Learn music theory with Sonid app icon

Information about the perfect prime interval

Name

This is the perfect prime interval.

Abbreviation

This interval is abbreviated with P1.

Practice the P1 interval

Open the app and start your daily workout!

learn music theory with sonid app logofor iOS and Android

Construct

How to construct the perfect prime interval?

To construct an interval correctly you must always use two steps.

1 • Count the amount of naturals used
2 • Count the semitone steps between the two notes

At first, and with easy intervals, this may seem unnecessary, but when advancing to more difficult intervals and musical keys they will become more mandatory.

The following example is for a minor second from C3. Outcome: C3

1 • The perfect prime spans 1 naturals.
C3
2 • The perfect prime has 24 semitones between the notes.
C3  ↠  C3  ↠  D3  ↠  D3  ↠  E3  ↠  F3  ↠  F3  ↠  G3  ↠  G3  ↠  A3  ↠  A3  ↠  B3  ↠  C4  ↠  C4  ↠  D4  ↠  D4  ↠  E4  ↠  F4  ↠  F4  ↠  G4  ↠  G4  ↠  A4  ↠  A4  ↠  B4  ↠  C5

Cheatsheet

The perfect prime transposed from each note

C
C
C
C
C
C
D
D
D
D
D
D
E
E
E
E
E
E
F
F
F
F
F
F
G
G
G
G
G
G
A
A
A
A
A
A
B
B
B
B
B
B

Practice the P1 interval

Open the app and start your daily workout!

learn music theory with sonid app logofor iOS and Android

Chords

Which chords use the perfect prime interval?

Scales

Which scales use the perfect prime interval?

Related articles

Lida van der Eijk
3 months ago

Today we start something new: Sonids Spotify Playlists! Our goal is to make one playlist per week, focussing on one eartraining subject at a time. We start with the Perfect Prime interval.

Sonid
5 months ago

A series of videos to explain music theory in small chunks of information. Part 4 - Perfect Prime