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Appreciating Pitch… Is it nature or nurture?
We’ve concluded that music sounds like a form of speech.
Certain pitches sounds good because of the physics behind it. Here’s a YouTube video explaining the basics of it from the perspective of tuning:
Harmony and lack of harmony can correlate to positive and negative emotions. This is something that doesn’t have to be taught. Harmony makes you smile, and more complex sounds do not. That solves the riddle of why pitches sound good.
When notes are “stacked” together, they form what’s called a chord. Although there are hundreds of possible chord combinations, it seemed like you only really need to know one progression composed of four chords in order to make a hit song.
The mystery behind “four chords”
Listen:
Most people who play the guitar or listen to a lot of pop music might have noticed this omnipresent four chord pattern. I even used a prominent four chord progression on 0:58 to 1:15 in my song Renegade Red <link> as the melody, showing its utility in the musician’s toolbox. So why does this chord progression sound so good? Are we trained to have it sound good in our heads? Comment below if you guys have any thoughts on the four chord mystery because this blows my mind as well.
How about rhythms?
So why do certain rhythms sound better than others?
Of course, mindlessly tapping a beat would sound worse than having some organization to it, but certain rhythms show up in popular music so often because of no other reason other than it sounds good. Pay attention to the repeating drumbeat in this song:
This is the “clave” beat that originated from Latin American music. It’s naturally originally played in claves, but it then adapted to the drum kit by these songs and thousands of other songs.
You’ve probably heard of this one too before:
That one is the two step beat (with an optional eighth note roll added at the third beat).
There’s also the standard March beat (Razihel – Children of the Night), swing and 6/8 (Tristam – Once Again), and as our band teacher dubbed it, “broadway triplets” (Varien – Valkyrie).
Popular music that does not contain these rhythms is very rare. Scroll through your favorite playlist and pay attention to the rhythms used in the songs. So is there a science behind these rhythms? Are we just all conditioned to like them?
I don’t know.
Well, I guess listening to music will never be the same from now on
😛 Just remember that music will sound good whether or not you know why it does. Whenever you’re sitting alone on the bus, sick at home, awkwardly standing in a corner during a party, or enjoying a concert, just let music decorate your time.
If you guys are interested in listening to more of the music I produce, check it out right here:
