Identification and Construction

There are more reliable, faster and easier methods to identify and construct intervals than counting whole and half steps. This animation will let you explore some of them. A brief description of each one:

1. Scales - if you know the major and minor scales in your instrument, you can use scales to identify intervals. For example: from D to A we have a perfect 5th because they are the 1st and 5th note of the D  major and D minor scales. If the A is sharp, the interval gets bigger and becomes augmented. If the A is flat, the interval gets smaller and becomes diminished.
2. Chords - if you know the basic chords in your instrument (or the arpeggios), you can use chords to identify some intervals.  For example: from D to A we have a perfect 5th because they are the 1st and 3rd note of the D  major and D minor chords. If the A is sharp, the interval gets bigger and becomes augmented. If the A is flat, the interval gets smaller and becomes diminished.
3. Inversion - This method is very useful to work with big intervals like the 6th and the 7th since after inversion they become 3rds and 2nds.  Isn't it easier to identify a 2nd than a 7th?  See Inversion and Identifying by Using Inversions for more information.

Practice interval construction and identification with our online exercises