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learn guitar
| jazz guitar | intervalic studies
It is important to be able to hear and identify intervals.This is
a very important thing for musicians to do. When you practice
your jazz studies intervalic sequences you will be simultaneously
improving your ear and motor skills.
Interval studies are an essential part ear training and should be
part of every jazz musicians practice routine.
What are intervals, why are they important and how do I practice
them?
An interval is the distance between two notes. Intervals are
always counted from the lower note to the higher one, with the
lower note being counted as one. Intervals come in different
qualities and size. If the notes are sounded successively, it is
a melodic interval. If sounded simultaneously, then it is a
harmonic interval.
The smallest interval used in Western music is the half
step. A visual representation of a half step would be the
distance between a consecutive white and black note on the
piano. There are two exceptions to this rule, as two natural
half steps occur between the notes E and F, and B and C.
Transferring this information into the guitar fretboard is easy
once you understand that the guitar fretboard is divided up in
semitones. The distance from one fret to the next is called a
semitone.
Example of a semitone:
---1---2---------------------
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A whole step is the distance between two consecutive white
or black keys. It is made up of two half steps.
On the guitar the distance of a whole step would be moving a
distance of two frets.
Example of wholetone:
---1---3---------------------
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Jazz studies intervalic design practice sessions are a way of
creating sonic shapes on the guitar that relate to sounds you
hear in your mind's ear.
When a major interval is raised by a half step, it becomes
augmented.
When a major interval is lowered by a half step, it becomes
minor.
When a major interval is lowered by two half steps, it becomes
diminished.
When a minor interval is raised by a half step, it becomes major.
When a minor interval is raised by two half steps, it becomes
augmented.
When a minor interval is lowered by a half step, it becomes
diminished.
When a perfect interval is raised by a half step, it becomes
augmented.
When a perfect interval is lowered by a half step, it becomes
diminished.
By definition, an interval is the distance between any two notes.
The following examples will serve as a quick visual guide for the
geometrical location of intervals on the guitar.
Jazz studies intervalic design for a Minor 2nd this distance on
any string is called a Minor 2nd.
---1---2---------------------
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You will notice we also called this distance a semitone.
More examples of Minor 2nd intervals.
---2---3---------------------
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---3---4---------------------
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---4---5---------------------
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Jazz studies intervalic design for a Major 2nd this distance on
any string is called a Major 2nd.
---1---3---------------------
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You will notice we also called this distance a wholetone.
More examples of Minor 2nd intervals.
---2---4---------------------
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---3---5---------------------
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---4---6---------------------
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Why are intervals so important?
More important than the individual note itself is the interval,
the difference in pitch between the notes. This determines the
tonality, color or mood or whatever you may call it..
Intervals are a musician's way of measuring distance between two
notes, just as a painter must understand how to blend colors
together to produce the particular visual effect they want to
convey a musician must be able to determine the effect of two
notes blended together and know in advance how these notes will
sound in terms of musical weight, texture, and density.
By practicing your jazz studies intervalic designs slowly and
paying close attention to how each note sounds a whole new world
of musical possibilities will open to you.
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