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Reading intervals: steps, skips and leaps
Good sight-readers don’t name every note. They see the distance from one note to the next and move by that amount. That distance is an interval, and reading intervals is the fastest way to speed up.
What an interval is
An interval is the distance between two notes. To name it, count the letter names from the first note to the second, including both. From C up to E is C, D, E: three letters, so it is a third. From C up to G is five letters, a fifth. Two notes on the same pitch are a unison, and eight letters apart, like C to the next C, is an octave.
Seeing intervals on the staff
You can tell the interval from the shape alone, without naming either note:
| Interval | On the staff |
|---|---|
| 2nd (step) | Line to the next space, or space to the next line |
| 3rd (skip) | Line to the next line, or space to the next space |
| 4th | Line to space (or space to line), with one line and one space between |
| 5th | Line to line with one line between, or space to space with one space between |
| 6th, 7th, octave | Larger leaps: an octave always goes from a line to a space, or a space to a line |
A quick rule: odd-numbered intervals (3rd, 5th, 7th) go line to line or space to space. Even-numbered intervals (2nd, 4th, 6th, octave) go from a line to a space or a space to a line.
Steps and skips in real melodies
Most melodies move mostly by steps, with some skips and the occasional leap. Read the first note by name, then follow the shape: up a step, down a skip, up a fifth.
Hearing intervals
If you sing, or want to hear the music in your head before you play it, link each interval to the start of a song you know:
| Interval (going up) | Song that starts with it |
|---|---|
| Major 2nd | “Happy Birthday” (on “Hap-py birth-”) |
| Minor 3rd | “Greensleeves” |
| Major 3rd | “When the Saints Go Marching In” |
| Perfect 4th | “Here Comes the Bride” |
| Perfect 5th | “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” |
| Major 6th | “My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean” |
| Octave | “Somewhere over the Rainbow” |
Major and minor describe the exact size of an interval. A major third is one half step wider than a minor third. When sight-reading, the number (third, fifth) gets you to the right note; the key signature takes care of the exact size.
Practice
Start with exercises that move only by step, then allow skips, then larger leaps. In Sight-read, open Customize and set Largest jump to Steps only, Up to a 3rd, Up to a 5th, or Up to an octave.
Set the largest jump, read the shape of each melody, and check yourself as you play.
Practice intervals