Practice

The Minor 3rd Interval (m3)

An interval is the distance between two notes, counted in semitones. Each of the thirteen simple intervals has its own page: reference songs that open with it, where it sits on the guitar fretboard, its inversion, and the chords built from it.

The minor 3rd spans 3 semitones — the darker third — the sound of minor. It does not land on a major-scale degree from the tonic, which is exactly why it sounds so colorful — it lives outside the key. Inverted (the lower note moved up an octave) it becomes the major 6th.

The classic way to internalize it: sing a song that opens with it — Greensleeves (the opening leap on "A-las"); Hey Jude (the fall on "Hey Jude"). You also hear the minor 3rd inside chords built on it, like Minor, m7, m6, m(add9). Then drill it on the ear trainer until you name it without thinking.