The distance between two notes is called an Interval.

There are twelve notes in the chromatic scale which creates twelve possible intervals.In order to keep track of all twelve intervals each one has been given a name.

From the smallest interval to the largest their names are:

The Intervals from Smallest to Largest

Roman Numeral System

When musicians discuss intervals they say things like, ”Play a minor second here.”, or “This is a perfect fifth.”

When writing intervals out they use a shorthanded method involving Roman numerals. This way a minor second becomes bIIand a perfect fifth becomes V.

Below is a list of each interval and its Roman numeral equivalent.