Forum: music.stackexchange.com
Tags: <theory><intervals><ear-training>
Title: Musical Aids to Memorize Intervals
Question: As the tutor for my school's music department, I spend a lot of time helping students drill intervals.  However, I only have a handful of songs to recommend recognition.  P8 — Somewhere Over the Rainbow P5 — Also Sprach Zarathustra P4 — Here Comes the Bride m7 — Somewhere (West Side Story)  And there's the extent of my help.  Everything else I work as either arpeggios or scales.  What are good pieces to help my students?  Particularly Tritone and the Major and Minor 6ths.

Answers:
sents: text: My music teacher taught us to memorise and recognise intervals using the "compare-it-to-a-familiar-song" method too.
text: It works really well and Somewhere Over The Rainbow
text: was the exact song we used as well.
text: However, it's only effective if you're actually familiar with the tune - Also Sprach Zarathustra doesn't ring any bells with me.
text: So, as my teacher did, why not play the interval to the student and get them to name a tune they know which contains the same interval?
text: If it happens to be by some obscure X-Factor drop-out, so be it - they'll always remember it because they made the link.
text: If you're too proscriptive about the tunes they'll not be able to identify and remember them.
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/783/Widor
score: 8
sents: text: A great one to use for the rising major 6th is the "NBC" motif.
text: Fun fact, NBC was originally a subsidiary of General Electric, and instead of "National Broadcasting Company", "General Electric Company" was used, or G-E-C for short.
text: That initialism spells the notes that make up what is now known as the NBC motif!
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/133/NReilingh
score: 4
sents: text: M7:
text: Bali Hai, from "South Pacific" -- actually it's an octave jump up followed immediately by a half-step down, but you hear that M7 clearly.
text: West Side Story is all about tritones.
text: The signal whistle is G C F#.
text: Jet Song:
text: G G E C F#. Maria:
text: C F
text: # G. Cool:
text: C F# G
text: C First sung note of "Gee Officer Krupke" is an F# against C in the bass.
text: m2:
text: Jaws theme of course!
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/113/Mark Lutton
score: 4
sents: text: Since you're already using West Side Story: the canonical mnemonic for the tritone is Maria .
text: (In fact, I've never seen anybody use a different one.)
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/3083/Kilian Foth
score: 3
sents: text: m6 - 'Bei Mir Bistu Shein' (or 'Bei Mir Bist Du Schön') M6 - '
text: My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean' (For most intervals I use(d) non-internationally known songs that I chose myself like Widor so nicely suggests.)
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/2245/Ulf Åkerstedt
score: 1
sents: text: Very nice question....
text: You brought back memories :)
text: My music teacher did the exact same thing.
text: I can't seem to recall all the songs she taught us though.
text: I remember she used Singing in the rain for Octave though! :)
text: Check out this link it has many interesting examples many of which my teacher used as well (like jaws, happy birthday, Superman Theme) http://www.musicalintervalstutor.info/listenpg.html Widor's answer presents an interesting approach I have to say.
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/3099/Panagiotis Palladinos
score: 1
sents: text: M3 (going down to tonic from major 3rd) =
text: doorbell...
text: ding dong.
text: Don't laugh - I still use it.
text: (Love the other examples!)
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/2851/Kristina Lopez
score: 1
sents: text: This site has an extensive list of songs corresponding to the intervals.
text: It's too much to reproduce here
text: but I will note that it's missing "O Canada" for the ascending minor third :P
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/None/
score: 1
sents: text: The stacked thirds from the bridge of Twist and Shout by the Beatles.
text: It gives you the whole layout of the scale in one meme.
answer_details: author: music.stackexchange.com/users/1344/luser droog
score: 0

Summary of the answers:
A great musical aid to use for the rising major 6th is the "NBC" motif. For West Side Story, the canonical mnemonic for the tritone is  Maria .
Some good tunes for helping students to memorise intervals include the NBC motif for a major 6th and Maria from West Side Story for a tritone.