Songs to learn musical intervals

Create your own list to memorise intervals

A common way to recognise intervals is to associate them with reference songs that you know well. For example, the song
Amazing grace begins with a perfect fourth. So when you hear an interval that sounds like the beginning of Amazing Grace,
you can quickly conclude that it’s a perfect fourth.

Interval	Ascending	Descending
Minor 2nd	Jaws (Theme) – youtube Pink Panther theme – youtube Isn’t she lovely (Stevie Wonder) – youtube A Hard Days Night (Beatles) – youtube White Christmas (Irving Berlin) – youtube Chromatic scale – youtube I Left My Heart In San Francisco – youtube New World Symphony 4th movement (Dvorak) – youtube Stormy Weather (Arlen/Koehler) – youtube How Insensitive (Jobim) – youtube Nice work if you can get it (Gershwin) – youtube I Remember You (Schertzinger/Mercer) – youtube What’s new (Haggart/Burke) – youtube I’m Getting Sentimental over You – youtube The Barber Of Seville (Gioachino Rossini) – youtube	Für Elise (Beethoven) – youtube Joy to the World (Christmas) – youtube Jurassic Park theme – youtube Oh Little Town of Betlehem (Christmas) – youtube Shall We Dance (The King and I) – youtube For Whom The Bell Tools (Metallica) – youtube Major scale (descending) – youtube Ravel’s Bolero – youtube O Fortuna – Carmen Burana (Carl Orff) – youtube Stella By Starlight (Jazz Standard) – youtube Mozart’s Symphony no 40 – 1st movement – youtube The Lady is a Tramp (Rodgers/Hart) – youtube Solar (Miles Davis) – youtube Sophisticated lady (Duke Ellington) – youtube
Major 2nd	Happy Birthday to You – youtube Do-Re-Mi/Do, a deer (Sound of Music) – youtube Silent Night (Christmas) – youtube Frere Jacques – youtube Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (Christmas) – youtube Major scale (ascending) – youtube Strangers in the Night (Frank Sinatra) – youtube Linus and Lucy – “Peanuts Theme” (Vince Guaraldi) – youtube My Funny Valentine (Jazz standard) – youtube The Nutcracker – Marche (Tchaikovsky) – youtube EastEnders (BBC) – youtube Body and Soul (Jazz Standard) – youtube Sleeping Sun (Nightwish) – youtube There Will Never Be Another You (Nat King Cole) – youtube The Tennessee Waltz – youtube Grace (Gordian Knot) – youtube	Mary had a little lamb – youtube Yesterday (Beatles) – youtube Three Blind Mice – youtube The First Noel (Christmas) – youtube Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565 (Bach) – youtube Whistle While You Work (Disney/Snow White) – youtube Away In a Manger (Christmas) – youtube M.A.S.H. theme – youtube Eight Days a Week (Beatles) – youtube NBC news theme – youtube Freddie Freeloader (Miles Davis) – youtube Satin doll (Ellington/Strayhorn) – youtube On the Sunny Side of the Street – youtube
Minor 3rd	Greensleeves – youtube O Canada (national song) – youtube Lullaby (Brahms) – youtube So Long, Farewell (Sound of Music) – youtube Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes) – youtube Smoke On The Water (Deep Purple) – youtube Bad (Michael Jackson) – youtube Georgia on my mind – youtube Spiderman theme (cartoon) – youtube Beverly Hills Cop (Theme) – youtube Oh Where, Oh Where Has My Little Dog Gone – youtube Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin) – youtube The Impossible Dream (Man of La Mancha) – youtube Windmill Hut (Zelda: Ocarina of Time) – youtube Sally’s Song (Nightmare Before Christmas) – youtube Happiness Is a Warm Gun (Beatles) – youtube Final Fantasy 7, Aerith’s theme (N. Uematsu) – youtube Gymnopédie No.1 (Erik Satie) – youtube A Time For Us (Romeo & Juliet) – youtube Minor Swing (Django Reinhardt) – youtube Somewhere My Love (Dr. Zhivago) – youtube A Foggy Day (Gershwin) – youtube Howlin’ Wolf – Spoonful – youtube	Hey Jude (Beatles) – youtube Frosty the snowman (Christmas) – youtube Star Spangled Banner (US national song) – youtube Jesus Loves Me – youtube This Old Man – youtube They don’t care about us (Michael Jackson) – youtube Ride Of The Valkyries (Wagner) – youtube Peer Gynt – Suite No. 1, Op. 46 – I. Morning Mood (Edvard Grieg) – youtube Misty (Erroll Garner) – youtube You’re A Grand Old Flag – youtube Hook theme – youtube What Is This Thing Called Love (Cole Porter) – youtube 500 Miles High (Chick Corea) – youtube Trois Jeunes Tambours – youtube
Major 3rd	Oh, when the Saints – youtube Kumbaya – youtube Ob-la-di Ob-la-da (The Beatles) – youtube Four Seasons: Spring (Vivaldi) – youtube Morning has Broken – youtube Michael Row the Boat Ashore – youtube Blister in the Sun (Violent Femmes) – youtube While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night – youtube Sweet Hour Of Prayer – youtube From the Halls of Montezuma (Marines’ Hymn) – youtube I Can’t Get Started (Duke/Gershwin) – youtube Dallas theme (French version) – youtube Nous n’irons plus au bois – youtube	Swing Low Sweet Chariot – youtube Summertime (Gershwin) – youtube Man in the Mirror; verse (Michael Jackson) – youtube Shoo Fly, Don’t Bother Me – youtube Fate – Symphoni No.5 (Beethoven) – youtube Good Night Ladies – youtube Giant steps (John Coltrane) – youtube Bessies Blues (John Coltrane) – youtube L’Eau vive (Guy Beart) – youtube
Perfect 4th	Amazing Grace – youtube Here comes the Bride/Wedding March (Wagner) – youtube Harry Potter theme – youtube We Wish You a Merry Christmas – youtube Super Mario – youtube The Force Theme – Star Wars (John Williams) – youtube Love Me Tender (Elvis Presley) – youtube Auld Lang Syne – youtube Oh Christmas Tree/Oh Tannenbaum – youtube Black or White (Michael Jackson) – youtube Hark, the Herald Angels Sing (Christmas) – youtube Someday My Prince Will Come (Disney/Snow White) – youtube Star Trek Theme (Next Generation) – youtube La Marseillaise (French National Song) – youtube All the Things You Are – youtube El Condor Pasa – youtube “Overture/Work Song” – Les Miserables – youtube Simple Gifts (Shaker song) – youtube Round Midnight (Thelonious Monk) – youtube The British Grenadiers – youtube Doxy (Sonny Rollins) – youtube Dallas theme – youtube Meunier tu dors – youtube	Oh, come all ye faithful – youtube I’ve Been Working on the Railroad – youtube Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (Mozart) – youtube ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ from Handel’s Messiah – youtube George of the Jungle theme – youtube Born Free (Movie theme by John Barry) – youtube Shave and a Haircut – youtube Today (The Smashing Pumpkins) – youtube Adeste Fideles – youtube Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise (Hammerstein) – youtube Yardbird suite (Charlie Parker) – youtube Lawrence of Arabia theme – youtube A Mighty Fortress is Our God – youtube L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2: Farandole (Bizet) – youtube Your woman (White town) – youtube Dynasty theme – youtube I Didn’t Know What Time It Was (Rodgers) – youtube
Tritone	Simpsons – youtube Maria (West side story) – youtube	Enter Sandman (Metallica) – youtube Even Flow (Pearl Jam) – youtube Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath) – youtube Blue Seven (Sonny Rollins) – youtube YYZ (Rush) – youtube
Perfect 5th	Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – youtube Star Wars – youtube Can’t Help Falling in Love (Elvis Presley) – youtube My Favourite Things (Sound of Music) – youtube Scarborough Fair – youtube Blackbird (Beatles) – youtube Yeah (Usher) – youtube One (Metallica) – youtube The ABC Song – youtube Superman – youtube Baa Baa Black Sheep – youtube X-Files theme – youtube Also Sprach Zarathustra/2001 movie theme (Strauss) – youtube Lavenders Blue – youtube Harry’s Wondrous World – Harry Potter (John Williams) – youtube BWV 1007 (J. S. Bach ) – youtube Bags Groove (Milt Jackson) – youtube Whisper not (Golson) – youtube	Flintstones theme – youtube What do you do with a Drunken Sailor – youtube Minuet in G (Bach) – youtube It Don’t Mean a Thing (Duke Ellington) – youtube Back To The Future – Main theme – youtube The Way You Look Tonight – youtube Swan Lake Suite (Op.20) – Scene (Tchaikovsky) – youtube Feelings (Richard Clayderman) – youtube Schindler’s List – “Main Theme” – youtube Carmen (Bizet) – youtube Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella/ Un flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle – youtube Donna, Donna – youtube Have You Met Miss Jones (Rodgers) – youtube Seven Steps to Heaven (Miles Davis) – youtube
Minor 6th	We Are Young (Fun) – youtube The Entertainer (Scott Joplin) – youtube In My Life (Beatles) – youtube Go Down Moses – youtube Valse Op.64 #2 (Chopin) – youtube Morning of the carnival (Black Orfeus) – youtube She’s a Woman (Beatles) – youtube 1492 (Vangelis) – youtube	Love story theme – youtube Five for Fighting – 100 Years – youtube Chega De Saudade (Tom Jobim) – youtube You’re Everything (Chick Corea) – youtube
Major 6th	My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean – youtube NBC Chimes – youtube Dashing Through the Snow (Jingle Bells) – youtube My way (Frank Sinatra) – youtube Hush little baby (Lullaby) – youtube Nocturne (Chopin Op. 9#2) – youtube Princess Leia’s Theme – Star Wars (John Williams) – youtube For he’s a jolly good fellow/Malbroughs’en va-t-en guerre – youtube It came upon a midnight clear (Christmas) – youtube Take the A-Train – youtube	Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen – youtube Man In the Mirror; chorus (Michael Jackson) – youtube The Music of the Night (Phantom of the Opera) – youtube Down By the Riverside – between “lay” and “down” – youtube Over There (George Cohan) – youtube Il Etait un Petit Navire – youtube Weaver of dreams – youtube
Minor 7th	Somewhere (West side story) – youtube Star Trek theme (Original) – youtube The Winner Takes It All (ABBA) – youtube Nothing Compares 2U (Sinéad O’Connor) – youtube Last Midnight (Into the Woods) – youtube Maman les Petits Bateaux – youtube	Watermelon Man – youtube An American in Paris (Gershwin) – youtube Lady Jane; Chorus (Rolling Stones) – youtube
Major 7th	Take on Me (A-Ha) – youtube Somewhere over the Rainbow (Wizard of Oz) 1st and 3rd pitch – youtube Superman theme – youtube Don’t Know Why (Norah Jones) – youtube Bali Hai (South Pacific) 1st and 3rd pitch – youtube Theme from Fantasy Island – youtube Popular (Nada Surf) – youtube	I Love You (Cole Porter) – youtube
Octave	Somewhere over the Rainbow (Wizard of Oz) – youtube Singin’ in the Rain – youtube Let it snow (Christmas) – youtube The Christmas Song – youtube Blue bossa – youtube A Forest (The Cure) – youtube Bali Ha’I (South Pacific) – youtube	Willow Weep for Me – youtube Kong Kristian stod ved højen mast *2nd and 3rd notes – youtube