Learning your intervals will allow your ear to instantly recognize the distance between any two pitches. Chromatic intervals encompass all of the possible distances commonly heard between two notes. We are staying within an octave because it is extremely uncommon for an interval to go beyond an octave. The full playlist is available on my Patreon for 1$ with audio downloads, but will gradually be made available on this channel for free. See below for links and a listener's guide.

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This might seem like a cheap trick, but I really recommend not a new set of tunes for descending intervals unless you can think of a very obvious one. Rather, simply flip the interval around in your head so that it's ascending. Sure, it's a lot of work at first, but I worry that having an enormous catalog of tune names in your head will clutter your thinking.

Minor 2nd- Also known as a half step or semitone. It's the shortest distance normally found in Western music. "Fur Elise" by Beethoven begins with a descending minor 2nd.

Major 2nd - Also known as a whole step or a whole tone. "Mary Had a Little Lamb" begins with a descending major 2nd.

Minor 3rd - The first two notes in a minor chord. Dark and consonant.

Major 3rd - The first two notes in a major chord. Bright and consonant. Descending, a major 3rd sounds like a doorbell.

Perfect 4th - A perfect consonance, although the upper note sometimes sounds like it wants to resolve. The first two notes in "The Legend of Zelda" main theme are a descending perfect 4th.

Tritone - Very dissonant. A tritone is unique in the fact that it can resolve up or down depending on the context. The opening guitar riff in "YYZ" by Rush is a descending tritone.

Perfect 5th - A perfect consonance. Used in power chords on the guitar. ""The Flintstones Theme" begins with a descending perfect 5th.

Minor 6th - Dark and consonant. I have a hard time telling 6ths apart, but what helps the most is when I imagine the upper note resolving down by a half step. A major 6th can't really do this. The chorus of "Call Me Maybe" contains a descending minor 6th.

Major 6th - Bright and consonant. The chorus of "Man in the Mirror" starts with a descending major 6th.

Minor 7th - A soft dissonance, similar to a major 2nd. This descending interval is pretty uncommon. I always sing up a major 2nd from this interval to see if it matches the lower note because a minor 7th and major 2nd are inversions of each other. The jazz tune "Watermelon Man" has a descending minor 7th.

Major 7th - A sharp dissonance. The upper note almost always wants to resolve up by a half step. Don't get this one confused with a tritone; a major 7th is much larger. Sing up a half step from the top note to see if you can get an octave.

Octave - The biggest jump normally seen in melodies. Again, I always think of the guitar riff in "My Sharona."

Thanks to @BrandonWalid, Martin Shaw, Tóth Ákos, Austin Kwan, and Rafael Belor for proof-watching this video.

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