The Interval

You’ve probably heard that chords are made of notes stack together blah blah blah, but have you ever wonder how and what makes them stacked that way?

In this article, I will share with you one of the bases of how chords are formed. It is called the interval.

But first….

What is the Interval?

The interval is the distance in pitch between any two notes.

The intervals produced by the major and minor scales are known as the diatonic intervals while the other types of intervals are known as chromatic intervals which I will not be covering in this post.

Unlike counting the number of days on the calendar where you skip the first day that you want to count from, counting the intervals between two notes in music includes both of the notes, the first and the last.

For example, from the note C to D, the interval is a 2nd, from C to E is a 3rd, and so on. In music, the intervals are not just described as 2nd, 3rd, 4th or 5th, but also by the quality of the intervals.

It will be very helpful for you to first have a good understanding of what scales are all about before learning about the intervals.

Interval for the Major Key

There are eight notes formed in any scales from its keynote to its note an octave higher.

The intervals from the keynote to the pitches above it for any major key are named as the followed (using  C major as an example):

You probably asked why are you learning all these.

Well, chords are formed with three notes or more. These notes are arranged in intervals. When you start to get on with the piano chords lessons, you will see how all of these intervals come to play. But for now, I just want you to know what is the interval and its quality.

Interval for the Minor Key

The key difference between the interval for a major and a minor key is the 3rd. The 3rd is always a minor 3rd in any minor key.

This is particularly important in piano chords because it differentiates if a chord is in a major key or minor key.

The intervals for a minor key are the same to the major keys for major 2nd, perfect 4th, perfect 5th and perfect 8ve.

The 6th and 7th are subjective because it depends on which form of minor scale it is from, either melodic or harmonic.

If it is ascending the melodic minor scale, the 6th and 7th are major 6th and major 7th.

However, if it is descending the melodic minor scale, the 6th and 7th are minor 6th and minor 7th.

I truly hope that this article has helped you better understand what is the basis behind how chords are formed. Do share with me your thoughts and tell me how this will help you in playing the piano chords.