Lesson #3 - Show Notes

First off:
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At first it's very helpful to think of a song you know well when you are learning to identify intervals. The important thing is that you're able to get the answers right, because you won't learn nearly as fast from getting incredibly difficult questions wrong consistently as you will from getting realistic questions right consistently. Much of what holds many people back is being dishonest about how good they actually are at playing music. It's totally fine to be bad at your instrument so long as you know you're getting better.
Very few people are born with innate musical ability, and very few of them ever amount to anything. Name ten musicians in the last 100 years that was born knowing how to play their instrument. Now name ten musicians from the last 100 years whose music you like. Think about people like Glen Gould or Charlie Parker who destroyed their lives with pathetic drug abuse; clearly there’s more to a good musician than divine inspiration.
There are 14 different intervals that span the octave, think of 14 tunes or memorable passages that you like that have that interval, make sure they’re memorable. Here’s my list:

Unison: Lady Bird by Tadd Dameron.
Minor Second: The Jaws theme by John William
Major Second: Body and Sound by Haymen, Eyton, Sour and Green
Minor Third: Misty by Errol Garner (who if you haven’t heard you need to check out)
Major Third: Summertime by Gershwin
Perfect Fourth: Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise, Hamerstine and Romburg
Tritone: Diminished Fifth, by Bela Bartok
Perfect Fifth: The Flintstone’s Theme, by Hoyt S. Curtin (a tune played over rhythm changes)
Minor Sixth: Black Orpheus, by Louis Bonfi
Major Sixth: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean Shore, a traditional Scottish folksong
Minor Seventh: I actually don’t have one for this interval.
Major Seventh: I Love You, by Cole Porter (which has always sounded a lot like Night and Day to me, which was written for the musical, Gay Divorce, which ironically debuted before his production, Gay Marriage, which is still awaiting approval of the sensors in most U.S. states)
Octave: Willow Weep for Me, by Ann Ronell

So there you go. They are very useful at first so long as the tune is one you can call forth in your mind right away. Eventually you will find that you are able to figure out what the interval is without needing to think of the tune, but until then, just enjoy singing those songs you love.