Urgent question about intervals!

[SkyDiver]

Could someone list all the intervals from M2 to P8 with all of the half steps? We have a test about this next week but I’m still confused. What’s the fastest way to figure out an interval? In the test we'll either have two notes and need to identify the interval or we have one note and need to raise or lower it by a certain interval. So every time I imagine a keyboard and count the steps from there, but when there’s a key signature I also have to make a circle of 5^th to figure out all the flats/sharps. This of course takes me waaaaay to long, so what’s the fastest way to figure this out? I know to count the quantity first, but my difficulties lie in figuring out the quality.
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Thanks

[Sharkbat]

Here's a list:
1 half step (hs) - minor 2
2 hs - Major 2
3 hs - minor 3
4 hs - major 3
5 hs - perfect 4
6 hs - augmented 4/diminished 5/ tri-tone
7 hs - Perfect 5
8 hs - minor 6
9 hs - major 6
10 hs - minor 7
11 hs - major 7
12 hs- Perfect octave.

As far as hearing them fast, now I just know them so well that I can hear almost instantly what they are, but the method they usually teach at the high school I went to is to find a song you know well that starts with each interval and compare with that (for example, "Here comes the Bride" is the standard for perfect 4th, etc.).
I still use that method for the 6ths.

I hope you do well on your test!

--Richard

[rezmo]

Could someone list all the intervals from M2 to P8 with all of the half steps? We have a test about this next week but I’m still confused. What’s the fastest way to figure out an interval? In the test we'll either have two notes and need to identify the interval or we have one note and need to raise or lower it by a certain interval. So every time I imagine a keyboard and count the steps from there, but when there’s a key signature I also have to make a circle of 5^th to figure out all the flats/sharps. This of course takes me waaaaay to long, so what’s the fastest way to figure this out? I know to count the quantity first, but my difficulties lie in figuring out the quality.
<o></o>
Thanks

The only way to recognize intervals quickly is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.
They become second nature after awhile.

There are several free programs on the net that you can download to strenthen your ability to recognize intervals (and chords/scales etc). The one I've used is called Ear Toner.

Hope this helps,

Art

[pgfan92]

Here's the complete list:

0 half steps - PU/d2
1 half step - AU/m2/dd3
2 half steps - AAU/M2/d3
3 half steps - A2/m3/dd4
4 half steps - AA2/M3/d4
5 half steps - A3/P4/dd5
6 half steps - AA3/A4/D5
7 half steps - AA4/P5/dd6
8 half steps - A5/m6
9 half steps - AA5/M6/dd7
10 half steps - A6/m7/dd8
11 half steps - AA6/M7/d8
12 half steps - A7/P8/d9 (the first two on this one are exclusive to the octave, the second one can be reduced to a d2).

These are the theoretical intervals, you may never see some of them, but they exist nonetheless, and can easily be created (this doesn't necessarily mean you should use them because you never see them). The only intervals I've seen in music that wasn't Major, Minor, or Perfect are the diminished third, the augmented second, the diminished fourth, and the augmented sixth, though I haven't studied as much music as I'd like.

[pgfan92]

Oh, and to figure out the quality of the interval, you need to first create a major scale off of the bottom note. After you've done that, if the top note is in that scale, then it's either major or perfect, if it's a 4, 5, or 8 (or 1 for that matter), then it's perfect, if it's anything but that, then it's major. If it's not in the scale you created, then you need to figure how much it is lowered from the note in the scale. Let's say you have A to C as an interval. First you figure out the quantity, which is 3. Then you create a major scale from A (A B C# D E F# G# A). After that, you figure out how much C is lowered from the C is sharp in that scale (it's lowered by one half step). The scales for quality are: dd d m M A AA; dd d P A AA. Since A to C# would be a Major 3rd according to what I said at the beginning, making the interval smaller by one half step would make it a Minor 3rd according to the scales of quality I mentioned. Feel free to ask questions if you're even more confused after reading this (I'm no Shakespeare).

[pgfan92]

And I have four easy to follow rules for figuring out a major key.

1. If there are no sharps or flats, the key is C.
2. If there is one flat, the key is F.
3. If there is one or more sharps, look at the last sharp, go up one note, look back across that line or space to see if it's sharped or not, and that will name your key.
4. If there is more than one flat, the second to last flat is the name of your key.

Hope this helps with that.

Edit: For minor keys, figure out the major key, and go down a minor third (using the rules you have for intervals), that is the name of your minor key.