Interval Reference Songs: Rising and Falling Intervals in Songs You Know
An interval reference song is a song you already know whose first notes form a given interval, so recalling the song recalls the sound. “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” rises a perfect fifth from its second note to its third, and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” rises an octave on its first two notes. The tables below give at least one example for most intervals, rising and falling, and say exactly where in the song the interval is.
What is an interval?
An interval is the distance between two notes, counted in semitones, the smallest step on a keyboard from one key to the very next. A major third is 4 semitones, a perfect fifth is 7, an octave is 12. The intervals lesson names them all; the tables below use the same names.
Which songs start with each rising interval?
“First two notes” means the interval is the very first move of the melody. Where the song opens with a repeated note, the table says which two notes to listen to.
| Interval | Semitones | Song | Where the interval is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor second | 1 | Theme from Jaws (John Williams) | The two alternating low notes |
| Major second | 2 | “Frère Jacques” | First two notes |
| Major second | 2 | “Happy Birthday to You” | Second to third note, after the repeated first note |
| Minor third | 3 | “Greensleeves” | First two notes |
| Minor third | 3 | “Smoke on the Water” (Deep Purple) | First two notes of the guitar riff |
| Minor third | 3 | Brahms’ Lullaby | Second to third note, after the repeated first note |
| Major third | 4 | “When the Saints Go Marching In” | First two notes |
| Perfect fourth | 5 | “Here Comes the Bride” (Wagner’s Bridal Chorus) | First two notes |
| Perfect fourth | 5 | “Amazing Grace” | First two notes |
| Perfect fourth | 5 | “Auld Lang Syne” | First two notes |
| Tritone | 6 | “Maria” (West Side Story) | First two notes |
| Perfect fifth | 7 | “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” | Second to third note, after the repeated first note |
| Perfect fifth | 7 | Main theme of Star Wars (John Williams) | From the first long note to the second long note, after the quick three-note pickup |
| Minor sixth | 8 | “The Entertainer” (Scott Joplin) | Third to fourth note: the jump after the three rising pickup notes |
| Major sixth | 9 | “My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean” | First two notes |
| Major sixth | 9 | “Jingle Bells” | First two notes of the verse, not the chorus |
| Minor seventh | 10 | “Somewhere” (West Side Story) | First two notes |
| Major seventh | 11 | No song is shared widely enough to list | Hear it as an octave minus one semitone |
| Octave | 12 | “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” | First two notes |
Which songs start with each falling interval?
Falling intervals have fewer famous examples than rising ones, so this table is shorter.
| Interval | Semitones | Song | Where the interval is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minor second | 1 | “Für Elise” (Beethoven) | First two notes |
| Major second | 2 | “Mary Had a Little Lamb” | First two notes |
| Major second | 2 | “Three Blind Mice” | First two notes |
| Minor third | 3 | “Hey Jude” (The Beatles) | First two notes |
| Minor third | 3 | “This Old Man” | First two notes |
| Major third | 4 | Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 | Third to fourth note: the long note after the three short repeated ones |
| Perfect fourth | 5 | “Eine kleine Nachtmusik” (Mozart) | First two notes |
| Tritone | 6 | “Black Sabbath” (Black Sabbath) | Second to third note of the main riff, falling from the high note |
| Perfect fifth | 7 | Theme from The Flintstones | First two notes |
For the falling minor sixth, major sixth, minor seventh, major seventh and octave, there is no example that most readers are likely to share, so none is listed. The next section gives a way around that.
What if an interval has no song you know?
Reverse a rising example. Any rising interval sung backwards is the same interval falling. To hear a falling major sixth, sing the first two notes of “My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean” and then sing them in the opposite order: high note first, low note second. This works for every interval in the first table.
For the major seventh, which has no common reference in either direction, sing an octave and come back down one semitone. The note just below the top of the octave is a major seventh above the bottom note, and it tends to pull up towards the octave.
How do you use a reference song?
- Pick one song per interval that you can hum right now from memory. A song you know well beats a famous one you have to think about. The examples above are suggestions, not a standard.
- Hum the first two notes and stop. The interval is the move between those two notes, not the rest of the tune.
- When you hear an unknown interval, hum it back, then try songs against it. The one whose opening matches names the interval.
- Practise rising and falling separately. Knowing an interval going up does not mean you recognise it going down. Many people find falling intervals harder.
Is learning intervals by songs a good method?
It is a good way to start and a poor place to stay. A song gives you a name for a sound, but you have to sing through the song in your head before you can answer, which is too slow for music in real time. The goal is to recognise each interval by its own quality: the brightness of a major third, the openness of a fifth, the instability of a tritone. The ear training lesson explains why the songs are scaffolding and how to take them down.
Try it
The intervals by ear exercise plays two notes and asks you to name the interval. Start with the rising thirds, then the fourth, tritone and fifth, then the drill that mixes every interval in both directions. When you want to choose your own set, such as only the falling intervals from the second table, the custom ear builder lets you pick the intervals and play them falling. To go one step further, the singing intervals lesson asks you to sing both notes back.