Hi,
I'm trying to get through my music theory homework and I'm having some difficulty distinguishing between a minor interval and a diminished interval...
We only have two notes per chord (someone suggested looking at the third note... of which there are NONE) and they DO use flats and sharps.
So, 10 points to whomever can explain how to find a minor interval, a diminished interval, and how to tell the difference between the two in the simplest way.
Thanks in advance!
I think you might be confused as to what diminished means. Marking stuff diminished basically means the note is brought down one semi tone. Augmented is then the opposite, marked up.
Here's an example: C, C is a dimished 2nd because if you go to the second semi tone from C and go down a semitone (diminishing it) it becomes C again.
HOW TO MAKE IT EASY: Minor tones are usually augmented somethings. Major tones are usually diminshed somethings. To know what it is exactly, just think about it and you'll realize if diminsh means going down then clearly the semi tone is the one above it. Tritones can be either augmented or diminished.
Ah, I feel like I really helped you bot.
Wow, my music theory degree will come in useful for a change!!! :)
Basically, seconds and thirds, and their inverted coutnerparts, aka sixths and sevenths, will have either a major or minor quailty, depending on context (read: key). Unisons, fourths, fifths, and octaves will be either perfect, diminshed, or augmented. (I.E. there is no such thing as a "major fifth." In the major scale, you have a "perfect fifth.")
Sorry to correct you, WG, but C, C is actually a perfect unison. C, Dbb is a diminished second. You determine the "number" by the letters. Then you determine the quality by the number of semitones apart they are from each other.
Some more fun examples:
Eb, Gb = minor third
Eb, F# = augmented second
But they sound the same! The secret is the spelling.
There is a cool chart I saw in college that looks like the circle of fifths on crack. It shows the directions of inversion. It's neat. Wish I had a copy. It's prolly googlable.
What that chart gets at is like this:
Invert a fourth of any type to get a fifth of some kind, and vice versa.
Invert a second to get a seventh, and vice versa.
Invert a third to get a sixth, and vice versa.
Inverting a unison or octave is kind of pointless, and purely academic, unless they are augmented or diminshed, and then it's still pretty pointless, and won't help you get laid.
So if we take the Eb, Gb, from above (a minor third) and invert it to Gb, Eb, we get a major sixth. So inverting 2/3/6/7's negates the quality. Neat!
Inverting 4/5's does the same thing. Let's take a diminished fifth like C, Gb. Flip it to get Gb, C, an augmented fourth.
Extra credit:
Gb, C sounds exactly like F#, C, but the first is an augmented fourth, and the other is a diminished fifth. Again, it's all in the spelling. This comes into play very seriously when dealing with augmented sixth chords, which are totally awesome. Unfortunatly, pop nomenclature is so ridiculously simple and unscientific, it often spells them wrong. And forget chords from the internet; they're usually garbage.
Class dismissed. Feel free to pm me with all your music theory questions. Typing this was much more fun than doing tax accounting.
Edit to add: sorry I didn't see this thread sooner. You probably graduated by now!
2nd edit: oh the OP was a spammer. Dang.
Haha, I still enjoyed the lesson.
That stuff's way too advanced for me, man. So what have you done with that degree of yours? Tell me about it.
Let's see... It Rhymes With Orange (link in sig) is the current lion's share of my work. Prior to starting that 2 years ago, one of my favorite accomplishments was composing a score for a live theatrical production of Midsummer Night's Dream, for woodwind quartet. That was cool. Also some other little odd projects, like incidental music for small films and stuff.