Welcome back to the series of articles on how to identify music intervals! Let's keep reviewing the descending intervals.

In part 4 we talked about:

  • The descending minor 2nd.
  • The descending major 2nd.
  • The descending minor 3rd.

Here we will talk about:

  • The descending major 3rd
  • The descending perfect 4th
  • The descending augmented 4th
  • The descending perfect 5th

💡 To refresh your mind on what those interval names mean, check out our dedicated article here.

How to identify a descending major 3rd

As we reviewed in the article regarding the intervals, the major 3rd has 4 semitones. As always, let's listen to some examples:

  • C-Ab
  • A-F
  • Bb-Gb
  • E-C

Listen to the first two vowels ("SU"-"MMER") of this song:

These two notes form a descending major third!


How to identify a descending perfect fourth

A perfect 4th has 5 semitones, as reviewed in this article. Let's have some other examples:

  • C-G
  • D#-A#
  • Bb-F
  • E-B

Listen carefully to the first two notes of "Eine Kleine Nachtmusik (first movement)", one of Mozart's greatest compositions:

This is the sound of a descending perfect 4th!

How to identify a descending augmented fourth

An augmented 4th has 6 semitones, as we reviewed in here. Let's listen to some examples:

  • C-Gb
  • A-Eb
  • B-F
  • Eb-Bb


Note that G-C# has 6 semitones too, but the name of this interval is diminished 5th. Since augmented 4ths and diminished 5ths have the same interval width (6 semitones), they share the same distinct sound, despite their different names in theory.

For a reference, check out "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson. At 0:23, the two vowels "LOVE"-"LY" make a descending augmented 4th:

How to identify descending perfect fifths

A perfect fifth has 7 semitones, as noted in this article. Let's listen to some examples:

  • C-F
  • D-G
  • F#-B
  • A-D

The beginning of the Superman theme corresponds to a descending perfect 5th:

That's it for today! See you in Part 6 where we'll continue with descending intervals. Don't forget to practice on your keyboard or the virtual one in Flat to master these intervals.

See you in the next article,

‌Articles on the series about intervals: