Printable worksheet
Consonance and Dissonance Worksheet
Free consonance and dissonance worksheet: classify intervals as perfect consonance, imperfect consonance or dissonance. Choose how the 4th is treated.
Consonance and Dissonance Worksheet
Sheet #
Name Date Score /
Answer key
Consonance and Dissonance Worksheet · Sheet #
How to use it
- Choose a difficulty and how many categories to use.
- Decide how the perfect 4th should be treated (default: dissonant above the bass) or leave it out.
- Press New worksheet, identify each interval, then classify it.
- Show answers or print; the answer key says why each interval belongs to its class.
This worksheet practises classifying harmonic intervals by how they behave in traditional (common-practice) harmony. Each question shows two notes sounded together; you name the interval and then decide its class.
The classification used here#
- Perfect consonances: perfect unison, 5th and octave (and compounds).
- Imperfect consonances: major and minor 3rds and 6ths.
- Dissonances: 2nds, 7ths and 9ths, the tritone, and every augmented or diminished interval.
- The perfect 4th is a convention choice. Against the bass it is treated as dissonant in the usual two-part counterpoint rules, so that is the default. If your course lists the 4th as a perfect consonance, choose that, or choose “left out” to avoid it entirely.
In “Consonant or dissonant” mode, both kinds of consonance are grouped together.
Difficulty levels#
- Easy: natural notes; simple 2nds, 3rds, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths and octaves, with no 4ths or tritones.
- Medium: sharps and flats, the perfect 4th (unless left out), the augmented 4th and the diminished 5th.
- Hard: other augmented and diminished intervals and compound intervals (9th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 15th).
The answer key names each interval and gives the reason for its class.
Frequently asked questions
Which intervals are perfect consonances?
Perfect unison, perfect 5th and perfect octave (and their compounds, such as the 12th and 15th).
Which intervals are imperfect consonances?
Major and minor 3rds and 6ths.
Which intervals are dissonant?
2nds and 7ths (and 9ths), the tritone, and every augmented and diminished interval.
Is the perfect 4th consonant?
It depends on context. In traditional counterpoint and common-practice harmony a perfect 4th sounding against the lowest voice is treated as a dissonance, while between upper voices it can be consonant. Many introductory textbooks simply list it as a perfect consonance. This worksheet lets you choose.