Intervals — the distance between two notes

The distance between two notes is called an interval. It's measured in half steps, and each distance has its own character: narrow distances rub audibly, wide ones sound open. This isn't a matter of taste — the character stays the same no matter where on the neck the interval is played. And these characters are already familiar: many well-known melodies are recognizable from their first two notes.

Each distance has a name that refers to its size: minor and major third, fourth, fifth, octave, and so on. You don't need to memorize the list. What matters more is that there are only a handful of them.

The core of this section isn't the list but an observation: intervals are the building blocks of both layers. A melody is a series of these distances played one after another. A chord is the same thing stacked instead of sequential. Anyone who hears intervals has the building block of melody and harmony at once.

Because the character depends on the distance and not on absolute pitch, a melody or a chord can be moved along the neck without changing its effect. Movable scales and barre chords rest on this property.