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    Consonance and Dissonance

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    aes Consorance and e'ssonance - Wikpoa the ree encyclopecta Consonance and dissonance From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia In music, a consonance (Latin con-, "with" + sonare, "to sound") is a harmony, chord, or interval considered stable (at rest), as opposed to a dissonance (Latin dis-, "apart" + sonare, "to sound"), which is considered unstable (or = temporary, transitional), In more general usage, a consonance is a combination of notes that sound pleasant to most people when played at the same time; dissonance is a combination of notes that sound harsh or unpleasant to most people. A consonance) Play A dissonance af) Play This is a cultural concept as musies other than those from the western art music tradition, e.g. Balkan, Arabic, Chinese, do not follow this definition.[!] Contents Consonance = 1 Consonance = 2 Dissonance The definition of consonance has been variously = 2.1 Dissonance and musical style: based on experience, frequency, and both physical * 2.2 Dissonance in traditional music and psychological considerations. 2] These include: = 2.3 Dissonance in history of Westem music = 24 The Middle Age: = Perception = 2.5 Physiological basis of dissonance = Blend/fusion: perception of unity or 3 George Russells theory tonal fasion between two notes = 4 See also (Stump!) = 5 Notes = Frequency ratios: with ratios of lower simple = 6 References numbers being more consonant than those that = 7 Further reading = 8 External links are higher (Pythagoras). Many of these definitions do not require exact integer tunings, only approximation. * Coincidence of partials: with consonance being a greater coincidence of partials (called harmonics or overtones when occurring in harmonic timbres) (Helmholtz, 1877/1954). By this definition, consonance is dependent not only on the width of the interval between two notes (ie, the musical tuning), but also on the combined spectral distribution and thus sound quality (ie., the timbre) of the notes (see the entry under critical band). Thus, a note and the note one octave higher are highly consonant because the partials of the higher note are ako partials of the lower note.(4] Although Helmholtz's work focused almost exclusively on harmonic timbres and tunings, subsequent work has generalized his findings to embrace non-harmonie tunings and timbres /S1SI7I819] = Fusion or pattern matching: fandamentals may be perceived through pattern matching of the separately analyzed partials to a best-fit exact-harmonie template (Gerson & Goldstein, 1978) or the best-fit subharmonic (Tethardt, 1974), Harmonics may be perceptually fused into one entity— consonances being those that include: envhipscaorgiwkiConsonance_and_dssorance wm aes Consorance and e'ssonance - Wikpoa the ree encyclopecta = Perfect consonances: = unisons and octaves = perfect fourths!*] and perfect fifths = Imperfect consonance: = major thirds and minor sixths = minor thirds and major sixths = Both = Continuity: consonances are continuous and dissonances are intermittent in sensation, determined by n, y coincidence of partials (Helmholtz) These may be generalized as simplicity. A stable tone combination is a consonance; consonances are points of arrival, rest, and resolution." —Roger Kamien (2008), p.4111] Dissonance “An unstable tone combination is a Ce; its tension demands an onward motion to a stable chord. Thus dissonant chords are ‘active’; traditionally they have been considered harsh and have expressed pain, grief, and conflict." —Roger Kamien (2008), p.41!!4) dissor In Wester music, dissonance is the quality of wunds that seems "unstable" and has an aural “need" to "resolve" to a "stable" consonance. Both consonance and dissonance are words applied to harmony, chords, and intervals and, by extension, to melody, tonality, and even rhythm and metre. Although there are physical and neurological facts important to understanding the idea of dissonance, the precise definition of dissonance is culturally conditioned — definitions of and conventions of usage related to dissonance vary greatly among different musical styles, traditions, and cultures. Nevertheless, the basic ideas of dissonance, consonance, and resolution exist in some form in all musical traditions that have a concept of melody, harmony, o tonality, Dissonance being the complement of consonance it may be defined, as above, as non-coincidence of partials, lack of fusion or pattern matching, or as complexity. envhipscaorgiwkiConsonance_and_dssorance 1 Triads consisting of three consonances 3. Triads consisting of one consonance and wo mild dssonances 5. Triads consisting of one consonance, one mil isonance, anda sharp one 6 Trad sisting of one mild dissonance, nd wo sharp ones Emst Krenek’s classification, from Studies in Counterpoint (1940), of a triad’s overall consonance or dissonance through the consonance or dissonance of the three intervals contained within!""] q) Play . For example, C-E-G consists of three consonances (C-E, E-G, C-G) and is ranked 1 while C-D>-B consists of one mild dissonance (B-D>) and two sharp dissonances (C-Db, C-B) and is ranked 6. ant aaa CConsonance ard sserarce- Wikipedia th foo ereyelopea Additional confusion about the idea of dissonance is created by the fact that musicians and writers sometimes use the word dissonance and related terms in a precise and carefilly defined way, more often in an informal way, and very often in a metaphorical sense ("rhythmic dissonance"). For many musicians and composers, the essential ideas of dissonance and resolution are vitally important ones that deeply inform their musical thinking on a number of levels Despite the fact that words like unpleasant and grating are often used to explain the sound of dissonance, all music with a harmonic or tonal basis—even music perceived as generally harmonious— incorporates some degree of dissonance. The buildup and release of tension (dissonance and resolution), which can occur on every level ffom the subtle to the crass, is partially responsible for what listeners perceive as beauty, emotion, and expressiveness in music, Dissonance and musical style The concept of dissonance does not belong to the domain of harmony as it is presented us by Nature [harmonic series], but is derived from voice leading [guidelines], which is an essential constituent of Art. —Heinrich Schenker!!2] (emphasis original or Jonas) Understanding a particular musical style's treatment of dissonance — what is considered dissonant and what rules or procedures govern how dissonant interval, chords, or notes are treated — is key in understanding that particular style. For instance, harmony is generally governed by chords, which are collections of notes defined as tolerably consonant by the style. (There is likely, however, to be a hierarchy of chords, with some considered more consonant and some more dissonant.) Any note that does not fall within the prevailing harmony is considered dissonant, A given style typically pays attention to how its musical structure approaches dissonance (in steps is less jarring, a leap is more jarring), and even more to how they resolve (almost always by step), to how they fit within the meter and rhythm (dissonances on strong beats are more emphatic, those on weake beats less vital), and to how they lie within the phrase (dissonances tend to resolve at phrase's end), Dissonance in traditional music Sharp dissonant intervals and chords play prominent role in many traditional musical cultures. Vocal polyphonic traditions from Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania, Latvia, Georgia, Nuristan, some Vietnamese and Chinese minority singing traditions, Lithuanian sutartines, some polyphonic traditions fiom Flores and Melanesia are predominantly based on the use of sharp dissonant intervals and chords. The most prominent dissonance in most of these cultures is the interval of the neutral second (which is between the minor and major seconds). This interval is known to create the maximum sharpness and is known in German ethnomusicology under the term "schwebungsdiaphonie". Dissonance in history of Western music Dissonance has been understood and heard differently in different musical traditions, cultures, styles, and time periods. Relaxation and tension have ¢ ¢ been used as analogy since the time of Aristotle tll the present (Kliewer, p. 290). ‘When we consider musical works we find that the triad is ever- present and that the interpolated dissonances have no envhipscaorgiwkiConsonance_and_dssorance ant aes Consorance and e'ssonance - Wikpoa the ree encyclopecta In early Renaissance music, intervals such as the perfect fourth were other purpose than to considered dissonances that must be immediately resolved. The regola effect the continuous = 9) delle terze e seste ("rule of thirds and sixths") required that imperfect variation of the triad. consonances should resolve to a perfect one by a half-step progression in one voice and a whole-step progression in another (Dahlhaus 1990, p. 179), Anonymous 13 allowed two or three, the Optima introductio three or four, and Anonymous 11 (15th century) four or five successive imperfect consonances. By the end of the 15th century, imperfect consonances were no longer "tension sonorities" but, as evidenced by the allowance of their successions argued for by Adam von Fulda, independent sonorities; according to Gerbert (vol, p. 353), "Although older scholars once would forbid all sequences of more than three or four imperfect consonances, we who are more modem allow them." (ibid, p. 92) —Lorenz Mizler (1739), (191 In the common practice period, musical style required preparation for all dissonances, followed by and then resolution to a consonance. There was also a distinction between melodic and harmonic dissonance. Dissonant melodic intervals included the tritone and all augmented and diminished intervals. Dissonant harmonic intervals included; * Minor second and major seventh = Augmented fourth and diminished fifth (enharmonically equivalent, tritone) Thus, Western musical history can be seen as progressing froma limited definition of consonance to an ever-wider definition of consonance. Early in history, only intervals low in the overtone series were considered consonant. As time progressed, intervals ever higher on the overtone series were considered as such. ‘The final result of this was the so-called "emancipation of the dissonance" (the words of Amold Schoenberg) by some 20th-century composers. Early-20th-century American composer Henry Cowell viewed tone clusters as the use of higher and higher overtones, Despite the fat that this idea of the historical progression towar dissonance is somewhat oversimplified and glosses over important developments in the history of W. the general idea was attractive to many 20th-century modernist composers and is considered a formative meta- narrative of musical modernism. s the acceptance of ever greater levels of tem mus One example of imperfect consonances previously considered dissonances in Guillaume de Machaut's "Je ne cuit as quionques" Xs mark thirds and sixths a) Play One example of baroque dissonance: envhipscaorgiwkiConsonance_and_dssorance ant aan Consonance and e'ssonance - Wikpoa the ree encyclopecta Vivace Sf A sharply dissonant chord in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier, Vol. 1 (Preludio XX1) of) Play One example of classical-era dissonance: a — ee eee Slog ee Se Ses rere Dissonance in Mozart's Adagio and Fugue in C Minor, K. 546 @) Play One example of modemist dissonance: Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring, "Sacrificial Dance" excerpt @) Play The West's progressive embrace of increasingly dissonant intervals occurred almost entirely within the context of harmonic timbres, as produced by vibrating strings and columns of air, on which the West's dominant musical instruments are based. By generalizing Helmholtzs notion of consonance (described above as the "coincidence of partials") to embrace non-harmonic timbres and their related tunings, consonance has recently been "emancipated" from harmonic timbres and their related tunings (Milne et al, 2007, 2008; Sethares et al, 2009). Using electronically controlled pseudo-harmonic timbres, rather than strictly harmonic acoustic timbres, provides tonality with new structural resources such as Dynamic tonality. These new resources provide musicians with an alternative to pursuing the musical uses of ever-higher partials of harmonic timbres and, in some people's minds, may resolve what Amold Schoenberg described as the "crisis of tonality’.(!4] The Middle Ages According to Johannes de Garlandia: envhipscaorgiwkiConsonance_and_dssorance sit aaa Consonance and dssonance- Wiad here ereycopada = Perfect consonance: unisons and octaves = Mediocre consonance: fourths and fiths = Imperfect consonance: minor and major thirds = Perfect dissonance: minor seconds, tritonus, and major sevenths * Mediocre dissonance: major seconds and minor sixths = Imperfect dissonance: major sixths and minor sevenths Physiological basis of dissonance Musical styles are similar to languages, in that certain physical, physiological, and neurological facts create bounds that greatly affect the development ofall languages. Nevertheless, different cultures and traditions have incorporated the possibilities and limitations created by these physical and neurological facts info vastly different, living systems of human language. Neither the importance of the underlying facts nor the importance of the culture in assigning a particular meaning to the underlying facts should be understated. For instance, two notes played simultaneously but with slightly different frequencies produce a beating "wah-wah- wah’ sound. Musical styles such as traditional European classical music consider this effect objectionable ("out of tune") and go to great lengths to eliminate it. Other musical styles such as Indonesian gamelan consider this sound an attractive part of the musical timbre and go to equally great lengths to create instruments that produce this slight “roughness.” (Vassilakis, 2005). Sensory dissonance and its two perceptual manifestations (beating and roughness) are both closely related to a sound signal's amplitude fluctuations. Amplitude fluctuations describe variations in the maximum value (amplitude) of sound signals relative to a reference point and are the result of wave interference. The interference principle states that the combined amplitude of two or more vibrations (waves) at any given time may be larger (constructive interference) or smaller (destructive interference) than the amplitude of the individual vibrations (waves), depending on their phase relationship. In the case of two or more waves with different frequencies, their periodically changing phase relationship results in periodic alterations between constructive and destructive interference, giving rise to the phenomenon of amplitude fluctuations. Amplitude fluctuations can be placed in three overlapping perceptual categories related to the rate of fluctuation Slow amplitude fluctuations (=<20 per second) are perceived as loudness fluctuations referred to as beating. As the rate of fluctuation is increased, the loudness appears constant, and the fluctuations are perceived as "fluttering" or roughness. As the amplitude fluctuation rate is increased firther, the roughness reaches a maximum strength and then gradually diminishes until it disappears (=>75-150 fluctuations per second, depending on the frequency of the interfering tones). Assuming the ear performs a frequency analysis on incoming signals, as indicated by Ohm's acoustic law (see Helmholtz 1885; Plomp 1964), the above perceptual categories can be related directly to the bandwidth of the hypothetical analysis fiters (Zwicker et al. 1957; Zwicker 1961). For example, in the simplest case of amplitude fluctuations resulting from the addition of two sine signals with frequencies f, and f>, the fluctuation rate is equal to the frequency difference between the two sines |fj-/s|, and the following statements represent the general consensus: 1. Ifthe fluctuation rate is smaller than the fiter bandwidth, then a single tone is pei loudness (beating) or with roughness. 2. Ifthe fluctuation rate is larger than the filter bandwidth, then a complex tone is perceived, to which one or more pitches can be assigned but which, in general, exhibits no beating or roughness. jved either with fluctuating envhipscaorgiwkiConsonance_and_dssorance ant aaa Consonance and dssonance- Wiad here ereycopada Along with amplitude fluctuation rate, the second most important signal parameter related to the perceptions of beating and roughness is the degree ofa signat's amplitude fluctuation, that is, the level difference between peaks and valleys in a signal (Tethardt 1974; Vassilakis 2001). The degree of amplitude fluctuation depends on the relative amplitudes of the components in the signal's spectrum, with interfering tones of equal amplitudes resulting in the highest fluctuation degree and therefore in the highest beating or roughness degree. For fluctuation rates comparable to the auditory filter bandwidth, the degree, rate, and shape ofa complex signal's amplitude fluctuations are variables that are manipulated by musicians of various cultures to exploit the beating and roughness sensations, making amplitude fluctuation a significant expressive tool in the production of musical sound. Otherwise, when there is no pronounced beating or roughness, the degree, rate, and shape of a complex signal's amplitude fluctuations remain important, through their interaction with the signal's spectral components. This interaction is manifested perceptually in terms of pitch or timbre variations, linked to the introduction of combination tones (Vassilakis, 2001, 2005, 2007). The beating and roughness sensations associated with certain complex signals are therefore usually understood in ‘terms of sine-component interaction within the same fiequency band of the hypothesized auditory fiter, called critical band, = Frequency ratios: ratios of higher simple numbers are “Two pitches moving from the interval more dissonant than lower ones (Pythagoras). of a Major 2nd to a unison ~ 0-00 MENU In human hearing, the varying effect of simple ratios may be > | ih these mechani PLN) This file ilustrates the roughness and perceived by one of thes 2) beat oscillations that gradually reduce a the interval moves towards the = Fusion or pattem matching: fundamentals may be unison, perceived through pattem matching of the separately analyzed partials to a best-fit exact-harmonic Problems playing this fle? See media help. template (Gerson & Goldstein, 1978) or the best-fit subharmonic (Terhardt, 1974), or harmonics may be perceptually fused info one entity, with dissonances being those intervals less likely mistaken for unisons, the imperfect intervals, because of the multiple estimates, at perfect interval, of fimdamentals, for one harmonic tone (Tethardt, 1974), By these definitions, inharmonie partials of otherwise harmonic spectra are usually processed separately (Hartmann et al., 1990), unless frequency or amplitude modulated coherently with the harmonic partials (McAdams, 1983), For some of these definitions, neural firing supplies the data for pattern matching; see directly below (e.g., Moore, 1989; pp. 183-187; Srulovicz & Goldstein, 1983). = Period length or neural-firing coincidence: with the length of periodic neural firing created by two or more waveforms, higher simple numbers creating longer periods or lesser coincidence of neural fring and thus dissonance (Patterson, 1986; Boomslter & Creel, 1961; Meyer, 1898; Roederer, 1973, pp. 145-149). Purely harmonic tones cause neural firing exactly with the period or some muiple of the pure tone. = Dissonance is more generally defined by the amount of beating between partials (called harmonics or overtones when occurring in harmonic timbres) (Helmholtz, 1877/1954). Terhardt (1984) calls this "sensory dissonance", By this definition, dissonance is dependent not only on the width of the interval between two notes! fimdamental frequencies, but also on the widths of the intervals between the two notes! non- fundamental partials. Sensory dissonance (i.e., presence of beating and/or roughness in a sound) is associated with the inner car's inability to fully resolve spectral components with excitation pattems whose critical bands overlap. If two pure sine waves, without harmonies, are played together, people tend to envhipscaorgiwkiConsonance_and_dssorance mt aaa CConsonance ard sserarce- Wikipedia th foo ereyelopea perceive maximum dissonance when the frequencies are within the critical band for those frequencies, which is as wide as a minor third for low frequencies and as narrow as a minor second for high fiequencies (relative to the range of human hearing).!'5] [fharmonic tones with larger intervals are played, the perceived dissonance is due, at least in part, to the presence of intervals between the harmonics of the two notes that fall within the critical band.'6! Generally, the sonance (i.¢., a continuum with pure consonance at one end and pure dissonance at the other) of any given interval can be controlled by adjusting the timbre in which it is played, thereby aligning its partials with the current tuning's notes (or vice versa).!"7) The sonance of the interval between two notes can be maximized (producing consonance) by maximizing the alignment of the two notes' partials, whereas it can be minimized (producing dissonance) by mis-aligning each otherwise nearly aligned pair of partials by an amount equal to the width of the critical band at the average of the two partials’ frequencies (ibid., Sethares 2009). Controlling the sonance of more-or-less non-harmonic timbres in real time is an aspect of dynamic tonality. For example, in Sethares' piece C To Shining C (http://Ihomepages.cae.wisc.edu/~sethares/C2ShiningC.mp3) (discussed here), the sonance of intervals is affected both by tuning progressions and timbre progressions. The strongest homophonic (harmonic) cadence, the authentic cadence, dominant to tonic (D-T, V-I or V7-D, is in part created by the dissonant tritone!

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