Minor second dissonances

[Mr Showbiz]

Why do some minor second intervals sound more dissonant than others to me?

Also why does this dissonance seem to be affected by the register played; worse in the middle registers? (This would appear to counter the overtone series.)

Is it my imagination?

[sonics]

What's the instrument under discussion? If we take a perfectly intonated instrument tuned in equal temperament, all the intervals should sound the same. Other instruments may be very different indeed. Also, beat frequencies occurring with change depending on the pitches played.

Perhaps tell us more about where you are noticing this effect?

[Martin Walker]

I suspect it all depends on how long this interval is held, and if it then resolves to a more 'natural' sounding cadence.

[adamburgess]

Do you mean only minor 2nds on their own? Like E+F sounds 'different' to A+Bb?
Probably won't be too dissimilar in themselves, but all about context. What's before and after etc…

Paired with another note(s), there's lots of interesting chords to be had.
They can end up as suspensions, or be 'softened', or made more 'dissonant'…

[merlyn]

Dissonance and beat frequencies are pretty much the same thing. Consonant intervals don't beat as much as dissonant intervals. There is beating between the fundamentals, and also between the harmonics. Take the most consonant interval : the octave.

Code: Select all

A3 : 0220 0440 0660 0880 1760 ...
A4 :      0440 0880 1320 1760 ...

There's nothing to beat there. If the two notes were out of tune we would hear beats. The second harmonic of A3 is exactly the same frequency as the fundamental of A4.

Now take a semitone (rounding to the nearest Hz):

Code: Select all

A4 : 0440 0880 1320 1760 2200 ...
Bb4: 0460 0920 1380 1840 2300 ...

There are beat frequencies of 20Hz, 40Hz, 60Hz, 80Hz, 100Hz ... which is what we hear as dissonance.

Semitones do sound different depending on what pitch they are at. All intervals sound different depending on what pitch they are at because pitch is logarithmic and beats are a simple arithmetic difference in frequency.

[Arpangel]

B Minor is the worst, or the best, depending on how you look at it.
I composed a piece in B Minor, and it always sounds a bit weird compared to other keys, and, it has a series of left hand chords in it that comprise mainly seconds, or ninths, which sound very odd. The seconds, or ninths, definitely sound slightly dissonant compared with other keys.
Yes, some keys are different in this respect, maybe this is a side effect of equal temperament, compared with other methods of tuning.

[sonics]

Yes, some keys are different in this respect, maybe this is a side effect of equal temperament, compared with other methods of tuning.

Surely that "side effect" would be all keys sounding the same?!

[shufflebeat]

...all about context. What's before and after etc…

Also what's around it - it's a thin line between a minor 2nd and a major 7th.

[shufflebeat]

Yes, some keys are different in this respect, maybe this is a side effect of equal temperament, compared with other methods of tuning.

Surely that "side effect" would be all keys sounding the same?!

BBC "Key Matters":

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tw55v

Conclusion (if memory serves) - probably all the same unless you've been conditioned into a particular way of thinking.

[Martin Walker]

BBC "Key Matters":

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tw55v

Conclusion (if memory serves) - probably all the same unless you've been conditioned into a particular way of thinking.

Ooh, great link - thanks shufflebeat!

[shufflebeat]

I can't remember if I caught every episode but I will try to check it out again.

[merlyn]

B Minor is the worst, or the best, depending on how you look at it.

Depends who you ask. According to Spinal Tap, D minor is the "saddest of all keys".

[Arpangel]

B Minor is the worst, or the best, depending on how you look at it.

Depends who you ask. According to Spinal Tap, D minor is the "saddest of all keys".

It is, it is.

[adamburgess]

Just finished playing for a night of Les Miserables… The Gb major bit on harp was quite sad. The minor stuff is much more 'bitey' than sad in this show.

All about context (and timbre, and arrangement, and… and… and…)

[merlyn]

B Minor is the worst, or the best, depending on how you look at it.

Depends who you ask. According to Spinal Tap, D minor is the "saddest of all keys".

It is, it is.

Perhaps worth noting that Spinal Tap are not the most reliable source of information for matters relating to music.

[shufflebeat]

B Minor is the worst, or the best, depending on how you look at it.

Depends who you ask. According to Spinal Tap, D minor is the "saddest of all keys".

It is, it is.

Perhaps worth noting that Spinal Tap are not the most reliable source of information for matters relating to music.

Or maybe electronics.

[Sam Spoons]

But they do go up to 11

[Arpangel]

Perhaps worth noting that Spinal Tap are not the most reliable source of information for matters relating to music.

Are they musicians?

[merlyn]

Are they musicians?

Spinal Tap think they are musicians. I'll let you decide for yourself. Here is Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap with his tastefully titled D minor ditty in the style of Mach. (A cross between Mozart and Bach).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgViOqGJEvM

[Arpangel]

They are 'entertainers' very good ones, isn't that what we all are, as musicians, ultimately?

[merlyn]

Again, it depends who you ask. Robert Fripp would say no.

An idea I liked from Fripp is that there are two worlds -- the world of music, and the world of commerce.

"In the world of music much can be accomplished with little apparent effort. In the world of commerce little can be accomplished with much apparent effort."

As an example Segovia could produce beautiful music while sitting stock still. That's music. A rock guitarist might bang out an open E while twirling the guitar around his head. That's commerce.

[adrian_k]

They are 'entertainers' very good ones, isn't that what we all are, as musicians, ultimately?

Not in my case! Don’t like performing and haven’t been able write my own material. It’s been a puzzle for me for many years, what use is this thing that won’t let me leave it alone?

Then I started training as a music therapist, and it’s making sense to me now. And relevant to the OP, because I used to spend a lot of time trying to write stuff, and part of that was the intellectual/theoretical side that used to kick in when I got stuck. But now it’s often about expressing something in a specific moment, no time for thinking. It’s very surprising what comes out, sometimes prosaic, sometimes deep but ephemeral, sometimes lyrical, but it can be just right for the person you are working with in that moment.

I find now that I work out afterwards what has been going on harmonically when I have created a piece of music, and I find things I never would have if I had started with scales and a structure.

[Arpangel]

As an example Segovia could produce beautiful music while sitting stock still. That's music. A rock guitarist might bang out an open E while twirling the guitar around his head. That's commerce.

But neither way, is more "right", or "better" than the other, and I fully understand both approaches.
Segovia wouldn't bet able to spend hours siting on a stool if it wasn't for the money he earned from his guitar, same with Fripp.

[merlyn]

If you want to develop a line in guitar twirling, please feel free.

Anyway ... we've twice de-railed this thread. The train is out in a field somewhere, with long grass growing around it. The nearest track is keys, and if we can get there, we might be able to get back to minor seconds.

I don't think the idea that Bm is "more dissonant" than other keys hangs together. There is one note (C# => C) different between Bm and Em, and one note (G => G#) different between Bm and F#m. Between them F#m and Em contain all the supposedly dissonant seconds or ninths from Bm.