Ever since ancient times, scholars have puzzled over the reasons that some musical note combinations sound so sweet while others are just downright dreadful. The Greeks believed that simple ratios in ...

When two notes are an octave apart, one has double the frequency of the other yet we perceive them as being the same note – a “C” for example. Why is this? Readers give their take This question has a ...

Since the invention of the semiconductor-based transistor, designers have been putting in great efforts to create electronic musical instruments. Though such instruments may not be able to completely ...

Both light and sound travel as waves, with characteristics that allow people with typical vision and hearing to perceive and categorize them when they reach their eyes and ears: “That’s a small red ...

Alison Cole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their ...

Sound travels in the same way whether it is music or noise. The difference between music and noise is that musical sounds are organized into patterns that have pitch and rhythm whereas noise is just ...

A melody is more than just a sequence of notes. Rhythm, variations in loudness and the length of musical phrases all enhance the sequence of notes to make a melody “original”. Each of these adds a ...