Why do out of tune notes sound bad?!


Question: This may seem like a stupid question, but why exactly do out of tune/key notes sound bad to human ears? Is it a learned reaction? I know that some ancient cultures utilized quarter-tones and other pitches that would sound out of place to our ears but were normal to them. Would you say that modern music theory has caused us to shudder when we hear wrong notes, or is it possible that our ears simply have a natural reaction to improper sound vibrations?


Answers: This may seem like a stupid question, but why exactly do out of tune/key notes sound bad to human ears? Is it a learned reaction? I know that some ancient cultures utilized quarter-tones and other pitches that would sound out of place to our ears but were normal to them. Would you say that modern music theory has caused us to shudder when we hear wrong notes, or is it possible that our ears simply have a natural reaction to improper sound vibrations?

Not a stupid question at all, Striker. Much of what we hear as "good" is in fact cultural (or learned). An example might be Jazz music, where the musicians play notes "outside" the chord or use extended harmonies. To many, listening to Jazz is an acquired taste. Those "outside" notes just sound bad to people who haven't learned to appreciate them (we won't argue whether people "should" appreciate them -- they just don't.) but these notes sound really cool to people who do appreciate them. (Kind of like beer tastes bitter to the novice drinker, but a beer lover savors the flavor.)

But the other part of the answer is actually real-world physics.
Maybe you have heard that music has a lot of mathematically components? This may be a little deep, but go with me:

We're going to use the interval of an octave as our example. Now, first understand that pitches are measured in vibrations per second -- or Hz. If you took the note "A 440" (which means the string of a violin is vibrating 440 times a second) and doubled it (880 vibrations per second -- or 880 Hz), you would have the note "A" an octave higher. (cool, huh?)

But let's say that the violin player didn't place his finger in the perfect location, and his "A" was only vibrating at 870Hz. His note would be flat. And the reason that you would hear it as sour is because his vibrations wouldn't "line up" with the other
musician's in the orchestra's "A" note.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea. All notes in a chord, when it is in tune*, actually "line up" mathematically. When they don't, the chord sounds sour.

*Note to music freaks: Yes, this is a simplified explanation. Let's not get into the discrepancies of the Tempered Scale and confuse the issue.

May all your notes line up mathematically, Striker, so that you and your fans can enjoy your music.

i dont know but this is a really cool question! *interesting

What an excellent question, I look forward to the answers! Star for you!

In response to your edit:

We are continually hearing sounds in nature - birds, animals, leaves rustling, wind.. there is a continual input of sound that we often take for granted and don't notice. Maybe we are pre-conditioned into thinking that the musical structure of these sounds are "right", and when we hear unusual sounds we think these are "wrong."

It could all be part of the whole safety thing we have built-in, eg - the way we instinctively reject foreigners or different races, to some degree.

Maybe unusual sounds, back in the jungle days, were often made by unfamiliar animals or other dangers, so we instinctively disliked (and kept away) from them. It's about as extreme as instinctive behaviour should get, as paralysis/terror would be on the other end of the scale and no good to anybody.

i would guess its because they just sound wrong next to other notes that are in key. idk

this would make an interesting paper or study...maybe you should research it and write a book....its a very deep thought!

Because it doesn't matches and are brain is able to tell when the note does not match. The reason why a outfit does not look right when nothing matches together. Thats just the way it is.

probs b/c its in a different key and it we assosiate the sound as sounding "bad" compared to what were use to and expect. b/c were not expecting it to sound like that...like when we think were about to eat something that taste a certain way and find out it taste completely different and we shudder =) Lol

I don't know much about music except the radio or cd's, but I think an out of tune note is actually not just one note. I think somehow it's two or three clashing sounds at once. Just a guess.



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