Welcome back to Music Theory for Guitar – Grade 1, thanks for sticking with it!

Last time in Grade 1 Part II  we built on the stave, time signatures and note types of part one by adding key signatures and major scale construction. If you missed it or need a refresher, you can check out part two here. This time, we’ll be looking at scale degrees, intervals and triads.

Intervals

An interval is a way of describing the difference in pitch between two notes. If the two notes are played together, like an A Major ‘Power’ chord for instance, it is a harmonic interval:

If second note follows the first as a melody, it is called a melodic interval:

At this stage, you just have to be able to recognize the interval. In so doing, we count from the first note to second, including both in the count. If we count through each possible note between the A and the E in the example above (every space and line on the stave including the two notes) we should count five. The interval shown above is a fifth, and as many of you will know, a power chord is a root and fifth… and now when you hear someone say that, you also know what it means!

In a major scale, each interval has a name which you need to memorise, as follows:

• Root (no interval name, it’s the root)
• Major Second
• Major Third
• Perfect Fourth
• Perfect Fifth
• Major Sixth
• Major Seventh
• Octave

Pretty easy eh?

In music theory there is no Natural Minor scale, only a harmonic or melodic. When we discuss a ‘Minor Scale’ in theory, we refer to the harmonic minor. The minor scale intervals are similar, but the third and sixth scale degrees are flattened by 1 semi tone, and become a ‘Minor third’ and ‘Minor Sixth’ respectively.

Scale Degrees

An interval is used to denote a note’s position in a scale relative to the root note. Check out the C major scale below. You should remember from previous parts that C major has no sharps or flats:

As you can hopefully see, degrees are pretty straightforward. The second degree of the C Major scale is the second note you play when running the through the scale. The seventh degree is the seventh note you play, the fifth is the fifth… you get the picture!

Scale degrees are used to help us orientate ourselves around the scale, and are very important as part of the foundations of western harmony. They are also important as we move on to the next section…

Triads

It may come as no surprise whatsoever for you to learn that a triad is 3 notes played together. The most obvious example of this is a Major chord. C major for instance is simply the notes C, E and G played together. Looking again at the C major scale above, you can see that C, E and G are the root, third and fifth degrees of the C major scale. Any major scale is made by playing the root, third and fifth degrees of the parent scale together. We can also use the intervals to express this by adding that a major scale is made up of the root, major third and perfect fifth.

A minor chord is constructed also from a root, third and fifth of the parent major scale, but the third is flattened by a semi tone, so we have a root, flattened third and fifth in degrees. Alternatively, we have a root, minor third and perfect fifth expressed as intervals.

Grade 1 – Part III – Conclusion

And that brings part three to a close. In part four, we’ll look at some commonly used symbols, as well as musical directions and terms.

When you’re playing, try to take a moment just to look at what you’re doing, and you’ll probably start to see it under your fingertips, as well as on these pages.