Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Guitar Intervals - Diagrams & Applications
Guitar Intervals - Diagrams & Applications
jazzguitar.be/blog/guitar-intervals
Improvising on the guitar requires you to have a good understanding of note relationships
on the fretboard. The moment you need to start thinking about a particular note you want
to play, it’s already too late. That’s why we study and practice scales, arpeggios, and
chords. Another useful tool to visualize the relationship between notes on the fretboard
are intervals.
In this lesson, you will learn about all the different musical intervals, how they look on the
guitar, and how you can practice intervals so you can use them in your solos.
You can make a distinction between melodic intervals and harmonic intervals.
A melodic interval is when two notes sound successive.
1. Unison
Half steps between notes: 0
Melodic use: the repetition of a note. This is not purely theoretic though, it can be used
as an effect, such as in the following example.
0:00
0:08
-
+
12
Four on Six
www.jazzguitar.be
0
0:00
0:06
-
+
11
Jazz Theory
www.jazzguitar.be
0
The minor second works well in some chords, usually with open strings:
Half Tones: 3
Harmonic use: minor and major thirds are used to harmonize melodic lines (for an
example see major thirds)
You can also play a scale in major and minor thirds (instead of major and minor seconds).
Harmonic use: minor and major thirds can be used to harmonize melodies or as a scale
for improvisation.
Half Tones: 5
Melodic use: just like you can play a scale in thirds, you can also play a scale in fourths
(perfect and augmented fourths), such as in the following example over the C major
scale:
Harmonic use: fourths are used in quartal chords, such as in So What, a popular jazz
standard written by Miles Davis.
0:00
0:50
-
+
61
0
The 4th interval is also used in sus4 chords, such as in this C9sus4 chord:
It is the weakest interval, meaning that it has the tendency to go somewhere, it wants to
move to other notes.
The tritone is the main interval of dissonance in our harmony and they are the reason that
dominant chords and diminished chords want to move to a tonic chord.
Melodic use: you can play a scale in fifths, such as in the following example.
0:00
0:03
-
+
9
Bright Size Life
www.jazzguitar.be
0
Harmonic use: the 5th is generally something you want to avoid in your jazz voicings, it
does not add much to the sound. It is often used in rock though (power chords).
Melodic Use: very nice interval, a bit melancholic. A scale can be played in minor and
major 6ths (see major 6th)
Harmonic Use: A scale can be harmonized using minor and major 6ths (see major 6th)
There’s a minor 6th in this nice chord from the Aeolian mode (one of the guitar modes):
10. Major Sixth (major 6th)
Half Tones: 9
Here’s the C major scale in 6ths (grab these like little chords, let the low note ring while
you play the 6th):
Harmonic Use: in the same fashion as the example above, you can harmonize a scale in
6ths:
C6 (C major 6)
Cm6 (C minor 6)
Harmonic use: the minor 7th is in minor 7th chords, half-diminished and dominant 7th
chords.
Dm7
Half Tones: 11
Cmaj7
Melodic and Harmonic Use: octaves are often used à la Wes Montgomery, in solos and
themes, such as in the following example from Wes Montgomery’s standard Four on Six.
0:00
0:08
-
+
8
Four on Six
www.jazzguitar.be
0
Compound Intervals
The intervals we’ve seen so far are what we call “simple intervals”.
There are a couple more intervals, called “compound intervals” because they go beyond
the octave.
We’re not going to talk about all of them, only the important ones.
C7(b9)
C9 (C dominant 9)
C7(#9)
Am11
Bbmaj7#11
G7b13
G13