Melodic Progressions vs. Intervals

We’ve redefined semitones and wholetones as melodic progressions in a previous post. If you haven’t seen that lesson, click here.

You’ve learned that:

• From C to C♯ is a semitone
• From C to D is a wholetone

At the end of this article, you’ll see a table similar to the one below and should be able to complete it.

Now, let’s look at melodic progressions and intervals closely.

THE SEMITONE

Since you are already familiar with the semitone progression, let’s discover the interval associated with it.

Melodic Progression

The semitone divides an octave into twelve equal parts. The progression from one note to an adjacent note is a semitone progression and this makes it the shortest melodic progression in tonal music. Below is an example of the semitone progression.

C-C♯ above is a melodic progression. The melodic progression between the notes above is a semitone.

However, when we want to describe the distance between the notes above, that’s when intervals come into the picture. The notes above can also be perceived as an interval. However, when we are considering these notes as intervals, there’s much more to it than what we covered in melodic progressions.

Intervals

Intervals deal with the description of the quality and size of the relationship between any two notes. You see, there’s much more to that than melodic progressions. There are two common enharmonic spellings of the intervals we’ll perceive from the semitone progression above:

C-C♯

C-D♭

This is clearly the same melodic progression but two different intervals. What other “not-so-friendly” enharmonic spellings of the same melodic progression can you come up with?

Here are some…

B♯-D♭

B♯-C♯

There’s much more to intervals than melodic progressions.

The intervals above share one thing in common – the upper and lower notes of these intervals are a semitone apart.

The difference in spelling can give one melodic progression various widths and qualities.

Width: The width of an interval is determined by the number of letter names it encompasses. The width of an interval can be quantified using ordinal numbers like 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th … 12th, 13th, 14th, etc.

An interval that encompasses one letter name is a unison.

The interval C-C♯ encompasses just one letter name – and that’s C. Therefore, C-C♯ is a first, unison or prime.

An interval that encompasses two letter names is a second

The interval C-D encompasses two letter names – and that’s C and D. Therefore, C-D is a second.

An interval that encompasses three letter names is a third

The interval C-E♭ encompasses three letter names – and that’s C, D and E. Therefore, C-E♭ is a third.

An interval that encompasses four letter names is a fourth etc

The interval C-F encompasses four letter names – and that’s C, D, E and F. Therefore, C-F is a fourth.

Quality: The quality of an interval is determined by the scale step involved. The quality of an interval can be qualified using adjectives like Perfect, Major, Minor, Diminished and Augmented. Below is a table of the distribution of quality between scale steps.

*This tells us what interval is created between the first tone of the scale and the given scale step:

Intervals like minor, augmented and diminished intervals are formed from pitch modification of Major and Perfect Intervals. E.g. – Minor intervals can be derived by lowering Major intervals by a semitone.

Now that we have an idea of what intervals entail – width and quality – let’s calculate the width and quality of the two common enharmonic spellings of the semitone progression: C-C♯ and C-D♭:

C-C♯

C-D♭

Width

Here’s the first one:

C-C♯ – encompasses one letter name – C.

The interval – C-C♯ is a 1^st, unison or prime.

For the second enharmonic spelling – C-D♭, we have:

C-D♭ – encompasses two letter names – C & D.

The interval – C-D♭ is a 2^nd.

Now, let’s talk about quality.

Quality

For C-C♯,

C-C♯ is an augmented prime/unison. This is because its upper note is a semitone higher than the 1^st scale step [C] on the Major scale of C.

(C-C♯ and C-D♭)

For the second enharmonic spelling – C-D♭, we have:

C-D♭ is a minor second. This is because its upper note is a semitone lower than the second scale step [D] on the Major scale of C.

If we put quality and width together, we’ll have the interval between the enharmonic spellings of a semitone progression.

Using C-C♯ and C-D♭ (the two common enharmonic intervals) as reference, the semitone progression is an interval of:

• an augmented prime/unison (in the case of C-C♯)
• a minor second (in the case of C-D♭)

WHOLETONE

The wholetone divides an octave into six equal parts. Two semitone progressions make one wholetone progression.

C-D above is a melodic progression. The melodic progression between the notes above is a semitone.

However, when we want to describe the distance between the notes above, that’s when intervals come into the picture. The notes above can also be perceived as an interval. The interval above is:

C-D

The upper and lower notes of this interval are a wholetone apart. Let’s calculate its width and quality and attribute it to wholetone progressions

Width

C-D – encompasses two letter names – C & D. The interval – C-D is a 2^nd.

Quality

C-D is a Major second. This is because its upper note is the second scale step [D] on the Major scale of C.

The wholetone progression spans an interval of a:

• a Major second

Quick Contrast

Before we take anymore steps further, let’s have a quick contrast between intervals and melodic progressions.

Semitone is the shortest melodic progression. It spans an interval of an augmented unison or minor second.

Wholetone spans an interval of a Major second.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MELODIC PROGRESSIONS AND INTERVALS

Now that we’ve covered the relationship between melodic progressions and intervals, let’s look at the difference between the two.

Melodic Progressions are the building blocks of scales

In HearandPlay 120 – All You Need To Know About SCALES, we defined a scale as a melodic progression. This means that melodic progressions are the building blocks of scales.

The intervallic formula of the Major scale [W W H W W W H] is derived from the melodic progression of wholetone and semitone.

It’d be wrong for us to represent this as the intervallic formula of the Major scale:
Maj 2^nd Maj 2^nd min 2^nd Maj 2^nd Maj 2^nd Maj 2^nd min 2^nd

This gives us the same result as using melodic progressions W W H W W W H, however, it is inappropriate.

Intervals are the building blocks of chords

Intervals are the building blocks and skeleton of chords. A knowledge of intervals will completely put chords at your grasp. In HearandPlay 140 – Chords, we’ll cover All You Need To Know About Chords.

Intervals define and outline the notes of a chord.

• The Major 7^th Chord will contain the seventh scale step [Major 7^th].
• The Major 6^th Chord will contain the sixth scale step [Major 6^th].

It’s improper, for example, to say ‘C Major Tritone’ when you identify an interval whose size is the same as the tritone progression. It’s acceptable to use intervallic equivalents like diminished 5^th [or flat 5]. All these and more are demystified in HearandPlay 140 – Chords.

Final Words

These are not ideas that have been open to you and me before now. Classically-trained musicians know these things. What is the difference between these two questions:

1. What note is a semitone above C?
2. What note is a minor second above C?

Question #1 – What note is a semitone Above C?

Answer: A semitone above C is either C♯ or D♭

C♯

or

D♭

Considering that both answers are correct is a clear pointer to the fact that melodic progressions are not sufficiently precise to describe distances. We are lost in ambiguity and lack of precision.

Let’s answer Question #2…

Question #2 – What note is a minor second Above C?

Answer: A minor second above C is D♭

D♭

With intervals, only one option is correct. There is precision. The art of guessing which enharmonic spelling at random is eliminated. No more contemplating if it’s C♯ or D♭.

We’ve grown past the stage of asking questions like “If it sounds the same, why am i bothered?” Well, when we start covering Scales, Chords, Chord Progressions and some Advanced Jazz Chord Changes, you’ll see these things take center stage.

I know these things may not be easy but they are appropriate. Invest in the HearandPlay Fundamental Series today to Unlearn and Relearn.

Until next time.

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Chuku Onyemachi

Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group

Onyemachi "Onye" Chuku is a Nigerian musicologist, pianist, and author. Inspired by his role model (Jermaine Griggs) who has become his mentor, what he started off as teaching musicians in his Aba-Nigeria neighborhood in April 2005 eventually morphed into an international career that has helped hundreds of thousands of musicians all around the world. Onye lives in Dubai and is currently the Head of Education at HearandPlay Music Group and the music consultant of the Gospel Music Training Center, all in California, USA.

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