The tone and tuning of musical instruments has the power to manipulate our appreciation of harmony, new research shows. The findings challenge centuries of Western music theory and encourage greater ...

Notes with frequencies that are in simple whole-number ratios, like 1:2, 2:3 or 4:5, sound good when played together. This is the basis of musical harmony. After unison (1:1) and the octave (2:1), the ...

The mathematical rules for creating musical harmony may be more malleable than thought. Western music theory traditionally holds that chords sound most pleasant when they contain notes separated by ...