interval questions

[drought]

example: p4 = 5 semitones. key note is f in the treble clef then the note moves up to Bb. How did u get that and how come when your counting half steps between notes which note do u take the sharp or the flat. example: F to F# or is it F to Gb? how do u know which one to write


also what are some good books and some websites to help you learn music theory

 

[binary_10essee]

Well, I'm no expert but I have basic knowledge when it comes to music theory. And the way I've seen it described on numerous occasions, a sharp (#) is when you move UP a half step. A flat (b) is when you move DOWN a half step. I hope that helps you get in the right direction.

 

[roidquaker]

If you're just counting intervals for number sake, it really doesn't matter what you're calling them. Its just moving up. But calling notes sharp or flat has to do with the scale you're in. You can't use the same note twice so since you mentioned F, your fmajor scale is F,G,A,Bb,C,D,E. But in C# you would have C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#. It gets confusing because F is the same as E# but if you called your E# F youd have an F and an F# in the scale and it just gets confusing, so you have all these notes that are enharmonic(the same note but different label). I hope that straightens something out. I say if you're counting intervals by chromatic steps you'd be better of just counting in numbers vs. notes.

 

[bandcoach]

example: p4 = 5 semitones. key note is f in the treble clef then the note moves up to Bb. How did u get that and how come when your counting half steps between notes which note do u take the sharp or the flat. example: F to F# or is it F to Gb? how do u know which one to write


also what are some good books and some websites to help you learn music theory

1/2 steps (semitones) are the bits between the notes. If you insist on counting notes instead then you need to set your bass note/root note/first notes as 0 and then count each half-step (semitone) including your target note.

So in your example

0​	1​	2​	3​	4​	5​
F​	F[sup]#[/sup]/G[sup]b[/sup]​	G​	G[sup]#[/sup]/A[sup]b[/sup]​	A​	A[sup]#[/sup]/B[sup]b[/sup]​

[sup]#[/sup]'s/[sup]b[/sup]'s are hit and miss unless you are in a specific key.

Basic rules, as noted by 2nd poster, are:

• you go up and it is sharp
• you go down and it is flat.

Check my tutes for more info (in my signature below)

If you're just counting intervals for number sake, it really doesn't matter what you're calling them. Its just moving up. But calling notes sharp or flat has to do with the scale you're in. You can't use the same note twice so since you mentioned F, your fmajor scale is F,G,A,Bb,C,D,E. But in C# you would have C#, D#, E#, F#, G#, A#, B#. It gets confusing because F is the same as E# but if you called your E# F youd have an F and an F# in the scale and it just gets confusing, so you have all these notes that are enharmonic(the same note but different label). I hope that straightens something out. I say if you're counting intervals by chromatic steps you'd be better of just counting in numbers vs. notes.

Some good info in this one, remember that all scales are written based on the idea that Each note name A-B-C-D-E-F-G can only appear once before repeating the scale tones

Enharmonic tones are not as scary as they seem. Every note has at least one enharmonic equivalent (enharmonic means same pitch, different name):

[sup]bb[/sup]'s	[sup]b[/sup]'s	Natural	[sup]#[/sup]'s	[sup]##[/sup]'s/[sup]x[/sup]'s
B[sup]bb[/sup]​	~​	A​	~​	G[sup]##[/sup]/G[sup]x[/sup]​
C[sup]bb[/sup]​	B[sup]b[/sup]​	~​	A#​	~​
~​	C[sup]b[/sup]​	B​	~​	A[sup]##[/sup]/A[sup]x[/sup]​
D[sup]bb[/sup]​	~​	C​	B[sup]#[/sup]​	~​
~​	D[sup]b[/sup]​	~​	C[sup]#[/sup]​	B[sup]##[/sup]/B[sup]x[/sup]​
E[sup]bb[/sup]​	~​	D​	~​	C[sup]##[/sup]/C[sup]x[/sup]​
F[sup]bb[/sup]​	E[sup]b[/sup]​	~​	D[sup]#[/sup]​	~​
~​	F[sup]b​	E​	~​	D[sup]##[/sup]/D[sup]x[/sup]​
G[sup]bb[/sup]​	~[/sup]​	F​	E[sup]#[/sup]​	~​
~​	G[sup]b[/sup]​	~​	F[sup]#[/sup]​	E[sup]##[/sup]/E[sup]x[/sup]​
A[sup]bb[/sup]​	~​	G​	~​	F[sup]##[/sup]/F[sup]x[/sup]​
~​	A[sup]b[/sup]​	~​	G[sup]#[/sup]​	~​