Interval recognition hacks!

Tuesday, November 29, 2022 by Alix Evans | theory

Some of my students are working with me on interval recognition - being able to recognize and sing specific intervals like octaves, perfect 5ths and 4ths, major and minor 2nds, 3rds, 6ths, and 7ths.  This is a great tool to have when learning to sight-sing!

One of the most common ways to remember what a specific interval sounds like is to associate the interval with a familiar song.  For instance, a lot of people associate the perfect 5th with the opening to the "Star Wars" theme (whereas my geeky self associates it with the opening to almost every song ever written by Hildegard of Bingen!  🤣)

Check out this Wikipedia page for an amazing list of songs that correspond to musical intervals!  It's almost certain that you'll find a song you know well for every interval.

(Also a note for the uber geeks:  the first entry for "ascending minor third" is "A Cruel Angel's Thesis," the opening song to the classic anime "Neon Genesis Evangelion."  Just in case you were wondering if there could be anything geekier than my Hildegard association - yes.  Yes there is.  Of course, NGE is one of my all-time favorite animes, and I do still have the lyrics to the opening song memorized in Japanese, so I'm not throwing any stones here!)