Intervals – 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, and 10ths
Intervals are a great way to fill out melodies and solos on the ‘ukulele. Intervals are two notes played together. (two notes played together are also known as double stops) The name of an interval is determined by how many notes you pass in the scale going from the low note to the high note. Example: if you are in the key of C: C d E is a third, C d e f g A is a sixth – the two most common intervals. This works for all notes in the scale, but once you play part of the melody in 3rds, you probably will want to play the rest with 3rds, just to keep the sound consistent. Less common intervals are 4ths and 5ths. There are more, but most of them are not practical for use on the ‘ukulele.
Here is a full PDF of all the interval shapes. A small m stands for minor, a big M stands for major, and a P for perfect. These are all movable shapes. For high-G users, just use the shapes on the three bottom strings. A low-G is needed to reach some of the bigger intervals on page 2.
One of the hardest parts of using intervals is deciding what harmony note will unobtrusively fill out the melody. Usually the melody note sticks out best if it is the higher of the two notes.
3rd intervals:
Are played on two adjacent strings. 3rds on the A and E/C and G strings look like this:
A |-2-Or----3-
E |-3-this:-5-
C |-----------
G |-----------
Just move the shapes around to fit the scale notes on both strings. An F major scale in 3rds would go…A |-0-1-3-5-7-8--10-12
E |-1-3-5-6-8-10-12-13
C |-------------------
G |-------------------
3rds on the middle strings are either of these two shapes:
A |--------
E |-2-or-3-
C |-2----4-
G |--------
Continuing from there you would get a D scale in thirds:
A |--------------------
E |-2-3-5-7-9-10-12-14-
C |-2-4-6-7-9-11-13-14-
G |--------------------
4th intervals:
Have smoother sound than either 3rds or 6ths. They have many uses, but to play a scale of 4ths you have to invert the notes to get a sound that makes sense. On the E and A/G and C string sets 4ths look like this:
A |-1----3-
E |-1-or-2-
C |--------
G |--------
An A minor scale in 4ths on the bottom two strings would go like:
A |-0-2-3-5-7-8-10-12
E |-0-1-3-5-7-8-10-12-
C |-------------------
G |-------------------
On the middle set of strings (C and E), the shapes change a bit:
A |--------
E |-3-or-5-
C |-2----3-
G |--------
So a G major scale in 4ths would go:
A |---------------------
E |-3-5-7-8-10-12-14-15-
C |-2-4-6-7-9--11-12-14-
G |---------------------
5th intervals:
Have the least dissonant sound of all the intervals in my opinion. There are more ways to play 5th intervals than the rest. On the G and E, C and A string sets you would play these shapes:
A |--------
E |-1-or-2-
C |--------
G |-3----5-
A Bb scale would go:
A |---------------------
E |-1-3-5-6-8--10-11-13-
C |---------------------
G |-3-5-7-8-10-12-14-15-
You can play those same pitches on the G and C, E and A string sets by making shapes like this:
A |--------
E |--------
C |-3-or-4-
G |-1----2-
So an Ab major scale looks like:
A |---------------------
E |---------------------
C |-3-5-7-8-10-12-13-15-
G |-1-3-5-6-8--10-12-13-
On the C and E strings the shapes change:
A |--------
E |-3-or-4-
C |-0----2-
G |--------
6th intervals:
Are usually played on the 1st and 3rd, or 2nd and 4th strings, but you can also play them on adjacent ones. 6ths look like this:
A |-3-Or----5-
E |---this:---
C |-4-------5-
G |-----------
Again, you will move the shapes around to fit the scale.
Experience is the only real way to learn how best to use intervals. Once you know the shapes you just have to use them to your songs. Start the learning process with something simple like “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star“:
A |-3-3-10-10-12-12-10-8--8--7-7-5-5-3-
E |-3-3-12-12-13-13-12-10-10-8-8-7-7-3-
C |------------------------------------
G |------------------------------------
Note that the first interval is a 4th (G a b C). This is one of the only intervals that sounds good for the root note in this case. The melody note (C) is still the highest note.
10th intervals:
I got this knowledge from an Eric Johnson lesson I found. Eric is a phenomenal guitarist that all musicians could learn from. He has a super unique style with big interval jumps and a pure tone. His is original writing can be found here: http://web.archive.org/web/20001212113400/www.guitarworld.com/lessons/artists/9612.johnson.html
You can do a lot with the standard 3rds and 6ths we hear all the time, but other intervals can be just as interesting. In this case 10th intervals. A tenth interval uses a root and (count up ten notes – you will go around the scale again) a third an octave up.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C D E F G A B C D E
This is probably the biggest interval that can be easily played in standard tuning on the ‘ukulele. These fingerings and shapes are only tenths on a low G string. An ‘ukulele with a high G will just sound a 3rd. You will be working on the two outside strings (G and A).
The two shapes that make up a 10ths scale look like this:
A |-3-Or----2-
E |---this:---
C |-----------
G |-2-------0-
The lowest note is the root. Here is a G scale in 10ths:
A |-2-3-5-7-9-10-12-14-
E |--------------------
C |--------------------
G |-0-2-4-5-7-9--11-12-
Unisons:
The unison is the most simple interval, but the hardest to play. A unison is two notes of the same pitch played at the same time. It’s probably debatable as to whether or not it’s a real interval, but the idea is the same. Here’s a separate lesson I wrote for unisons: http://liveukulele.com/lessons/techniques/unisons/
You can also find intervals used in some vamps I tabbed out.
