As a music theory teacher, one of our trademark skills is knowing songs with melodies that feature every type of interval up to an octave. Interval identification is a vital aural skill to develop in music theory, as being able to readily identify the distance between two notes makes it easier to hear and synthesize longer and more complex examples of music. While ear training is a notoriously abstract concept that does not have rigidly defined processes for understanding it, one seemingly universal strategy for interval identification is to associate the sound of a given interval with a well-known melody/hook/jingle/etc. There are standard examples that are often taught – such as the Jaws music for minor second and “Twinkle Twinkle” for perfect fifth – but it can also be fun to come up with your examples and find ways to connect these intervals to music that is integral to your identity.

As a devout Beatles fan, I recently wondered: can I come up with a different Beatles song to match every interval up to an octave? After a deep dive through their albums and singles, I discovered the answer to be a resounding, “Almost!”

Minor 2^nd:

• Ascending:
  • “I Will” – This gem from the White Album is one of the greatest songs under two minutes, and it is arguably the most efficient song in popular music. It features a beautiful melody, and one that utilizes a wide variety of melodic intervals very effectively, but it starts with the smallest of them all. Its first two pitches feature a half-step between “E” and “F”, which would be ti-do in the song’s key of F Major. These are literally the first sounds you hear on the recording.

• “Penny Lane” – One half of what some refer to as the greatest single ever released in the history of popular music (co-A side with “Strawberry Fields Forever”), “Penny Lane” is a timeless track that pulls off the rare feat of a modulation that descends by step moving from the verse into the chorus. The chorus melody also starts with an ascending half-step, and this one features the mi-fa variety of a diatonic minor second (“C# to “D” in the chorus’ key of A Major). You can hear this at 0:34 in the song.

• Descending:
  • “Please Please Me” – The single that broke The Beatles in the UK is driven by a palpable energy, and its triumphant melody begins with descending stepwise motion that is balanced effectively with the rising motion featured in the melody of the chorus. This opening descent starts on tonic, and so it features the do-ti minor second (“E” to “D#” in the key of E Major). This pattern can be heard in both the opening harmonica melody and in John’s descending lead vocal line at 0:08. (Bonus interval tidbit – when taken with Paul’s harmonizing pedal upper line, this “D#” sounds against the tonic “E”, thus creating the very rare harmonic minor second.)

• “Twist And Shout” – One of the greatest cover recordings ever, this track really captured the raw energy of The Beatles’ early live shows. While the melody doesn’t begin with a descending minor second, it does feature this motion for its titular lyric. This iteration features the fa-mi type of the descending half-step (“G” to “F#” in the key of D Major), which gives the melody a nice movement of tension to resolution.

Major 2^nd:

• Ascending:
  • “She Loves You” – Major seconds, or whole steps, are probably the most commonly used of all melodic intervals, and the greater challenge would be finding a Beatles song that doesn’t use a major second. Perhaps it’s no coincidence, then, that the four songs I have selected to demonstrate this interval are among their four biggest hits, and two of them were at the heart of Beatlemania. Although “She Loves You” only spent two weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, its chart dominance was stunted by a couple other Beatles songs (It sat at #2 for five weeks while “I Want To Hold Your Hand” was #1, and then it got booted from #1 by “Can’t Buy Me Love”). In the UK, it was the Beatles’ best-selling single ever, and held the mark for the highest-selling single until Wings’ “Mull of Kintyre” (thanks, Paul!) in 1977. It begins with a very accessible ascending major scale for its melody, and after the pick-up, the first two melody pitches present a Major second between do-re (“G” and “A” in the song’s key of G Major).

• “Let It Be” – A great example of the mileage you can get from writing a melody with predominantly stepwise motion, this song’s melody is unsurprisingly started with an ascending Major second, though it is one featuring sol-la motion (“G” and “A” in the song’s key of C Major).

• Descending:
  • “I Want to Hold Your Hand” – Arguably the band’s biggest hit (it held the #1 spot for seven weeks, second only to “Hey Jude” for Beatles songs), and the one that indisputably made them international megastars, this song kicks off with a jolt of energy and a vocal melody that presents the la-sol variety of descending Major second (“E” and “D” in the key of G Major). Bonus interval fact for this song – its chorus also gives us a descending minor second (do-ti), so it’s a twofer in that regard.

• “Yesterday” – I told you these were all big hits! The most recorded song ever, “Yesterday” famously almost never existed due to Paul’s being convinced that he nicked the song from a better writer. It turned out he was the composer of this timeless melody, and its yearning quality is established by the descending step motif the begins every phrase. The first of these demonstrates a re-do Major second between “G” and “F” in the song’s key of F Major.

Minor 3^rd:

• Ascending:
  • “Help!” – The title track from the soundtrack of the Beatles’ second feature film starts off with static melodic motion in its verse (often a trait of John’s melodies), but its first melodic leap features a minor third from mi to sol (“C#” and “E” in the key of A Major). Despite the fact that this interval does not involve “do”, it is probably the most commonly used type of melodic minor third.

• “Things We Said Today” – Near the top of my list of favorite lesser-known Beatles songs, this folk-pop gem from Paul begins with the version of the minor third that does involve “do” – do-me in a minor key (“A” and “C” in A minor). The song toggles between minor and major in really interesting ways, although this opening leap helps to establish the song’s core identity of A minor.

• Descending:
  • “Hey Jude” – The Beatles’ biggest single (it spent 9 weeks at #1 in 1968) features a melody marked by distinctive expressive leaps (often a trait of Paul’s melodies), which kicks off with a descending sol-mi minor third (“C” and “A” in F Major). As the first notes heard in one of the more epic singles of all time, it’s arguably one of the most immediately identifiable sound bites in the history of popular music.

• “Good Day Sunshine” – This Revolver track has to be on the short-list for happiest songs ever recorded, and it all starts with a descending minor third. However, what is unique about this one is that it’s not immediately obvious what the combination of solfege syllables for this interval are. The pitches are “F#” and “D#”, and while these would be re and ti in the song’s key of E Major, the chord that harmonizes them is a B Major chord. This would be a dominant V chord in the key, but it sounds a lot like tonic at this moment in the song, which makes it sound as if it is sol-mi. So a fascinating juxtaposition here.

Major 3^rd:

• Ascending:
  • “Can’t Buy Me Love” – This song holds the pre-SoundScan (pre-1991) record for the largest leap into the #1 position on the Hot 100 (from #27). Its starting melodic leap is not nearly as dramatic, but it is a great example of an ascending Major third between do and mi (“C” and “E” in C Major), particularly since they are the very first sounds heard in the track.

• “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” – One of the happiest sounding songs The Beatles ever recorded is also one of their most contentious, as Paul’s perfectionism in the studio grated on the other members, particularly with a song that John would describe as “granny stuff” (Lennon’s percussive piano intro was purportedly the result of his frustration boiling over in the studio). But none of that can take away from the clarity of the chorus’ triadic sing-along melody, which begins with a do-mi Major third (“Bb” and “D” in Bb Major), starting 26 seconds into the song.

• Descending:
  • “Here Comes the Sun” – Speaking of optimistic songs in troubling times, this standout from Abbey Road became indicative of Harrison’s emergence as a songwriter toward the end of The Beatles’ time together, and it would foreshadow the success he would have as a solo artist in the 1970’s. Its dreamy melody kicks off its verse with a descending Major third between mi and do (“C#” and “A” in A Major), heard 27 seconds in.

• “For No One” – This Baroque-pop classic from Revolver features what is almost certainly the greatest French horn solo in the history of rock & roll, but it also features a couple of interesting uses of descending Major thirds. The melody is shaped out of a tonic triad in its starting key of B Major, though it begins on sol (“F#”). From there, it ascends to do (“B”) and “mi” (“D#”), and it is from this point that we hear two consecutive descending Major thirds. On the word “kindness”, we hear this interval as it moves from its focal point “D#” back to “B”, but then this descends to a “G”, which would be a modally-borrowed le (lowered scale degree 6), between the words “on” and “when”. This makes for a great moment of unexpected tension in the melody by utilizing the rare trick of consecutive descending Major thirds.

Perfect 4^th:

• Ascending:
  • “I’ll Be Back” – One of the more underrated great things about The Beatles is that they have some of the greatest album closing tracks in popular music history – “Tomorrow Never Knows”, “A Day In The Life”, and “Golden Slumbers Medley” all close out their respective albums, but the closing track from A Hard Day’s Night certainly fits this bill, as well. The song, which boasts a form that loosely resembles that of a classical rondo form and a chord progression that toggles seamlessly between A Major and minor, has a melody (John’s lower vocal line) that begins with an ascending perfect fourth from sol up to do (“E” and “A” in A Major/minor)

• “Nowhere Man” – A key point in John’s developing introspection as a songwriter – and a great example of his growing Dylan influence – this is another song that begins with an ascending sol-do perfect fourth as its foundational melody (“B” and “E” in E Major, and once again, taken from John’s lower vocal line)

• Descending:
  • “We Can Work It Out” – This co-A-side of a single with “Day Tripper” features a harmonium and a brief foray into a waltz groove, and the melody for its refrain uses a descending perfect fourth that leaps from fa down to do (“G” and “D” in D Major), which can be heard between the words “work” and “it” 14 seconds into the song.

• “From Me To You” – This early single is a great example of a 1960’s love song reliant on the postal service, and its catchy vocal intro concludes with a descending perfect fourth (specifically, at the 0:02 mark in the song). What is interesting about this descending interval is that, in the song’s key of C Major, it occurs between re and la (“D” and “A”), which is an unusual combination. However, at the very end of the song, when it ends on an A minor chord, it sounds more like fa-do in the key of A minor, which makes for an interesting use of duality in the song.

Tritone (Augmented 4^th/Diminished 5^th):

• Ascending:
  • “I’ll Follow the Sun” – The devil’s interval! A sound so dissonant that it was outlawed for centuries back when the Catholic church controlled music. Though its perceived dissonance has softened over the years, the fact remains that it is seldom used due to its difficulty to find when singing, but you can hear it in this lovely McCartney ballad. The tritone occurs between the third and fourth notes of the opening melody on the words “you’ll look”, and it is a leap between “Eb” and “A” (me – lowered scale degree three – and la in the key of C Major). What is interesting about it in this context is that it occurs within a sequence of ascending leaps. Each of the first eight notes in the melody is a series of ascending leaps, with the first three all fourths and the last one a third. The second leap is the lone tritone, and it makes for a fascinating outlier that adds some great color to the melody.

• “Blue Jay Way” – This trippy George Harrison song from Magical Mystery Tour is a great example of The Beatles’ psychedelic influence during their middle period, and part of its aesthetic is achieved through its use of harmonic and melodic dissonance. The song incorporates diminished chords – triads with two minor thirds, resulting in a diminished fifth between the root and fifth of the chord – and it’s through this harmony that the song finds its melodic tritone. While Harrison’s melody toggles between the notes of a diminished triad, it’s not until the 0:42 mark that he finally hits an ascending tritone, which occurs between the syllables “sevles” and “in” (within the lyric “now they’ve lost themsSELVES INstead”). Coincidentally, this ascending tritone follows the exact same pitch pattern and context as the one from “I’ll Follow the Sun” – they’re both “Eb” to “A” leaps in the key of C Major.

• Descending:
  • Sadly, I couldn’t find any descending tritones in the entire Beatles catalogue. This interval is exceedingly rare, so its absence isn’t too surprising, although it’s disappointing for my fellow completionists. Though it’s not a Beatles song, Nirvana’s “Heart Shaped Box” is my go-to example of a descending tritone, which is featured in the guitar riff that is heard right before and after the chorus (0:48, for example).

Perfect 5^th:

• Ascending:
  • “And I Love Her” – Arguably Paul’s first ballad to grace a Beatles album, this lovely track from A Hard Day’s Night culminates its romantic melody with an ascending perfect fifth. What is notable about this leap is that it occurs not between the expected tandem of do and sol, but rather la to mi (“C#” and “G#” in the key of E Major) on the words “love” and “her”. Adding further intrigue is that both pitches of this leap occur over a tonic chord, which does not typically include la/scale degree six. However, they make the tonic chord here an add-6 chord (E, G#, B, C#), and so the melody serves to highlight this upper extension note from the chord.

• “She Said She Said” – The lyrics and vibe of this John song from Revolver may be trippy and drug-induced, but the melody pristinely clear, particularly in its opening use of a do-sol ascending perfect fifth (“Bb” and “F” in the key of Bb Major).

• Descending:
  • “It Won’t Be Long” – This opening track to With The Beatles features a number of perfect interval leaps, including a prominent descending perfect fourth leading into the downbeat of the first phrase. A descending perfect fifth can be found going in both directions between the call-and-response “yeahs”, as Paul and George bounce off of John’s lead vocals, toggling up and down this interval as they go.

• “Fixing A Hole” – One of the rare rock songs to prominently feature a harpsichord, this Paul song from Sgt. Pepper’s has a melody that heavily emphasizes the tonic and dominant pitches of its primary key of F Major. While the first descending leap of the melody features a perfect fourth of do descending to sol, it does also include a descending perfect fifth from sol down to do between the words “stops” and “my” (“C to “F”).

Minor 6^th:

• Ascending:
  • “She’s A Woman” – This B-side to the “I Feel Fine” single is a great early Paul rocker, and this one kicks off its melody with an ascending minor sixth from mi to do (“C#” to “A” in A Major). It goes a long way towards establishing the energetic vibe of the song.

• Descending:
  • “Norwegian Wood” – The opening phrase of this timeless John song features unique melodic contour with large leaps in alternating directions, and one of them includes a descending minor sixth. This occurs for the first time (in the vocal melody) at 0:21 on the words “once” and “had”. Musically, this is a leap from fa down to la (“A” to “C#” in E Major), which makes for a unique sound within the context of its key since neither pitch comes from the tonic triad.

• Ascending & Descending:
  • “Golden Slumbers” – Not that this is particularly relevant to the discussion at hand, but the closing medley to Abbey Road is not only my favorite Beatles song, it is also the song that kicked off my fascination with the group. What is relevant to this discussion is that the gorgeous melody to “Golden Slumbers” features both versions of minor sixths, including a descending minor sixth at the end of its first phrase (a do-mi leap on the words “back” and “home” – “C” to “E” in C Major), as well as an ascending minor sixth, which occurs over the last syllable of “lullaby” at 0:31 (mi-do, same two pitches but inverted).

Major 6^th:

• Ascending:
  • “In My Life” – One of The Beatles’ most personal and emotionally resonant songs (for example, this was the song I used for my mother-son dance at my wedding reception), its exquisitely sculpted melody is punctuated with an ascending Major sixth between sol and mi (“E” and “C#” in A Major). While it appears at the end of many of the song’s phrases, the most identifiable one is the one that closes the chorus, first appearing at 0:44 on the words “loved” and “them”.

Minor 7^th:

• Ascending:
  • “She Came In Through The Bathroom Window” – This final movement of the “Sun King” medley starts with an unusually large leap, as Paul’s first melody notes feature an ascending minor seventh between “A” and “G”. What is particularly interesting about this leap is that, in the song’s key of A Major, these would be “do” up to “te”, or lowered scale degree seven, which means it involves a non-diatonic pitch. The song’s progression actually begins on a IV chord (G Major), and this melody serves to tonicize that IV chord. Because this song appears at the end of its medley, it feels like it is in the middle of the music even though it is technically the beginning of this song.

• “Got to Get You Into My Life” – Both an ode to the cutting horn riffs of the Memphis Stax sound and pot, this song features an unusually large leap at the end of its first phrase that happens to be an ascending minor seventh on the words “find” and “there.” Paul’s melody leaps from an “A” up to a “G” in the key of G Major, which would be the rare instance of a leap from re up to the octave do.

• Descending:
  • “Paperback Writer” – Descending minor sevenths are very rare; in fact, I couldn’t find a single one in the melodies the Beatles recorded. I did, however, find one in one of their guitar riffs. The Beatles were much less likely to build a song around a guitar riff than their 60’s contemporaries, but “Paperback Writer” features one of their quintessential guitar riffs. In the main guitar riff, you will find a descending minor seventh between the sixth and seventh notes, which would be “F” down to “G” (te-do in G Major, though the song prominently features lowered scale degree seven with its blues influence). The full sequence of pitches up to this point in the riff would be G – C – D – G (high) – G – F – G, with the last two containing the descending minor seventh. The first instance of it in the track occurs right as the time indication switches to 0:08.

Major 7^th:

• Ascending:
  • “Michelle” – The only Beatles song to ever win the Song of the Year Grammy (which they won in 1967, despite the fact that it appeared on 1965’s Rubber Soul – Grammys gonna Grammy!), this ballad has long been highly regarded for its musical prowess. The fact that it uses a melodic Major seventh is not among its greatest musical feats, but it is most relevant for our discussion here. Although this leap does not exist in the vocal melody, we do hear one in the introductory guitar riff; specifically, we hear it between the ninth and tenth notes the guitar plays, occurring at 0:04. These pitches are “Db” and “C”, which would be le (lowered scale degree six) and sol in the song’s key of F Major.

• Descending:
  • This is the other melodic interval I couldn’t find in any Beatles song. Before you launch your stored up moldy vegetables in my direction, I do have one example of a rock song that utilizes this exceptionally rare interval. Oddly, or perhaps fittingly, a descending Major seventh is featured in the last track off the last David Bowie album. The chorus of “I Can’t Give Everything Away” starts with a gorgeously-employed descending Major seventh between the words “give” and “everything” on the solfege syllables ti down to do (“E” to “F” in F Major), first appearing at 0:40 in the song. What a way to go out.

Perfect Octave:

• Ascending:
  • “Eleanor Rigby” – With its Psycho-inspired strings, blending of Dorian and Aeolian modes, and poetic lyrics about dying church ladies, “Eleanor Rigby” is one of the most unique two-minute pop songs ever recorded. It also features an excellent example of an ascending octave leap in its melody, which can be found in its chorus between the words “where” and “do”. This is a do-do octave leap (“E”).

• “With A Little Help from My Friends” – Hey, we finally get to hear Ringo’s voice! Although Ringo didn’t write this song, it was crafted for him to sing. Like many Ringo vocal performances, the melody for this song is fairly straightforward and uses a relatively confined range. That is, up until the very end. The final octave leap at the very end of the song (do-do, “E”) was apparently intimidating for Ringo to record, but he went for it, and I’ll be damned if he didn’t nail it. 10/10

• Descending:
  • “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” – Melodic descending octaves are surprisingly rare, and while this interval will sometimes be used in tandem with its ascending form in riffs (such as “My Sherona” or “Immigrant Song”), it will not often be found on its own in its descending form. One exception to this can be found in this Dylan-inspired John song from the Help! Soundtrack, as its chorus kicks off with an emphatic descending octave when its opening shout (“Hey!”) is followed by a lower echo of the same pitch (“you’ve”, both on the pitch “G” in G Major).

And that’s a wrap! The fact that each of these intervals can be found at least once (and the vast majority on multiple occurrences) in the Beatles’ cannon speaks to the depth and quality of their music. Even when The Beatles got more experimental with their sounds and writing, they never abandoned their clear sense of melody, and this deep dive illustrates their inventive approach to melody and how it stayed with them for their entire existence. And hopefully their brilliance helps you better identify the sound of melodic intervals.