Intervals in Inversion Song

Song describing and demonstrating each interval and its inversion.

Thanks everybody for sharing, and for your kind comments! Especially from bloggers like Roger Evans, who claimed "It may be the best thing since Ut queant laxis." Positive hyperbole is welcomed! :-)

Lyrics seem redundant with videos like this, but here they are anyway:

A minor third is a major sixth in inversion.
A major third is a minor sixth in inversion.
A perfect fourth is a perfect fifth in inversion.
Oh...
A minor second's a major seventh.
A major second's a minor seventh.
And oh...
A perfect unison's an octave in this game.
But what we call a tritone stays the same.

[Note that the final line is not true if we identify that interval as an augmented fourth, in which case its inversion is a diminished fifth, and vice versa. Hence "what we call a tritone."]

Category:

Education

Tags:

• song
• intervals
• inversions
• ear
• training
• sight
• singing

[welldontdothat]

When I heard this for the first time last night, my jaw dropped at the sheer brilliance, not to mention a great vocal interpretation of the song. I could take dictation of the whole thing, but I'd rather BUY a copy of the sheet music. Is it available for sale or download?

[songandsound]

@welldontdothat Thank you so much! I haven't really done anything but post it on YouTube. (I posted it almost as soon as I wrote it, and the piano part was basically improvised.) Is there a publisher that deals in this sort of thing?

[dhawkins1234]

Except the major 6th as sung is actually a perfect fifth. But it's an easy fix, and this is a cool song.

[songandsound]

@dhawkins1234 Thanks... I sure did scoop up to the "mi," but it still sounds like "mi" to me.* But it also sounds like I spent more time scooping than singing the note, and the chord underneath contains "re" so perhaps that is causing some harmonic confusion. You're the first person to point it out, but I wonder if others are troubled by this? (The same scoop happens on almost every other interval as well...)

*(for clarity, I think in moveable do.)

[dhawkins1234]

@songandsound I think you're right; the combination of the underlying chord, scoop, and shortness of the note leads me to hear a "re" instead of a "mi" on the word "sixth," the first time you sing it. The subsequent syllables, "in inversion" I definitely hear as "mi mi re do". The other scoops aren't confusing because you hold the notes long enough to establish the pitch.

[songandsound]

@dhawkins1234 Thanks again for pointing this out! I'll see about doing a version where the intervals are clearer. (That's what I get for being my own sound engineer.)

[shreazla]

One person must have failed Ear Training.

[TuneBlender]

Awesome!!

[albertlwj]

you are amazing :)

[emilygclarinet]

I'd love to have the chords for this song.

[pianogirl051]

Ear Training FFFFFFUUUUUU

[flutinliz]

I can't believe I just found this. I have been teaching theory for years. You are way too awesome. Reminds me of my UG with Scott Fogelsong at SFCM. Thank YOU!!! <3

[SeezyProductions]

AHAHAHA

[dhawkins1234]

@songandsound But still, mad props for an awesome song!