Music To Jog Your Memory


Collected by Sandy Sukhov Cressman

Here are snippets of many well-known songs and tunes. The first notes of each snippet correspond to a particular musical interval.

Practice these intervals by randomly choosing a starting note from a piano or pitch pipe. Then, thinking of the song clue for that interval, try and sing the prescribed interval up, or down. The boldface lyric syllables show which notes of each melody correspond to the interval.

From Phil Richards of the Westchester County, NY Golden Chordsman

Phil added a table that describes an interval's steps relative to tonic, root, or key note.

 

Major Second up Doe-a-deer
Happy Birth-day
Major Second down Ma-ry had a little lamb
Whis-tle while you work
Minor second up You must remember this ('As Time Goes By')
I left my heart in San Francisco
Theme from Jaws (repeating two-note pattern)
Minor Second down Shall we dance (from The King and I)
Ride a painted pony ('Spinning Wheel')
I know a dark secluded place ('Hernando's Hideaway')
Major Third up From the halls of Montezuma
Have your-self a merry little Christmas
Well I come from Alabama ('Oh Susanna')
Major Third down Swing low, sweet chariot
Good night, ladies
Summertime and the livin' is easy.
Minor Third up Lul-la-by and good night(Brahm's Lullaby)
A time for us ('Love Theme From Romeo And Juliet')
To dream the impossible dream
Minor Third down Look at me ('Misty')
Toot-Toot Tootsie, good-bye
Oh-o say you see ('Star Spangled Banner')
Perfect Fourth up Here comes the bride
Day is done ('Taps' bugle call)
Perfect Fourth down Born free
My girl
, talkin' 'bout my girl (Motown hit)
Tritone up Ma-ri-a (from West Side Story)
Bo-oy, boy, crazy boy (from flatted fifth or sharp fourth) 'Cool' in West Side Story)
Tritone down European police siren (go see a foreign film)
Perfect Fifth up Hey there, Georgy Girl
Rain-drops on roses ('My Favorite Things', Sound of Music)
Yo-ee-oh (War chant of the Wicked Witch's guardsmen in The Wizard of Oz)
Perfect Fifth down Feel-ings, nothing more than feelings
Major Sixth up My Bonnie lies over the ocean
Dash-ing through the snow ('Jingle Bells');
N-B-C (network chime)
Major Sixth down No-body knows the trouble I seen
Gonna lay down my sword and shield ('Down By The Riverside')
0-ver there
Minor Sixth up 'Cast Your Fate To The Wind,' first two notes (Black Orpheus theme)
For Papa, make him a scholar (from 'Matchmaker' in Fiddler On The Roof)
Minor Sixth down Where do I begin ('Theme From Love Story')
Major Seventh up Ba-li Hai will find you (from South Pacific; first and third notes)
Major Seventh down The last phrase of "So have yourself a merry little Christmas now."
Minor Seventh up There's a place for us (from 'Somewhere' in West Side Story)
Theme from Star Trek (first two notes)
Minor Seventh down Theme from American In Paris (first two notes)
Octave up Some-where over the rainbow
Octave down Wil-low weep for me

 

Minor Second One Half Tone
Major Second Two Half Tones
Minor Third Three Half Tones
Major Third Four Half Tones
Perfect Fourth Five Half Tones
Tritone Six Half Tones
Perfect Fifth Seven Half Tones
Minor Sixth Eight Half Tones
Major Sixth Nine Half Tones
Minor Seventh Ten Half Tones
Major Seventh Eleven Half Tones
Octave Twelve Half Tones

Example: C Major Scale

Chord Examples, Numbers are Half Tones Between Notes
Major Minor Seventh Ninth Dimin Sixth Minor7th
C Tonic X X X X X X
C# Db Minor Second
D Major Second 4 3 4 X 3 4 3
D# Eb Minor Third X 2 X X
E Major Third X X X X
F Perfect Fourth 3 4
F# Gb Tritone 3 4 3 3 X 3
G Perfect Fifth X X X X X X
G#Ab Minor Sixth 3 2
A Major Sixth 5 5 3 3 X X 3
A#Bb Minor Seventh X X X
B Major Seventh 2 3 3 2
C Octave X X X 4 X X X

Note: The Minor intervals correspond to the piano black keys, but only in the key of C.