Class 3

Thanks to everyone for being faithful with their homework assignments. You all are progressing quickly because you are willing to work. Thanks.

Today was a working day. We reviewed minor scales and then jumped right in to sight singing by scale degrees. We learned the intervals from the tonic based on key signatures. Remember, these intervals are diatonic but are only true when you start from the tonic (1). They are:

M2    M3    P4    P5    M6    M7    P8

M=major

P=perfect

4ths, 5ths, and octaves are perfect, never major or minor. 2nds, thirds, sixths, and sevenths can be major or minor. We will talk about the other alterations later.

We also talked about recognizing intervals aurally. This is not so much the science part of theory as the art part, but there are some ways to remember the differences between the way intervals sound:

• 2nd -- close together
• 3rd -- sweet
• 4th -- "Amazing Grace"
• 5th -- "Star Wars"
• 6th -- NBC sound
• 7th -- harsh
• 8th -- sounds like the same note

Different teachers may teach these differently, but this is just how I remember the intervals.

Next class: an in-class group project and altered intervals. God bless.

Josh

P.S. Here's a link to the homework.