Intervals
 

Dear Intervals,

Dafuq.

Sincerely,

Waddles

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Okay, so I'm being frustrated lately by trying to understand intervals. I've got the generic idea down, and can tell you whether two notes are an octave, a fifth, or a third apart. What screws me up is the modifier.

Augmented? Perfect? Major? Minor? Diminished? Major augmented diminished perfect minor?

That last one might be fake.

Seriously though, is there any easy way to remember the rules that define each of these?

I seriously don't understand the difference between a perfect eighth and an augmented seventh. Or a diminished eighth and a major seventh. Or a minor seventh or an augmented sixth. Or a...hopefully you get my point.

Is there a difference? Somebody, please. Help. I have asked Google every way I know how to explain intervals to me, and I can't find an answer that makes sense.

The difference is all about musical context and how they're "spelled" in the musical notation.
In terms of how they sound, is there a difference between, for instance, an augmented fourth and a diminished fifth? No. But both spellings of the same interval can be used in different contexts to make it as easily readable as possible.

Thank you! I appreciate it very much. I've been piecing together what I can about intervals, and this helps.