Sorry, But Your Refined Taste In Music Probably Isn't That Unique

Your obscure record collection is great and all but, I’m sorry to inform you, your preciously unique musical tastes are all an illusion. More precisely, they’re inextricably shaped by broader cultural norms and codes which are virtually impossible to avoid.   In other words, your taste in music is dictated more by history, and not your unique melodic preferences. This news comes courtesy of researchers at MIT and Brandeis University, who at long last determined that even the most basic of musical preferences are heavily informed by a long-standing tradition of Western music that has permeated your brain, debunking the myth that our minds are hardwired to enjoy so-called consonant chords. The contrast between consonance (the agreement of sounds) and dissonance (disharmonious music) has long been at the heart of Western music, whether we’re talking Beethoven or Beyoncé. Consonant tones like B and F# have been deemed melodious, agreeable, and catchy, with dissonant tones like D# and E unstable, melancholic, and jarring. In particular, when played in unison, the notes C and F# seem to yield an unsettling dissonance, a jarring tone that begs to be resolved with a rounder, more stable note combo. Ideas of consonance and dissonance have governed musical composition since the days of the Ancient Greeks. Even Western musicians of the Middle Ages referred to such dissonant chords as dangerous intervals or diabolus in musica ― the devi...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news