Songs to help you learn note intervals
Do you struggle to identify the interval between two notes?
A trick I use is to think of a melodies than contain the interval, and are easy to remember.
Check out our video to see and hear some examples for each interval or scroll down to see the text, MIDI files and keyboard diagrams.
Below are a few suggestions for the main major, minor and perfect intervals.
Major 2nd
Read Music Notes Easily – For Adults
Read Music Notes Easily – For Children
Music Theory Course And Workshops
Masters of Songwriting
Secret of Exciting Piano Chords
Ascending
Listen [MIDI file]: Major 2nd Ascending
- Doe A Deer (Sound of Music): First two notes of the chorus
- EastEnders (UK Soap Opera): Any two consecutive notes from the first three
- Frere Jacques: First two notes or second and third notes
- Happy Birthday: Second and third notes
Descending
Listen [MIDI file]: Major 2nd Descending
- Blow the Wind Southerly: First two notes
- Deck the Halls: First two notes (learn to play Deck the Halls)
- Mary Had A Little Lamb: First two notes
- The First Noel: First two notes
- Three Blind Mice: First two notes or second and third notes
- Whistle While You Work: First two notes
- Yesterday (The Beatles): First two notes
Minor 3rd
Ascending
Listen [MIDI file]: Minor 3rd Ascending
- “A Time for Us” Romeo & Juliet (main theme): First two notes
- Beverley Hills Cop: First two notes
- Greensleeves: First two notes
- Lullaby (Brahms): Second and third notes
- The Impossible Dream: “To Dream” notes
Descending
Listen [MIDI file]: Minor 3rd Descending
- Beverley Hills Cop: Second and third notes
- Frosty the Snowman: First two notes (learn to play Frosty the Snowman)
- Hey Jude (The Beatles): First two notes
- Jesus Loves Me: First two notes
- The Star-Spangled Banner: First two notes (learn to play Star-Spangled Banner)
- This Old Man: First two notes
Major 3rd
Ascending
Listen [MIDI file]: Major 3rd Ascending
- Morning Has Broken: First two notes
- Kum Ba Ya (Chorus): First two notes
- When the Saints Go Marching In: First two notes (“Oh when…”)
- While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night (Carol): First two notes
Descending
Listen [MIDI file]: Major 3rd Descending
- Beethoven’s Fifth: Third and fourth notes of main melody
- Summertime: First two notes
- Swing Low Sweet Chariot: First two notes
Perfect 4th
Ascending
Listen [MIDI file]: Perfect 4th Ascending
- Auld Lang Syne: First two notes (learn to play Auld Lang Syne)
- Amazing Grace: First two notes (learn to play Amazing Grace)
- Dallas: First two notes
- Hark the Herald Angels Sing: First two notes (learn to play Hark the Herald Angels Sing)
- Here Comes the Bride: First two notes
- Love Me Tender (Elvis Presley): First two notes
- O Christmas Tree (O Tannenbaum): First two notes (learn to play O Christmas Tree)
- Some Day My Prince Will Come: First two notes of chorus
- We Wish You A Merry Christmas: First two notes (learn to play We Wish You A Merry Christmas)
Descending
Listen [MIDI file]: Perfect 4th Descending
- Born Free: First two notes
- Come on Eileen: (Dexy’s Midnight Runners) First two notes of chorus (“Come On”)
- O Come All Ye Faithful: Second and third notes (learn to play O Come All Ye Faithful)
Perfect 5th
Ascending
Listen [MIDI file]: Perfect 5th Ascending
- 2001 A Space Odyssey (Theme): First two notes of main melody
- Lavender’s Blue: First two notes
- O Lord and Father of Mankind (Hymn): First two notes
- Star Wars: First two notes
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star: Second and third notes
Descending
Listen [MIDI file]: Perfect 5th Descending
- The Flintstones: First two notes
- The Star-Spangled Banner: The first and third notes form a perfect fifth descending. (learn to play Star-Spangled Banner)
Minor 6th
Ascending
Listen [MIDI file]: Minor 6th Ascending
- The Entertainer: Third and fourth notes
- Theme from ‘Love Story’: Third and fourth notes (first two notes are the same interval with high note first)
Descending
Listen [MIDI file]: Minor 6th Descending
- Theme from ‘Love Story’: First two notes
Major 6th
Ascending
Listen [MIDI file]: Major 6th Ascending
- Angels (Robbie Williams): First two notes of verse
- It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (Carol): First two notes
- Jingle Bells: First two notes of line “Dashing Through the Snow” (learn to play Jingle Bells)
- My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean: First two notes
Descending
Listen [MIDI file]: Major 6th Descending
- Music of the Night (from Phantom of the Opera) – first two notes of verse
Major 7th
Ascending
Listen [MIDI file]: Major 7th Ascending
- On the Street Where You Live: the notes for ‘Once’ and ‘Am’ in ‘All at once am I, several storeys high’
- There’s a Place For Us (West Side Story): First two notes
Descending
Listen [MIDI file]: Major 7th Descending
Octave
Ascending
Listen [MIDI file]: Octave Ascending
- Let It Snow: Second and third notes (learn to play Let It Snow)
- Somewhere Over the Rainbow: First two notes
Descending
- There’s No Business Like Show Business: Second and third notes
Listen [MIDI file]: Octave Descending
Hat tips to ThinkQuest, “Songwriting and the Creative Process”, VCU and commenters below for additional song ideas.
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Great. Thanks!
Any more?
Hey, is there any thing for over the octave?
It gets harder to find first two notes with intervals over an octave. I’ll see if I can find any.
M6 going up is the first notes of the NBC theme song. M5 going up is the theme to ET. m6 going up is the opening interval to Across the Starts Star Wars EP II.
Hey do you know any tricks to figuring out intervals descending
if you google search for decending intervals there are a ton of them
For the minor sixth going up, use “Let My People Go” (“WHEN ISRAEL was in Egypt’s Land….”)
For the perfect 5th, “Top Gun” theme works the best for me
What is made from the second to the third notes of “Twinkle, Twinle, Little Star”?
What interval is heard on the forst two notes of “i’ve been working on the railroad”?
What interval occurs on the first two notes of the song “My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean”?
What interval is made from the first two notes of “Oh, When the saints go marching in”?
Pleaaaaaase & Thank you !
If you have the anwsers, email me ASAP !
ikaterinaaa@yahoo.com
We have made a comprehensive chart of songs, organized by their starting interval. Each song includes a link to a YouTube video with the song. Check it out here:
http://www.earmaster.com/intervalsongs
Best regards,
Hans Jakobsen
EarMaster
Fur Elise has an octave in it.
Does anyone else find minor sixth’s remind them of “I wear my Sunglasses at night”?
“There’s a place for us” actually starts with a minor 7th
For both descending *and* ascending 6ths, there’s no better piece than this Brahms symph 4, it repeats over and over in a figure.
Thanks for the info, this stuff helps adults learn. Most of the other websites I’ve seen are for elitist jerks who can more or less do it anyway and prolly had lessons from 5 years old or something.
I hope you like this song, I think its really good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnzPMJ7zbfk&feature=related
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