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[QUOTE="Mpumelelo von Mumhanzi, post: 87540, member: 2173"]
Not quite, there's an important distinction. When counting diatonically for intervals, you're not counting notes in your specific scale. You're counting [B]letter names[/B] (A, B, C, D, E, F, G) regardless of any sharps or flats.

So for a fifth from F#, you'd count: F(1) - G(2) - A(3) - B(4) - C(5). Five-letter names = a fifth. The sharps and flats don't affect the interval [I]number[/I] — F# to C# is still a fifth, just like F to C is.

Then the chromatic count (7 semitones for a perfect fifth) confirms the [I]quality[/I]. F# to C# = 7 semitones = perfect fifth. If it were F# to C natural, that would still be a fifth by letter names, but only 6 semitones, making it a [I]diminished[/I] fifth instead.

So to summarize:

[B]Diatonic counting[/B] = letter names A through G, which determines the interval number (fourth, fifth, etc.). This is universal — it has nothing to do with what scale you're in.

[B]Chromatic counting[/B] = semitones, which determines the quality (perfect, major, minor, augmented, diminished).

Your [I]scale[/I] then tells you which of those intervals are available between its notes, but the counting system itself is independent of the scale.
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