Intervals Guide
An interval is the distance between two notes. On the staff it’s the amount of spacing; on the piano it’s how far you move; to your ear it’s the difference between “tight” and “wide”, “soft” and “tense”.
Good news: intervals become much easier once you practice them in two ways:
1) see them on the staff (note spacing), and 2) hear them by ear (sound distance).
1) see them on the staff (note spacing), and 2) hear them by ear (sound distance).
What is an interval, really?
Intervals are named by how many letter steps they span (2nd, 3rd, 4th…), and they also have a quality (major/minor/perfect) that affects the sound.
- Seconds feel like close neighbors (small steps).
- Thirds feel like a clear skip (often “happy” vs “sad” color).
- Fourths and fifths feel open and stable.
- Tritones feel tense and unstable.
- Sixths and sevenths feel wide and emotional.
Seeing intervals on the staff
On the stave, intervals are visual spacing:
- 2nd: line → space or space → line (adjacent).
- 3rd: line → line or space → space (skip one).
- 4th/5th: bigger stacks you can spot quickly.
Hearing intervals by ear
Your ear learns intervals as recognizable distances. The simplest way to improve is short, repeated listening with instant feedback.
Where to go next
If you’re practicing regularly, a good next step is to connect what you hear to what you see:
- Degrees Trainer – hear steps inside a key.
- Keys → Notes – map keys to the staff.
- Chords Helper – hear and see chords and inversions.