From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: The Fundamentals

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Intervals: Minor, augmented, and diminished

Intervals: Minor, augmented, and diminished

From the course: Music Theory for Songwriters: The Fundamentals

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Intervals: Minor, augmented, and diminished

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- Intervals are the building blocks of chords, melodies, and harmonies. For example, every song's melody is simply a series of intervals. Understanding intervals and how they sound is a key technique for writing better songs. So far, we've discussed major and perfect intervals. Here, we'll discuss the other types of intervals, minor, diminished, and augmented. A minor interval occurs when a major interval is lowered by a semitone or flattened. For example, if we take a major third of C to E, (piano playing) and lower the E to E-flat by playing a black key, it's a minor third. (piano playing) (guitar playing) Also, if we take a major second of C to D, (piano playing) and lower the D to D-flat, it becomes a minor second. (piano playing) (guitar playing) If we take a major sixth of C to A, (piano playing) and lower the A to A-flat, it is a minor sixth. (piano playing) (guitar playing) And if we take a major…

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