical composers, but those amazing structures can also be found in Paul McCartney's Beatles classic, Blackbird. I also love hearing it in the Foo Fighters' Walking After You. It's a bit of a magical chord-like interval, waiting to be needed as the right addition to the song, or be the basis for a song. Rocking regards to all, BBH
The Star Wars theme and Somewhere Over the Rainbow were my choice of songs for 5th and octave too! Great choices for all the rest! Thanks David!
for the Octave I just always imagine the bassline from Autobahn, which just moves between the interval of the octave for the entire time it plays during the song (though not for all 22 minutes)
The 5th to me is always Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
i'm excited for this video
I wish I would have taken music theory in college. Your videos reveal a hidden world to me and make me feel smarter.
I grew up being able to do this and I thought it was just something everyone could do. Wow I never knew that it was valued in any way
"Stupid slap bass"... oh no, you've awoken Davie
to be fair, that keyboard did have a terrible slap bass sound
NOT EPIC
@@ISuperI
I'm calling the Police.
SLAP!
Keyboard vs bass battle!
RHCP- Scar Tissue opening 2 notes are what lodges in my mind for the 10th, also love the video man!
Loved the fact that you gave great song examples to back your clear explanations of each music interval. Definitely, looking forward to more tutorials like this from you. Thank you!
I was genuinely taken back when the Minor 3rd wasn't Axel F. It seems so perfect to me, since it plays the A, the C, and then the A twice more. Really vivid sound. And my go-to for the perfect fifth is Something In The Way by Nirvana. The opening is just Kurt Cobain playing the very stripped back A5 and F5
I thought it would be Clair de Lune
@@GoatCat_ but...
@@elegantwaffle257 I see what you mean. It’s more of a chord than an interval
minor 3rd is the first 2 notes of the blues scale, so there's sooooo many examples in blues inspired genres like rock'n'roll, later rock, and rock-inspired music in general. smoke on the water, whole lotta love, are you gonna be my girl, you spin me round (chorus), muse - psycho, even flippin wannabe by spice girls. too many to name
For a major 2nd I would have picked “So This is Love” from Cinderella, it even rocks helpfully back and forth between the 1 and 2.
Thank you for this!
When you played the perfect fifth ( I didn't know it was called that ) , I was only able to think about Hans Zimmers' Man of Steel OST ( Song: What are you going to do when you're not saving the world - 30 seconds in soft piano notes. Flight , from the same OST uses that same interval with a lot more flair and power - synth, and strings I think )
Really fits, it is an uplifting tone , of hope , and the first song was during a soft moment, but Flight was when Superman flew for the first time - unleashing all that potential.
Thanks for the technical explanation , really makes me appreciate Hans Zimmers' score even more!
Going to try and watch out for these :)
Sigh… The _original_ Superman (1977) had the strongest major fifth intervals _ever._
The fifth is the typical horn sound, because without valves (which horns didn't have up until the last few centuries), you can only produce the harmonic series. The fifth (the second harmonic) is one of the few intervals that is relatively easy to produce on a horn without valves. That's why a lot of horn music to this day uses a lot of fifths, it's that powerful sound associated with chivalry, honour and heroism for literally longer than we have written records of music. This interval was used to announce cavalry charges on the battlefield or kings arriving at court. So it is quite suited for superhero movies (and a staple of the genre, both DC and Marvel have used it tons in a lot of their movies). It is after the octave (the first harmonic) the simplest of intervals (every 3 waves of the higher tone is exactly 2 waves of the lower tone). That's why it sounds so open and clean.
The two that always helped me were "Here Comes the Bride" for Perfect 4th and the original Star Trek intro song for a Minor 7th. You offered some great examples here though!
Nice
I use these too. Although for the perfect 4th I sometimes think of a song from Indiana Jones The Last Crusade.
This lesson made me smile the whole way through in how crystalized intervals in my mind.
God, I love this. Thank you for making it so extremely educational.
Thanks for watching!
I've been a professional musician most of my life. I always learn something from your videos. Thanks for another great lesson.
Thanks Jamie!
Right?? I've been playing for 15 years now and still constantly earning
With the string sound you had on the minor 7th, I was sure you were about to break into "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac. I don't know if it's technically an interval, but those are the notes they hit most hard in the intro so it functions as an interval.
same here
I hear Josie!
I heard The Chain too!
Same!
It was so obviously The Chain. Even the sound he had on the synthesizer sounded just like it. Lol
Great vid! Thanks! (I'd studied intervals back in University days, but had forgotten the reference songs for some of them.) This vid was helpful and I appreciate the way you articulate the ideas presented.
Very helpful! I was already familiar with this concept - a high school music theory teacher did this with us - but it was really nice hearing your examples! YYZ was a perfect example for the tritone! (at least for me)
This video has made me realize that the song "Supporting Me" from the SA2 soundtrack has a giant tritone in vocal line. Definitely enhances the spooky atmosphere of the track in addition to sounding really, really cool.
The octave jump that I remember from my childhood was the beginning of "Hi, Ho" from Diney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. That opening 2 Hi - Ho were the octave jumps.
I think I found my perfect teacher! Honestly, you make learning what can be a pretty dry subject such fun. There's something about the way you teach and make your videos that really clicks for me. Thank you!
Perfect 5th: Iron Man by Black Sabbath (power chords = perfect fiths). Also the first part of of the Master of Puppets intro riff by Metallica. Power chords are everywhere in Rock and pop music. When unsure of what chord to play for a piece of music you write, just hit some good ol' fiths and they tend to be your all rounders. Also The Number of The Beast by Iron Maiden uses broken up power chords (or fifths) for the riff.
Octave: Murmaider by Dethklok (the riffs consist of octave notes and pedal notes. The octaves create some awesome sounding harmonies, which are further harmonised by the other guitar, creating the melodic and (Deth)harmonic feel that most of the riffs the band comes up with have).
Minor 2nd: Dead Skin Mask Slayer (and probably a multitude of other pieces by them) minor seconds also sound pretty dissonant and bands like Slayer, Cannibal Corpse and (name band that uses loads of dissonance) come up with some pretty crazy riffs just by playing semitones and often going with what sounds best (chromatic) as opposed to playing to scales or keys.
Tritone: Black Sabbath (by Black Sabbath) and Raining Blood by Slayer. Dissonant as fuck and sounds terrifying when played with some distorted guitars.
Taking a perfect 5th for an octave even "spoilt" my teachings in Electric Power Systems at a high school ... Most of today's trains use pulse width modulated converters to supply the motors. Usually, the pulse frequency is kept constant throughout the entire speed range. But there is a train type where the pulse frequency is switched to a higher value during the acceleration phase. Since the pulse frequencies lie at several hundred hertz, they are very well audible ... and I thought to hear the frequency jump as an interval of an octave.
So, I told my students that the pulse frequency would be switched to its double value during acceleration, and I illustrated this in diagrams ... But the next time I heard such a train accelerate, I realized: "Oops ... that isn't really an octave, it is a fifth!" And I had to change my script, both text and graphs, using the correct frequency ratio of 1:1.5 instead of 1:2 ...
By the way - musical examples which help me distinguish the 5th from the octave are: Typical song endings used by Paul McCartney, who often added an upwards octave jump at the end of his vocal part (e.g. "Let It Be"), and Keith Emerson, who obviously liked to play up and down jumps of a 5th with his Moog synthesizer (e.g. in "The Endless Enigma, Part 2", just before the reprise of the vocal part). Unfortunately, I didn't think of that while listening to "my" train!
But if I really want to be sure about an interval, I just sing the scale and count with my fingers ... Takes more time, but not being a professional musician, it is safer!
Kudos for working in PWM here. Love it.
my trick to telling the fifth and octave apart is to think of the beginning of Baba O'Riley, where it goes ff-cc-ff-cc-ff-cc-ff-cc
Perfect Fourth: The "Bridal Chorus" from Lohengrin by Richard Wagner, commonly known as "Here Comes the Bride". Also, the interval between open strings on the guitar and double bass.
Perfect Fifth: The interval between open strings on the violin, viola, and cello.
What a great teacher! -so clear and articulate.
The major tenth is used in Scar Tissue by RHCP right at the beginning.
Came here to say the same thing. Iconic riff
Thanks, I was struggling to remember the name of this song - but it was the first example that came into my head as well!
Thanks for that. Therefore would Road Trippin be a minor tenth?
I believe it's more efficient to just remember a song that you reaaaallly love, that is also complicated enough (for me the Jurassic Park theme) to contain (almost) all the intervals, either ascending or descending in the song, just not too complicated that it might become bewildering. In that way if that song missed any interval, I only need to remember very few more songs that cover them, which is much less of an effort.
What a great video. I had to teach ear training and sightsinging in graduate school -- and because I did electronic music and multitrack recording at an alternative college, I had never taken a proper class in it. Wow did I learn fast!!! Wish I'd had something like this to help me learn back then. I learned major sixth with "My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean."
I grew up loving Movie Soundtracks and often piddle with them for fun. I was leaving intervals just as you show and it has helped me significantly. Thanks
For a minor 6th, I use "Across the Stars" by John Williams. It's Padme and Anakins love theme from the Star Wars Prequels and it's one of my favorites from that trilogy.
Brilliant video, I was hoping you would make one of these from your point of view
Thanks!
Dude you’re a World Heritage for humanity in music 🎼! Thank you so much !