hi. can anyone give any advice on how to remember and identify interval sounds? in music theory lesson 1 it says it is important to be able to identiy intervals by ear. i have been told that it's easier to memorize them if you associate the sound with a interval from a song. does anyone have any interval=song associations you could share? the two i can remember are, a minor 2nd sounds like the theme from Jaws and a minor 3rd is the first interval in the minor pentatonic scale. i'm hoping that if i can name these sounds by ear than i can recognize the sounds that i'm thinking of and translate them to the fretboard. i would appreciate any help you can give. thanks and Rock On!

This is a little off the wall but it worked for me…

Ok this may sound weird but when I was first starting out I always associated notes with colors. Since you can’t see music I feel it’s good to associate notes/intervals/modes with colors and flavors.

What I did was get a color chart (you can Google a color chart) and then take a scale like the C Major scale and work on the first 4 notes C – D – E – F. Grab you guitar or a piano and play each note, looking at the color chart see what you feel like assigning to each note.

Now this is a repetitive/accumulative process. Even if you were to spend a month on those 4 notes and by that time when you hear E you see the color Blue you are making progress! Try to get some one to play those notes out of order and see if you can guess them.

Now intervals and modes you’re really going to think I am a nut. Because they involve more than one “Note” I think of flavors… Usually Ice Cream…Think about it Play a Minor 2nd (Jaws) can you associate a taste/flavor to that. You know when you hear a Minor 2nd it makes you think of the theme from Jaws, why not a Flavor. How about a Minor 7th “Have You Driven A Ford Lately” play that interval and I guarantee you’ll hear it!

When I hear a Minor 2nd interval I think of Chocolate Ice cream… Dark and Rich When I hear a Minor 7th I think Strawberry Sweet and Tart.



Bottom line is you need to come up with an association that works for you. With music I always use colors and flavors. I hope this helps someone and you don’t think I am nut…