{"id":14345,"date":"2016-09-11T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-09-11T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hearandplay.com\/main\/?p=14345"},"modified":"2024-10-07T17:26:17","modified_gmt":"2024-10-08T01:26:17","slug":"how-to-invert-intervals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hearplaymain.wpenginepowered.com\/how-to-invert-intervals\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Else Wants To Learn How To Invert Intervals?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you’re interested in learning how to invert intervals, then this lesson is for you.<\/p>\n

In the next ten minutes or so, you’ll be learning how intervals can be inverted and most importantly, how the quality and quantity of an interval changes when inverted.<\/p>\n

At the end of this lesson, with your knowledge of the inversion of intervals, you’ll understand the relationship between different qualities and quantities of intervals.<\/p>\n

Before jumping into all that, let’s do a review on intervals.<\/p>\n

A Review On Intervals<\/h2>\n

There are so many ways to define an interval, however, I’ll want us to go by this definition I appreciate most:<\/p>\n

An interval is the relationship between two notes played\/heard together [or separately] in terms of the distance in pitch between them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I appreciate the definition above because it contains important keywords that the definition of an interval is incomplete without. Let’s expound on some of those keywords.<\/p>\n

“…Relationship Between…”<\/em><\/h3>\n

An interval is a relationship between<\/strong> two notes. This means that any two notes cannot<\/span> be considered as an interval, unless there’s a relationship between them. This relationship between these notes is a scale relationship.<\/p>\n

If C and E:
\n
\n…form an interval, that means that there should be a scale relationship between C and E. Interestingly, one of the scales that relates C and E is the C natural major scale<\/a>:
\n
\nEvery interval has its size and quality, which is determined by the scale relationship between the notes.<\/p>\n

“…Two Notes…”<\/em><\/h3>\n

The keyword here is ‘two’.<\/p>\n

It takes the relationship between two notes<\/strong> to form an interval. When there’s a relationship between more than two notes, a chord is formed.<\/p>\n

“…Together Or Separately…”<\/em><\/h3>\n

The notes of an interval can either be played together or separately. Melody<\/strong> is the outcome of a relationship between notes that are heard separately, while harmony<\/strong> is the relationship between notes that are heard together.<\/p>\n

Consequently, there are melodic and harmonic intervals. Melodic intervals<\/em> are formed when two notes are heard separately while harmonic intervals<\/em> are formed when two notes are heard together.<\/p>\n

“…The Distance In Pitch…”<\/em><\/h3>\n

The distance between two notes of an interval counts. This explains why intervals are tools that can describe distances.<\/p>\n

“Here Are Some Intervals In The Key Of C Major…”<\/em><\/p>\n

Using the C major scale:
\n
\n…we can form the following scale-step intervals<\/a>:<\/p>\n

C-D:
\n
\n…a relationship between the first and second tones of the C major scale, known as the major second<\/strong> interval.<\/p>\n

C-A:
\n
\n…a relationship between the first and sixth tones of the C major scale, known as the major sixth<\/strong> interval.<\/p>\n

C-F:
\n
\n…a relationship between the first and fourth tones of the C major scale, known as the perfect fourth<\/strong> interval.<\/p>\n

Feel free to form intervals in any other key on the keyboard.<\/p>\n

A Short Note On The Inversion Of Intervals<\/h2>\n

The inversion of an interval is the reversal of the position or order of its notes. However, not all intervals can be inverted. So, there are basically two classes of intervals:<\/p>\n