What are consonance and dissonance in music?
Q: What are consonance and dissonance in music?
A: Consonance and dissonance refer to certain musical intervals or chords.
Q: How are the adjectives 'consonant' and 'dissonant' used in music?
A: 'Consonant' and 'dissonant' are used to describe intervals or chords that sound stable and pleasant or unstable and harsh, respectively.
Q: What is a consonant interval or chord?
A: A consonant interval or chord is one which sounds stable and pleasant, such as C and E or a C major chord.
Q: What is a dissonant interval or chord?
A: A dissonant interval or chord is one which sounds unstable and may even sound harsh by itself, such as C and Fsharp or C - Dsharp - Fsharp.
Q: What does it mean for an interval to 'resolve' onto a consonant chord?
A: When an interval 'resolves' onto a consonant chord, it means that it sounds as if it wants to move on to a stable and pleasant interval.
Q: How are the frequencies of two notes related in a consonant interval?
A: In a consonant interval, the frequencies of two notes vibrate at a simple mathematical relationship, such as in two notes an octave apart the higher note vibrates exactly twice as fast.
Q: How does the complexity of the mathematical relationship between intervals affect their dissonance?
A: The more complex mathematically the interval, the more dissonant it will sound.
