INVERTED INTERVALS

Intervals can also be Inverted ( a fancy name for turning them upside down ) . If we take the Major 3rd interval from the note C to E and turn it upside down so that the E note is on the bottom and the C note is on top, we have inverted the Major 3rd interval. The important thing to note, is that we must now use the Major scale of the bottom note when working out the inverted interval.

We must now work out the Interval using the E Major scale. If we count the alphabet letters first from E to C we can determine that it is a 6th, ( E, F, G, A, B, C ) as there are 6 letters from E to C. The E Major scale, however, consists of the notes E F# G# A B C# & D# . Because the note C is a semitone lower than the C# found in the E Major scale the interval will be classified as a Minor 6th.


To work out the Type of Interval after it has been inverted, just subtract the original interval from 9. This means that :-


Some rules to help with the Quality of Inverted Intervals are:-


Examples of Inverted Intervals

Major 2nd Minor 7th Major 3rd Minor 6th Perfect 4th Perfect 5th
Perfect 5th Perfect 4th Major 6th Minor 3rd Major 7th Minor 2nd


So to summarise what happens to Intervals after they are Inverted :-