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Bye Bye Pythagoras 475

A P SYC H O C U LT U R A L T H E O RY OF M U S I C A L I N T E RVA L : B Y E B Y E P Y T HAG O R A S

F
R I C HA R D PA R N C U T T ROM A MODERN PSYCHOLOGICAL VIEWPOINT,
University of Graz, Graz, Austria the Pythagorean approach to understanding
musical intervals has always been problematic
G R A HA M H A I R because it ignores perception. In the 4th century BCE,
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, Aristoxenus wrote three books entitled ‘‘Elements of
United Kingdom & University of Glasgow, Glasgow, Harmony,’’ sometimes called ‘‘Harmonics’’ (in Latin:
United Kingdom Elementa Harmonica), of which most contents have
survived. In the second and third books, he argued on
THE PYTHAGOREANS LINKED MUSICAL INTERVALS the basis of musical experience and intuition that the
with integer ratios, cosmic order, and the human soul. basic elements of musical structure—intervals, scales,
The empirical approach of Aristoxenus, based on real tuning, melody—do not depend on arithmetic propor-
musicians making real music, was neglected. Today, tions, as the Pythagoreans claimed, but on what we
many music scholars and researchers still conceptualize today would call auditory psychology: processes of
intervals as ratios. We argue that this idea is fundamen- auditory perception, cognition, memory, and recall. To
tally incorrect and present convergent evidence against understand music, we have to perceive it. To understand
it. There is no internally consistent ‘‘Just’’ scale: a 6th the musical effect or function of an interval, we have to
scale degree that is 5:3 above the 1st is not a perfect 5th listen to it, not make abstract calculations. To under-
(3:2) above the 2nd (9:8). Pythagorean tuning solves this stand how melodies work, we have to perceive, remem-
problem, but creates another: ratios of psychologically ber, and reproduce them. Musicians are not aware of
implausible large numbers. Performers do not switch ratios as they perform melodies. Interval sizes vary on
between two ratios of one interval (e.g., 5:4 and 81:64 a continuous scale and do not generally correspond to
for the major third), modern studies of performance mathematically idealized ratios.
intonation show no consistent preferences for specific Neither Aristoxenus nor the Pythagoreans were in
ratios, and no known brain mechanism is sensitive to a position to test their ideas as we would today, in con-
ratios in musical contexts. Moreover, physical frequency trolled experiments. It was not possible for them to
and perceived pitch are not the same. Rameau and measure interval sizes in real music performance with
Helmholtz derived musical intervals from the harmonic any accuracy. The empirical fields of research that we
series, which is audible in everyday sounds including now take for granted to solve such problems (acoustics,
voiced speech; but those intervals, like musical intervals, psychology, psychoacoustics) did not exist in ancient
are perceived categorically. Musical intervals and scales, Greece. It was not until the 19th century that scientists
although they depend in part on acoustic factors, are such as Helmholtz (1877/1954) and Stumpf (1883)
primarily psychocultural entities—not mathematical or developed the necessary technology, empirical methods,
physical. Intervals are historically and culturally vari- and theories of perception, which improved steadily
able distances that are learned from oral traditions. during the 20th century. Since then, the findings of
There is no perfect tuning for any interval; even octaves empirical research have been taken increasingly seri-
are stretched relative to 2:1. Twelve-tone equal temper- ously—unfortunately, even when poorly carried out
ament is not intrinsically better or worse than Just or (Goldacre, 2010). But some philosophers have resisted,
Pythagorean. Ratio theory is an important chapter in and Marxist philosopher György Lukács even declared
the history Western musical thought, but it is inconsis- empiricism to be ‘‘the ideology of the bourgeoisie’’
tent with a modern evidence-based understanding of (Lukács, 1983, p. 174)—perhaps fearing that empiricism
musical structure, perception and cognition. would prove him wrong.
Practical and epistemological issues of this kind can
Received: June 16, 2016, accepted September 14, 2017. explain why the Pythagorean approach to understand-
ing musical intervals persisted into the 19th century.
Key words: Pythagoras, interval, ratio, intonation, pitch But it is not so easy to explain why conceptualizations
of musical intervals as ratios are still found today, in

Music Perception, VOLUM E 35, ISSU E 4, PP. 475–501, IS S N 0730-7829, EL ECTR ONI C ISSN 1533-8312. © 2018 B Y THE R E GE N TS OF THE UN IV E RS I T Y O F CA LI FOR NIA A LL
R IG HTS RES ERV ED . PLEASE DIR ECT ALL REQ UEST S F OR PER MISSION T O PHOT O COPY OR R EPRO DUC E A RTI CLE CONT ENT T HRO UGH T HE UNI VE R S IT Y OF CALI FO RNIA P R E SS ’ S
R EPR IN TS AN D P ERMISSI ONS WEB PAG E , HT T P :// W W W. UCPR ESS . E DU / JOU RNA LS . PHP ? P¼REPR IN TS . DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/ M P.2018.35.4.475
476 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

practically all areas of music research and scholarship: should endeavor to attain to that perfect world. A
music acoustics (Caleon & Ramanathan, 2008; Fokker, glimpse into that utopia was provided by the world of
1949; Frosch, 1993; Hall, 1974), psychoacoustics of numbers, which Plato believed underlay every aspect of
music (Mathews, Pierce, Reeves, & Roberts, 1988; God’s perfect world—including the harmony of the
Sethares, 1994), neuroscience of music (Bidelman & spheres, of which human music was an imperfect
Krishnan; 2009; Foss, Altschuler, & James, 2007), music realization.
psychology (Cohen, Thorpe, & Trehub, 1987; Hannon, The second usage of ‘‘Pythagorean’’ is more specific. It
Soley, & Levine, 2011; Schellenberg & Trehub, 1996; refers to a musical tuning system based only on perfect
Trainor, 1997; Trehub & Hannon, 2006), music biology octaves (P8s) and perfect fifths (P5s), tuned to ratios 2:1
(Araya-Salas, 2012; Gill & Purves, 2009; Schwartz, and 3:2 respectively—as opposed to Just tuning, which
Howe, & Purves, 2003), music and mathematics (Hon- also admits factors of 5. For example, a Pythagorean
ingh & Bod, 2005), the musical computer sciences major third (M3) interval is 81:64, whereas a Just M3
(Cheung, 2013; Kirck, 1987; Schiemer, Alves, Taylor, is 5:4.
& Havryliv, 2003), composition (Barlow, 1987; Gilmore, In a third usage, any ratio-based approach to under-
1995; Hasegawa, 2006), performance (Fonville, 1991; standing or performing musical intervals may be called
Gratzki, 1993; Menke, 2009; Whitcomb, 2007; William- ‘‘Pythagorean.’’ This usage is more general than the sec-
son, 1939), music education (Dalby, 1992), ethnomusi- ond, because both Pythagorean and Just tuning are
cology (Arnold, 1985), music history (Fauvel, Flood, & ratio-based. In this paper, we primarily argue against
Wilson, 2003), music theory (Don, 2001; Vogel, 1955, ‘‘Pythagoreanism’’ of this third kind. Regarding Pythag-
1975), and the history of music theory (Duffin, 2007; orean versus Just versions of a M3 (or any other inter-
Godwin, 1992; James 1993). val), we are impartial: conceptually, both are equally
In this article, we will present and explain the short- (in)correct.
comings of the Pythagorean ratio concept of musical A consideration of the first usage of ‘‘Pythagorean’’ is
interval and propose a psychocultural alternative. We beyond our scope. Before criticizing the third (which
will propose that the nature and origin of musical inter- includes the second), we should ask to what extent it
vals—including their exact sizes—depend primarily on might still be correct. Of course the most important
how they are perceived and experienced in real musical intervals in Western music and many other musical
and cultural contexts, and only indirectly on the under- systems are P8, P5 and P4, in that order. Of course their
lying physics. Music comprises complex patterns and tuning corresponds approximately to 2:1, 3:2, and 4:3
structures that develop gradually over long historical respectively, and these intervals can also be tuned more
periods in collective memory. To understand musical exactly (reliably) than other intervals (Vos, 1986). But
intervals ontologically, we must consider how they were the relationship between prevalence and ratio is indi-
perceived in different historical and cultural contexts, rect. Many sounds that we hear in everyday life, includ-
and how they were (re-)created (instantiated) and chan- ing voiced speech sounds, are harmonic complex tones.
ged (adjusted) in those contexts. The distances between the partials correspond to ratios
for physical reasons. But that does not necessarily mean
Definition and Measurement Issues they are perceived as ratios, such that the ratios are
encoded in the corresponding neural mechanism or
“PYTHAGOREAN” directly influence subjective experience. If intervals are
Little is known about Pythagoras himself, who lived in not perceived that way, they cannot function in music
Greece in the late 6th century BCE. But his influence on that way.
later ‘‘Pythagorean’’ philosophers, including Plato, was To explain the concept of musical intervals, we prefer
considerable (Russell, 1945). a parsimonious theoretical approach—one based on few
We will use the term ‘‘Pythagorean’’ in three different assumptions. The relationship between intervals in
ways, all of which are commonly encountered. The first music and intervals in non-musical sounds can be
definition is more general and refers to the entire understood if we assume that the ear learns pitch dis-
Pythagorean worldview, which is best understood in tances from non-musical sounds and applies them to
a broader cultural, historical, and philosophical context. music, depending on their statistical distribution. The
In the 4th Century BCE, Plato theorized that the phys- ear is exposed to a constant stream of pitch distances
ical phenomena of everyday objects and human exis- between both spectral components and fundamental
tence were an imperfect realization of an ideal perfect frequencies, in both musical and non-musical contexts.
world lying behind them, and that human existence The intervals between the harmonic partials of voiced
Bye Bye Pythagoras 477

speech sounds, and musical intervals, are two specific for freely vibrating stings (piano or guitar); the inhar-
examples of this more general phenomenon. Since monicity of very low piano tones can change their pitch
music is a social phenomenon, the term ‘‘the ear’’ also by as much as two semitones (Anderson & Strong,
refers to groups of hearing individuals with a shared 2005). The word ‘‘fundamental’’ should therefore be
musical and auditory culture. excluded from a definition of intonation. But what
To apply non-musical intervals to music, the ear should we replace it with? As the piano tone example
does not need to be sensitive to ratios as such. Evidence illustrates, the frequency of the lowest partial does not
from modern intonation studies suggests that even if necessarily correspond to the perceived pitch. That
the ear were somehow directly sensitive to frequency pitch might lie as much as a semitone away from the
ratios between everyday or musical sounds, the effect lowest partial if there is inharmonicity or pitch shifts,
would be masked by other influences on intonation and it may be an octave away if there is pitch ambiguity.
(expressive, music-structural, technical) and quasi- At this point, intonation becomes undefinable in purely
random variations. physical terms.
Pitch versus frequency. In general, frequency is not the
INTONATION
same as pitch. We use the term ‘‘pitch’’ in the psycho-
Cambridge Dictionaries online (5/4/2016) define into-
acoustic sense of the experience of how high or low
nation as: 1) the sound changes produced by the rise
a tone sounds. It is a purely subjective parameter—an
and fall of the voice when speaking, especially when this
experience of the listener that can depend on several
has an effect on the meaning of what is said, e.g., ‘‘The
different physical parameters. If we hear an oboe and
end of a sentence that is not a question is usually
a violin playing the same note, and the violin sounds
marked by falling intonation,’’ or 2) the degree to which
slightly sharp relative to the oboe, we are making a rel-
the notes of a piece of music are played or sung exactly
ative pitch judgment. It is not necessarily true that the
in tune, e.g., ‘‘The violinist had good intonation, and
fundamental frequency of the violin is higher than the
a wonderful pure tone.’’
fundamental frequency of the oboe; to answer that
The latter is close to our intended meaning, but lacks
question would require a physical measurement. To
an operational definition of ‘‘in tune.’’ For the purpose
confirm that the violin sounds sharper in pitch (as
of this article, we will define intonation as the real-time
opposed to sharper in timbre), we would need to deter-
adjustment of (fundamental) frequencies in music per-
mine the pitch of each tone separately by a standard
formance. That sounds straightforward, but to under-
method, such as comparing it with a pure reference tone
stand and apply this definition, some additional
of adjustable frequency and taking that frequency as
explanation is necessary.
a measure of pitch (Terhardt, 1972). An experiment in
Physical constraints of perception. According to the which listeners compare the violin and oboe sound
uncertainty principle in physics, the shorter the dura- directly will not work because listeners cannot generally
tion of a tone, the less exactly we can know its frequency. separate pitch from timbre (Madsen & Geringer, 1981).
In music, tones must be extremely short (a few milli-
Complexity and subjectivity. Like pitch judgments, into-
seconds, or a few periods) before their pitch becomes
nation judgments (Does an interval or chord sound in
unclear or disappears (Houtsma, Rossing, & Wagenaars,
tune or out of tune?) are generally subjective; different
1987, Demonstration 13). The effective spectrum anal-
listeners will experience the same sound differently, or
ysis window of the ear is adapted to optimize environ-
offer different opinions. What we call ‘‘good intonation’’
mental interaction (Heinbach, 1988; Terhardt, 1998).
is adjustment of frequencies in performance such that
The empirical literature suggests that the corresponding
(most) (expert) listeners perceive them to be ‘‘in tune’’
just-noticeable difference (JND) never falls below about
in some sense—perhaps specific to a given style or cor-
2-3 cents for the best expert listeners (Parncutt &
responding to a composer’s assumed intentions. The
Cohen, 1995). It follows that any discussion of tuning
underlying criteria may be complex and opaque, and
that considers fractions of a cent is psychologically
their relative importance may be a matter of style and
implausible. This immediately counts out many
taste.
music-theoretic writings based on ratio theory.
Intonation, then, is the real-time adjustment of per-
Inharmonicity. The term ‘‘fundamental frequency’’ sug- ceived pitch in music performance. This definition can
gests that musical notes are harmonic complex tones; only be understood and applied if we have standard,
that is, tones whose partial frequencies correspond valid, reliable methods for measuring tone frequencies,
exactly to a harmonic series. But that is not quite true pitches, and in-tuneness—regarded as three separate
478 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

issues—and a good understanding of the complex rela- studied; but there is a convincing demonstration of
tionship between physical measurements and subjective octave stretch in Houtsma et al. (1987, demonstration
evaluation. 16, track 32), which becomes a demonstration of the
effect of loudness on the perceived size of an octave if
it is played at different sound levels. Thus, the interval
PITCH SHIFTS
that we perceive between two tones depends generally
The relationship between frequency and pitch has been
on their relative loudness, even if the effect is often too
the subject of innumerable empirical studies in psycho-
small to be musically important.
acoustics. The pitch of a pure tone, as measured by
a standard procedure, deviates slightly and systemati- Masking. The pitch of a pure tone is shifted by the
cally from its frequency. The ultimate cause of such introduction of another simultaneous tone or noise
pitch shifts may be a nonlinearity in the cochlea’s spec- band (masker), the tone seeming to move away from
trum analysis, which is not surprising considering the the masker (Allanson & Schenkel, 1965; Hesse, 1987;
enormous range of sound levels over which our hearing Sonntag, 1983; Terhardt & Fastl, 1971; Webster &
successfully operates. Seen another way, pitch shifts may Schubert, 1954; Webster et al., 1952). Thus, the interval
be auditory illusions, analogous to optical illusions such that we perceive between two simultaneous pure tones
as lines that are physically parallel but seem skewed may be greater when the same two tones are presented
(Terhardt, 1987). simultaneously than when they are presented succes-
The existence of pitch shifts immediately casts doubt sively. More generally, the pitch of a pure tone (spectral
on the Pythagorean idea that intervals are frequency pitch) depends on the spectrum in which it is embed-
ratios. If we could speak of pitch ratios (which we can- ded. Pitch shifts due to simultaneous sounds can
not, because pitch is not measured in hertz or cycles per approach a semitone, but the shifts of partials within
second), the evidence suggests that they would often be a typical harmonic complex tone are no more than a few
perceptibly different from frequency ratios. That might tens of cents (Terhardt, Stoll, & Seewann, 1982, Figure
be reasonable if we had an idealized cosmic concept of 7)—comparable with the theoretical difference between
music, as the Pythagoreans did—something to do with Just and Pythagorean tunings of a M3 (the syntonic
the vibrations of the universe. In that case, only the comma, 81:80 or 22 cents). Pitch shifts of this kind can
frequencies would count. But the Pythagorean concept explain why a partial within a harmonic complex tone
is not OK if we conceive of music as a human cultural can be shifted by a quartertone or even a semitone and
product and activity. still be perceived as part of the tone (Moore, Glasberg, &
Psychoacoustic research has revealed three kinds of Peters, 1986). While there are large individual differ-
deviation between a tone’s pitch and its frequency: ences in such pitch shifts, the direction of the shift is
usually the same for all listeners (Stoll, 1985).
Intensity. The pitch of a pure tone depends slightly on its
physical intensity (Békésy, 1963; Burns, 1982; Egan & Diplacusis. A pure tone can evoke a different pitch in
Meyer, 1950; Schubert, 1950; Stoll, 1985; Terhardt, 1974; each ear, an effect known as binaural diplacusis. Burns
Verschuure & van Meeteren, 1975; Webster, Miller, (1982) also found that ‘‘pitch-intensity functions are
Thompson, & Davenport, 1952). The pitch of a low often significantly different in the two ears of a given
pure tone falls as it gets louder (Houtsma et al., 1987, subject at a given frequency’’ (p. 1394).
demonstration 12, track 27-28). The effect is smaller for The mainstream psychoacoustic literature of the past
harmonic complex tones whose pitch is determined two decades has downplayed the importance of pitch
mainly by higher harmonics (Ritsma, 1967), which can shifts. Moore (1989, p. 166) remarked that the effect is
explain why musicians seldom notice such pitch shifts small, generally amounting to less than 1% of frequency.
in performance. The effect can nevertheless become This passage in his book was not revised in later editions
audible in music composed of complex tones if loud (e.g., Moore, 2012, p. 243), reflecting a general reluc-
music is heard quietly in the background. Consider loud tance (at least in the English-speaking research commu-
rock music that is being played a long way away (a party nity) to investigate the phenomenon in more detail, in
down the street). At first one may only hear the bass spite of its evident importance for a general understand-
line, and hence the key or tonality. When one later starts ing of pitch perception and for the quantitative testing
to hear a vocal or instrumental melody, it seems to be in and comparison of competing pitch theories. For a musi-
a different key, as if the music were bitonal—suggesting cian concerned with ensemble intonation, or a Pythago-
a pitch shift of a semitone or more. To our knowledge, rean music theorist, 1% or 17 cents is a large shift; and as
this particular effect has never been systematically Moore noted, the shift gets larger for musically high or
Bye Bye Pythagoras 479

low frequencies, approaching perhaps 5% or almost change is imperceptible. Vocal jitter is an example;
a semitone. the degree of jitter rises as the sound level falls
Given the above three kinds of pitch shift and the (Orlikoff & Kahane, 1991), so jitter may be a bigger
body of research that confirms their existence, one can problem when measuring intonation in quieter
hardly deny that the pitch of a pure tone generally devi- than louder vocal performances.
ates from its frequency. Nor can one feign surprise when 2. The intended pitch of a tone may be delayed for
presented with experimental findings about the subjec- expressive purposes. Ascending fundamental fre-
tivity and variability of preferred tunings, such as quency glides to target pitches are common in
Rosner’s (1999) finding that preferred tuning depends expressive singing; the underlying code may be
on pitch register. It follows that there cannot be a physi- borrowed from speech prosody (Sundberg, 1998).
cally ‘‘perfect’’ tuning for any given interval, because if Tone languages are another case in which pitch
there were, our perception of it would change as sound targets are asymptotically approached:
levels changed, or as the interval was heard in different
Mandarin can be considered, under this
contexts, or depending on which ear we heard it with.
framework, to have two static pitch targets—
This contradicts the Pythagorean concept, in which inter-
[high] and [low], and two dynamic targets—
vals sizes are held to be exact and constant.
[rise] and [fall]. They are associated with the
four lexical tones in Mandarin: H (high), L
INTONATION IN MUSICAL CONTEXTS (low), R (rising) and F (falling), respectively . . .
Empirical studies of intonation suffer from a measure- Assuming that the larynx, which implements
ment problem. The size of the interval between two the pitch targets, cannot change its state
selected tones (whether simultaneous or successive) in instantaneously, approaching a target always
a music performance cannot, strictly speaking, be takes time, unless the target pitch is already
exactly measured, because each tone has finite duration reached before the onset of the host. As
(whereas the mathematical theory of spectrum analysis a result . . . there is often an apparent transition
assumes infinite duration) and the frequency of each from the initial F0 at the onset of the host to the
tone is usually constantly varying. A singer or cellist F0 contour later in the host that resembles the
will adjust tuning during the course of a tone while pitch target more closely. (Xu & Emily Wang,
monitoring the pitch of other instruments or singers. 2001, pp. 321-322)
The frequency may rise and fall in a controlled vibrato,
3. If the frequency variation of a vibrato tone is
or it may vary quasirandomly. Such variations may be
roughly sinusoidal (a simple frequency modula-
only partially under the performer’s control; when
tion), the intended frequency corresponds to the
interpreting empirical data, the extent to which tuning
mean fundamental frequency (Brown & Vaughn,
variations are deliberate is generally unclear.
1994). But the greater the vibrato, the less clearly
Tone frequency measurements in recordings of music
we hear the pitch, and the more tolerant we
performances usually depend on a series of assump-
become for mistuning; vibrato may even be used
tions—often unstated. First, we assume that each tone
to cover up poor intonation (cf. Prame, 1997).
in a performance contains a central, steady-state portion,
4. The frequency of a scale step may depend on con-
whose start and end can be identified and whose fre-
text. For example, a leading tone may be tuned
quency corresponds both to the performer’s intention.
differently in ascending and descending passages,
Second, we assume that the perceived pitch of a tone
as a signal to the listener that movement in a given
corresponds to its frequency a certain time after the phys-
direction is imminent (Devaney, Mandel, Ellis, &
ical onset (say, 100 ms). Third, we assume that an
Fujinaga 2011; Fyk, 1995; Rakowski, 1990).
intended or perceived pitch exists even if the frequency
5. The pitches that performers intend in music per-
of the tone is oscillating in a regular way (vibrato).
formance may be different from what they actually
Fourth, we assume that the intended frequency of a scale
produce. First, the pitch that a performer perceives
step is independent of its context. Fifth, we assume that
when performing a tone may not be the same as
the performer achieves her intended pitch. All five
the pitch perceived by the audience, especially if
assumptions are problematic.
the performer experiences the tone as much louder
(e.g., an opera singer). Second, there may be tech-
1. The fundamental frequency of a musical tone typ- nical limitations. To measure intended pitches,
ically changes throughout the tone, even if that Arom, Léothard, and Voisin (1997) presented
480 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

Central African musicians with an electronic xylo- musicians who compose and perform in different scales
phone, and Indonesian musicians with an elec- and tunings, as well as music researchers (e.g., Milne,
tronic metallophone. In both cases, the musicians Sethares, & Plamondon, 2008).
were invited to manually adjust the tuning and to Why are musical intervals not tuned to ratios,
check it while performing music from their reper- although temporal information and phase-locking are
toire. This was done repeatedly and the final results maintained along neural pathways? A possible reason is
were interpreted as intended tunings. The advan- that this temporal information does not affect conscious
tage of this method is that it measures intentions awareness when natural sounds are perceived, because
independently of technical limitations. But it also monaural phase relationships carry no useful informa-
has a disadvantage, namely the assumption that tion for the perceiver. Most sounds heard in everyday
each scale step has a fixed target pitch that is inde- environments are superpositions of direct and reflected
pendent of context. The truth may be that every sound, in which phase relations are jumbled (Parncutt,
pitch and every interval has a certain degree of 2012; Terhardt, 1988).
uncertainty. We need to have a feel for that uncer-
tainty when considering questions of intonation. THE PRACTICAL IMPOSSIBILITY OF JUST INTONATION
In Pythagorean tuning, every interval is a combination
of P8s and P5s. It can therefore be expressed mathemat-
Variations in Interval Size in Performance ically in the form 2a3b:1, where a and b are whole num-
bers. The Pythagorean system has the advantage that it
Psychological research has not been supportive of the allows us to define a single precise frequency for every
Pythagorean concept of musical intervals as ratios. tone that can be notated in conventional music nota-
Experiments have revealed consistent stretching of tion: If we assume that A4 is 440 Hz, C 5 is a major third
musical octaves and other larger intervals in perfor- (M3) above it, so its frequency in Pythagorean tuning is
mance relative to simple ratios, and compression of 440 Hz x (81/64) ¼ 557 Hz—slightly sharper than 12-
smaller intervals (Rakowski, 1985). To our knowledge, EDO, where C 5 is 554 Hz. The Pythagorean frequency
no recording of a music performance by voices or for D 5 is slightly lower (if D  is considered to lie a M3
instruments with real-time pitch adjustment (such as below F), but again clearly defined.
typical wind or string instruments) consistently con- In Just tuning, interval ratios can include powers of 5
forms to either Just or Pythagorean intonation. and are written in the form 2a3b5c:1, which allows for
This raises an interesting question about the relation- a M3 to be tuned as 4:5. But in Just tuning it is not
ship between neurophysiological processes of pitch per- possible to tune an entire diatonic scale without creating
ception and musical intonation. The role of temporal ambiguities. If for example the interval between scale
processes (including the direct perception of periodic- degrees 1 and 2 of a major scale is 9:8 (a M2) and
ity) in virtual pitch perception has been thoroughly between 1 and 6 is 5:3 (a M6), the interval between 2
investigated (Cariani, 1999; Langner, 1997, Meddis & and 6 is not 3:2 (a P5) but 27:16. If one tries to preserve
O’Mard, 1997; Patel & Balaban, 2001; Patterson, 1973, Just intervals in every sonority in a polyphonic texture,
1987). But we know of no evidence that processes of this the frequencies of scale steps shift and the whole piece of
kind affect the intonation of music in which performers music drifts up or down (Palisca, 1994, cited in Devaney,
can freely adjust their intonation from one moment to Mandel, & Fujinaga, 2012). But perceptible changes in
the next, such as most vocal, string, and wind music. the pitches of scale steps, from one sonority or passage to
The empirical literature on intonation in Western tonal the next in a music performance, are hallmarks of poor
music suggests instead that interval sizes are normally intonation.
and unimodally distributed around mean interval sizes
that do not differ significantly from familiar piano tun- OCTAVE STRETCH
ing—twelve equal divisions of the (stretched) octave. Perhaps the simplest claim of the Pythagoreans was that
The literature also suggests that theoretical Just and an octave has a ratio of 2:1. But even that is untrue—or
Pythagorean variants lie well within those distributions. at least misleading. When musicians play P8 intervals
Incidentally, we avoid the term ‘‘equal temperament’’ either harmonically or melodically, they are on average
because it suggests that ratios are the norm from which slightly wider than 2:1 (Burns & Ward, 1982; Corso,
other tunings are departures. On the assumption that no 1954; Kantorski, 1986; Loosen, 1993; Sundberg &
such standard exists, we prefer the term 12-EDO Lindqvist, 1973). If two successive pure or complex
(twelve equal divisions of the octave), used today by tones are presented to a listener who then adjusts the
Bye Bye Pythagoras 481

interval to a P8, or if different tunings of a successive P8 intervals larger. Rakowski (1985) reported a similar
are presented and the listener evaluates them, the pre- result using both pure and complex tones and a refer-
ferred interval is typically stretched by 20 cents (Dobbins ence tone of 500 Hz; intervals greater than seven semi-
& Cuddy, 1982)—sometimes 50 (Walliser, 1969a). Car- tones were stretched (P8s by about 20 cents on average)
terette and Kendall (1994) also found stretched octaves in and intervals smaller than five semitones were com-
Javanese gamelan music, between non-harmonic com- pressed (the m2 by about 10 cents). Rakowski’s results
plex tones. did not depend on spectral envelope (waveforms were
How can preferences for stretched octaves be sinusoidal, triangular or square), suggesting that inter-
explained? There are two main theories, both of which val sizes were learned from pitch patterns in music.
are consistent with a psychohistorical, non-ratio con- Rakowski (1994) repeated this experiment using
cept of interval. a wider range of intervals and confirmed that intervals
of an octave or more are consistently stretched. Simi-
The piano. Octaves on the piano are physically stretched
larly, Vurma and Ross (2006) asked professional singers
because the partials of a single tone are stretched rel-
to sing m2, tritone, and P5 intervals; m2s tended to be
ative to a harmonic series (Martin & Ward, 1961).
sung smaller than 12-EDO and P5s wider (both rising
Piano tuners tune octaves by avoiding beats between
and falling). In a listening experiment, Rosner (1999)
upper partials. The pervasiveness of the piano in 19th-
confirmed that musicians prefer larger intervals
and 20th-century Western musical culture may have
stretched and smaller intervals compressed, and addi-
made it a psychological standard for the tuning of
tionally showed that the size of stretching and compres-
other instruments.
sion depends on pitch register—again consistent with
Pitch shift. The spectral pitches of partials within typical a psychocultural concept.
environmental complex tones such as voiced speech How can this difference between small and large
sounds are shifted due to the simultaneous presence intervals be explained? In Bregman’s (1990) theory of
of other tones. Since spectral pitches are defined as auditory scene analysis, larger melodic intervals (per-
purely subjective experiences, the effect is entirely psy- haps fourths and larger) tend to break up a melody in
chological. The auditory system becomes familiar with the listener’s imagination: tones spanning such intervals
a stretched harmonic series and then ‘‘expects’’ musical are perceived as belonging to different melodies
intervals to be similarly stretched (Terhardt, 1979). (streams). Tones spanning smaller intervals are perceived
Individuals may learn octave stretch either from the to belong to the same melody and promote melodic
spectral pitch patterns of single harmonic tones or from coherence (cf. Huron, 2001). In the theory of melodic
music in which octaves are stretched. expectation of Narmour (1992), melodic intervals greater
The expression ‘‘stretched octave’’ is misleading, than a P5 are considered ‘‘large’’ and imply a consequent
because it suggests that the ‘‘real’’ octave is the ratio reversal of registral direction. These musical effects
2:1. In fact, the ‘‘real’’ octave is the subjective octave as may have a foundation in non-musical environmental
played in music and experienced by music listeners— interaction: frequencies that are closer to each other are
the interval at which men and women/children have more likely to originate from the same sound source and
sung for millennia. It may be more correct to say that so to fuse into one perceptual object in the listener’s
the ratio 2:1 is smaller than this subjective octave. The experience.
idea of a physical octave or mathematical octave (exactly The tendency to tune larger intervals too large and
2:1) can nevertheless be useful. It is a reliable definition smaller intervals too small may be an instance of a more
of an octave, because it always has exactly the same general tendency to exaggerate differences in perfor-
physical size. But if we ask musicians to tune octaves mance for expressive purposes (Parncutt, 2003; Sund-
by ear, the result is a more (ecologically) valid measure berg, Askenfelt, & Frydén, 1983). Performers may
of an octave, especially if this is done in the context of exaggerate the size of larger intervals to clarify the sepa-
a musical performance. ration of different melodic streams, and reduce the size of
smaller intervals to enhance coherence within streams.
COMPRESSION OF SMALLER INTERVALS Vos and Troost (1989) observed that the most com-
Rakowski (1976) asked trained music students to tune mon interval between successive tones in melodies from
musical intervals between successive pure tones. One different cultures is approximately one whole tone or
tone was constant at 125, 250, 500, or 1000 Hz; the other two semitones, corresponding to the music-theoretical
could be freely varied. The students consistently tuned concept ‘‘scale step.’’ Miller and Heise (1950) demon-
smaller intervals smaller than 12-EDO and larger strated that the sensation of ‘‘trill’’ in music disappears
482 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

(it turns into a ‘‘shake’’) when interval size exceeds harmonic complex tones, and reported that ‘‘One group
a threshold of about two semitones, and Shonle and preferred chords in just intonation and their preferences
Horan (1976) found the ‘‘trill threshold’’ to be about decreased monotonically as the intonation deviated from
a quarter of a critical band or about one semitone in just intonation; the other group preferred intonations
the central musical range. Thus, a trill sounds like a var- that deviated from just intonation by +15 cents’’
iation in the pitch of one tone and works only for inter- (p. 952). In other words, some preferred something
vallic steps, whereas a shake sounds like several separate approaching 12-EDO or 400 cents (which is what most
tones being repeated and applies to intervallic leaps. empirical studies have found) and others preferred inter-
Intonation studies point to a general tendency to reduce vals with a minimum of beating. Presumably, the tones in
the size of such small intervals. this experiment had relatively long durations, attracting
Pianists cannot adjust intonation in this way, so if one listeners’ attention to beats. In most musical contexts,
were to claim that a well-tuned piano sounded out of such beats are inaudible, which can explain why this
tune, that would be a possible reason. Unlike a reason finding has not been replicated. Hagerman and Sundberg
based on ratios, this one would have an empirical foun- (1980) found that barbershop quartets often preferred
dation. But one could also argue that pianists have a tun- intonations that, on average, were on the Just side of
ing advantage over other instrumentalists, because 12-EDO, but they also found that slight mistunings rel-
every scale degree on the piano has a fixed frequency, ative to Just did not produce audible beats. Another
which by itself can give an impression of good intona- example of beats that are audible under ideal experimen-
tion. Violinists and flutists strive to maintain fixed fre- tal conditions but almost never in music is beating
quencies for scale steps, but may deviate from this ideal between pure tones spanning mistuned intervals in iso-
when reducing the size of small intervals. In this and lated sounds (Plomp, 1967). A composer might use such
other ways, good tuning often involves compromises. effects in music that is intended for headphones only.
The empirical literature suggests that tendencies
THE ABSENCE OF CONSISTENTLY JUST OR PYTHAGOREAN toward Just tuning in musical chords are confined to
INTONATION IN REAL PERFORMANCE relatively slow music in which the tones are sustained
A Just M3 interval is 5:4 or 386 cents; the Pythagorean without vibrato and are of roughly equal amplitude. If
variant is 81:64 or 408 cents. If intervals were ratios, we that is true, it can be explained in two ways. First, the
would expect performers to consistently favor one or auditory system may be familiar with the distance
the other of these. If we measured many M3s in perfor- between harmonics 4 and 5 in environmental harmonic
mance, we would expect to find a normal distribution complex tones; musicians may try to imitate this inter-
with a peak at either 386 or 408 cents, or a bimodal val when performing M3 intervals, and listeners may
distribution with both peaks. simply like it because it is familiar (albeit uncon-
To our knowledge, no such result has ever been sciously) from voiced sounds in speech. A second expla-
reported. Observed tendencies toward Just and Pythago- nation is that we prefer chords in which harmonics of
rean may merely be tendencies toward intervals that are one tone overlap with harmonics of another to reduce
slightly larger or smaller than 12-EDO. Many studies beating. If three conditions are fulfilled—the tones are
have found that the M3 interval in the best performances exactly harmonic with little or no vibrato, the music is
lies near to 12-EDO (400 cents) or between 12-EDO and performed at a slow tempo, and nearby partials have
Pythagorean (Duke, 1985; Karrick, 1998; Loosen, 1993; almost the same amplitude—Just intonation best solves
Mason, 1960; Morrison, 2000; O’Keefe, 1975; Sundberg, the beating problem (O’Keefe, 1975). These two differ-
1982). A tendency toward Pythagorean tuning for string ent processes lead to a similar musical result, so if some-
players under ideal conditions (Greene, 1937; Nickerson, thing approaching Just tuning is observed, it is not clear
1949) may be due either to the P5 intervals between the which process is responsible. In any case it is not the
open violin strings, which players tune before playing, or ratio itself that is causing the phenomenon—it is famil-
the leading tone effect of Fyk (1995). Another way to iarity with the harmonic series and/or a culture-specific
investigate musical intervals psychologically is to present (or non-universal) aversion to beats and roughness, as
the same music in different tunings and ask listeners to opposed to preferences for rough seconds in Lithuanian
evaluate the tuning or to say which version they prefer; Sutartines (Ambrazevičius & Wiśniewska, 2009).
tunings that lie between 12-EDO and Pythagorean tend There are also different ways to explain tendencies
to be preferred (Loosen, 1995). toward Pythagorean intonation. One is that leading
Roberts and Mathews (1984) studied intonation pre- tones are raised in anticipation of their resolution, or
ferences of listeners presented with chords of steady-state the difference between M3s and m3s is exaggerated to
Bye Bye Pythagoras 483

reduce the chance of confusing them (Fyk, 1995). about 2 kHz (Terhardt, 1974). If a solo musician were
Another is that a general preference for exactly tuned playing pure tones, their pitch would go flat as they got
P5 intervals can determine the tuning of musical scales, louder. The soloist would therefore increase their fre-
which in turn determines the tuning of individual inter- quency to get them back in tune. This explanation is
vals, including the M3 or M7. problematic because soloists do not play pure tones—
Historically or prehistorically, something approach- they play complex tones whose upper partials tend to be
ing Pythagorean intonation may have emerged when strong relative to the fundamental (so their timbre is
scales were constructed from chains of rising P5 and relatively bright): in general, when you play an instru-
falling P4 intervals (or vice-versa). The standard penta- ment louder, the timbre becomes brighter. However, the
tonic scale represented by the black keys of the piano (in pitch of complex tones in the central musical range is
any transposition) can be expanded to the white-note mainly determined by higher harmonics (Ritsma,
diatonic by adding tones that are a P5 above or below 1967), which explains why pitch shifts with changes of
existing pitches: starting with the pentatonic set CDEGA, loudness have not been observed for harmonic complex
F may be added because it is a P5 below C, and B because tones (Stoll, 1985).
it is a P5 above E, creating the diatonic set CDEFGAB.
A possible prehistoric scenario is a gradual evolution of THE INHERENTLY APPROXIMATE AND UNCERTAIN NATURE
scale structures as listeners become sensitive to the tun- OF INTONATION
ing of P5 intervals, so that intervals in the vicinity of a P5 The empirical research on intonation in music perfor-
gradually approach it. Changes of this kind might happen mance has consistently revealed a high degree of into-
when melodies pass from one generation to the next in national uncertainty, even in the best performances by
an oral tradition (Parncutt, 2001). The process may the best performers, or in performances that listeners
involve avoiding beats when tuning instruments, leading and performers agree have excellent intonation. Vurma
to more exact tuning (Wolfe & Schubert, 2008). Such and Ross (2006) asked individual professional singers to
processes may explain why, in ancient Greece, the mys- sing m2, tritone, and P5 intervals; they recorded their
terious enharmonic genus, in which the P4 interval was performances and played them back to the same group,
divided into a M3 and two quarter-tones, gradually asking them to evaluate the intonation. The authors
became less common, and the diatonic (M2þM2þm2) concluded that such melodic intervals can be 20-25
and chromatic genera (m3þm2þm2) became more cents out of tune and still be judged to be in tune by
common (Chalmers, 1993; Mathiesen, 1999). expert listeners. Delviniotis, Kouroupetroglou, and
Theodoridis (2008) asked expert singers of Byzantine
INTONATION OF SOLO VERSUS ACCOMPANIMENT Chant to sing ascending and descending scales; the
Further evidence against the idea that intervals are authors reported a standard deviation of 30 cents for
ratios is the observation that soloists tend to play or intervals within these scales. Devaney et al. (2012) asked
sing sharp relative to their accompaniment (Kantorski, professional and semi-professional vocal ensembles who
1986). Barbour (1938, p. 55) noted that ‘‘In fact, two specialize in Renaissance polyphony to sing simple three-
writers have emphasized sharp singing as a general part chord progressions slowly under ideal conditions;
characteristic—and sharp singing is incompatible with careful measurements revealed standard deviations of
just intonation’’ (the writers being Schoen, 1926, and typically 10+3 cents for ascending and descending
Cameron, 1907; both references cited in Barbour, 1938). whole-tone intervals and for the vertical intervals m3,
Why would a soloist play or sing sharp? One motiva- M3, P4, P5, M6, and P8 (see also Prame, 1997). Listeners
tion may be to help the solo line stand out against the in Devaney’s experiments usually did not notice any
accompaniment (a kind of streaming effect; Bregman, mistuning.
1990). Another reason may involve timbre, the goal If that is true, how can we explain continuing beliefs
being a kind of solistic brilliance. A third explanation in the use of Just intonation by the best vocal ensembles
is simply that soloists lead while others follow; soloists when singing Renaissance polyphony (Duffin, 2007;
may lead both in time (melody lead: Rasch, 1979) and in Havrøy, 2013)? The beauty of their timbre suggests that
pitch (by playing sharp). they must be using a special kind of intonation, and
Yet another possible explanation for sharp solo into- from a theoretical viewpoint Just intonation seems like
nation involves pitch shifts. The tones may be physically the obvious candidate. In fact, those ensembles may
sharp, but not sound sharp. The pitch of a pure tone merely be singing close to 12-EDO with very steady
goes slightly flat as the tone becomes louder; this effect tones (not slides or vibrato) and a characteristic timbre
also becomes stronger the further one departs from that listeners associate with this style of music.
484 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

There are many reasons to reject the ideal of Just +10 cents is only reasonably possible when tones have
intonation for Renaissance polyphony or any other long duration and almost equal amplitude. The inter-
music. First, a Just diatonic scale in which all intervals val(s) should be consonant, and there should be no
between all pairs of tones are Just is a mathematical vibrato or expression. At faster tempos, intonation may
impossibility; some kind of adjustment or temperament vary by +50 cents, even in the best performances—even
is always necessary. It is true that singers in performance without vibrato, expressive variation of intonation, or
are constantly adjusting their intonation to approach expressive dissonance (Burns, 1999). In some styles, into-
optimal interval sizes relative to the musical context, national variation can exceed a semitone, even in the best
but we have no evidence that those optimal interval performances (e.g., romantic opera; Prame, 1997).
sizes correspond to Just ratios. Second, the tendency Approaches to teaching performance based on ratios may
toward ‘‘pure’’ P5s, and the greater sensitivity of musi- attract attention to fine differences in intonation and
cians to mistuning in P5s than in M3s and m3s (Vos & motivate musicians to devote time and effort to this task,
Vianen, 1985), means that tendencies toward Pythago- which ultimately improves their intonational skills. That
rean intonation are possible and likely in any diatonically does not however mean that the ratios are ‘‘correct.’’
based music—but that does not mean Pythagorean tun- The uncertainty of interval sizes may depend on
ing is ideal, either. Third, all modern performers are music-historical processes whereby the tuning of P8s,
influenced by their experience of different kinds of tun- P5s, and P4s between non scale-steps gradually chan-
ing, including the tuning of the piano (Kopiez, 2003). For ged, perhaps to enable different instruments to play
any one or more of these reasons, attempts to approach together. If Pythagorean tuning were the ultimate aim
Just intonation tend to sound out of tune. of such a process, mistunings would accumulate across
Intonational accuracy, and hence auditory tolerance P8s and P5s (for example, the three P5s and one P8 that
for mistuning, depends strongly on context. Rakowski combine to produce a M6) in such a way that the resul-
(1990) had musicians tune musical intervals in isolation tant mistuning might become perceptible (bigger than
and in a musical context, and found that the range of a JND) even if the component mistunings were not
acceptable tunings was smaller in a musical context. (smaller than a JND). Consider the modern piano (with
Presumably, musical context gives a musician more 12 equal divisions of a stretched octave): in slow conso-
information upon which to base frequency adjustment. nant chord progressions, its M3 interval may be percep-
On this basis, we might predict that the standard devi- tibly different from Just and Pythagorean variants, even if
ation of 10 cents in the measurements of Devaney et al. the mistuning of the P5 relative to 3:2 is imperceptible.
(2012) would have been higher if intervals had been The inherent uncertainty of intervals sizes is consis-
measured in isolation rather than in a musical context. tent with the theory of Helmholtz (1877/1954), who
If intervals were essentially number ratios, as Pythagor- explained that frequency ratios arise from overlapping
eans suppose, one might expect the opposite: tunings of harmonic partials in simultaneous harmonic complex
isolated intervals would be more accurate, correspond- tones. To avoid perceptual roughness, the overlap need
ing to small integer frequency ratios as directly per- not be exact. Similarly, in Stumpf’s (1883) theory it is also
ceived by the brain. The presence of a musical context not necessary for overlap to be exact, if the aim is to
that by necessity departs from integer ratios generally produce the effect called perceptual fusion (Verschmel-
gives performers conflicting pitch references, so we zung) that he assumed to be the foundation of musical
might expect tunings to deteriorate. That this prediction consonance.
contradicts observations is another argument that inter- There have been several attempts to create spectrally
vals are distances and not ratios. or temporally based models of consonance and disso-
Performers of string and wind instruments may be nance (e.g., Aures, 1985; Ayers, Aeschbach, & Walker,
expected to achieve higher degrees of intonational pre- 1980; Hutchinson & Knopoff, 1978). Parncutt (1989)
cision than singers. That may especially motivate them to and Collins, Tillmann, Barrett, Delbe, and Janata
consider theories of intonation based on ratios (Heman, (2014) termed these models ‘‘sensory’’ as opposed to
1964; Mantel, 2005). But the empirical literature suggests more ‘‘cultural’’ or ‘‘cognitive’’ approaches. But when
that that the intonation of individual tones, played by the predictions of sensory models are compared with
instruments with continuously adjustable tuning, in human data on the perceived consonance/dissonance or
music whose intonation is judged good or excellent, typ- frequency of occurrence of musical chords comprising
ically varies by at least +10 cents—comparable to the harmonic-complex tones, a model based on notated
syntonic comma (22 cents), the difference between the intervals between fundamental frequencies performs
Just and Pythagorean M3. An uncertainty as small as as well as or better than a model based on the amplitude
Bye Bye Pythagoras 485

spectrum (Bigand, Parncutt, & Lerdahl, 1996; Parncutt, social environments as well as music (Koelsch & Siebel,
Reisinger, Fuchs, & Kaiser, submitted). A simple model 2005; Laden & Keefe, 1989; Patel, 2003; Tillmann, Bhar-
involves counting the semitones (or the semitones and ucha, & Bigand, 2000; Todd & Loy, 1991; Zatorre, Evans,
tritones) in a chord; another option is to count all inter- & Meyer, 1994). The ultimate neural foundation for the
vals between all notes and weight them appropriately sizes and perceived qualities of musical intervals may be
(cf. Huron, 1994). Considering the undeniable role of Hebbian learning and connectionism. The connectionist
both (psycho-) acoustics and cultural learning, we may learning of musical intervals is a physically complex pro-
assert that consonance/dissonance (like other psycho- cess that involves both temporal and spectral aspects and
logical percepts) depends generally on a mixture of cannot be reduced to ratios or usefully explained in terms
physics/physiology (nature) and learning (nurture). of ratios.
Given this background, when a respected theorist
such as Ehrlich (1998) writes at length about the differ-
INTONATION AS COMPROMISE
ence between a P5 of 708.8143 cents and a P5 of 710.0927
The diversity of psychoacoustic, psychological, and
cents, we can be sure that something is wrong. If the
music-structural factors that influence tuning and into-
frequency JND of two successive tones for trained listen-
nation suggest that there are no ideal solutions. Every
ers under ideal laboratory conditions is a few cents, it is
intonation is a compromise among partially contradict-
misleading to cite musical interval sizes with a precision
ing criteria (Terhardt, 1976). For example, the M3 inter-
of less than one cent. In performance, tuning is limited by
val is often performed somewhere between Just (386
both human technical and auditory abilities. Moreover,
cents) and Pythagorean (408). The piano’s M3 interval
the existence of categorical perception in all senses
is a compromise, but so is every other well-known tun-
including interval perception suggests that the inherently
ing system. In this sense, the piano is not ‘‘out of tune’’;
approximate nature of musical intervals arises from the
on the contrary, it represents a useful tuning compro-
circumstances and processes of their perception and
mise for western tonal music. This statement is valid
cognition.
even for music performed or composed long before the
invention of 12-EDO.
A Psychocultural Theory of Musical Intonation
Our perception of good versus bad tuning may be
based on either familiarity with intervals in music
If musical intervals are not ratios, what are they? In
(memory) or spectral structures and relationships
a psychocultural theory of musical intervals and into-
(real-time direct perception). We may prefer interval
nation, intervals are assumed to be both fundamentally
sizes that represent an optimal compromise between the
psychological and fundamentally cultural in nature.
psychoacoustic criteria underlying Just and Pythago-
rean tuning. Since explanations of this kind do not con-
NEURAL FOUNDATIONS
tradict each other, and good evidence and arguments
In the 18th century, Euler and Leibniz believed that the
can be found for all of them, they may all be correct.
brain could comprehend number ratios built from the first
Each is sufficient, from a psychological viewpoint, to
three prime numbers 2, 3, and 5 but not 7 or 11, which
explain modern measurements of interval size in music
would explain the apparent absence of ratios including the
performance. Taken together, they undermine the
prime numbers 7 and 11 in tonal music. They proposed
Pythagorean ratio concept.
that the human soul is not fine or subtle enough to per-
The criteria that determine intonation in real music
ceive more complex ratios (Leissinger, 1994).
include the following:
How might the brain perceive ratios when the dis-
tances between fundamental frequencies in music • Minimizing beats and roughness within individ-
(assuming the tones are periodic or have harmonic ual sonorities (favoring Just intonation),
spectra) vary on a continuous scale from zero to several • Approximating the interval sizes heard among
octaves? Even if there are peaks in the distribution near spectral pitches in harmonic complex tones (again
the 12 equal-tempered intervals, it is still hard to imag- tending toward Just),
ine how the brain could directly perceive ratios in com- • Accurately tuning P8 and P5 intervals between
plex musical contexts. scale steps (favoring Pythagorean),
We assume instead that neural foundation of musical • Assigning a single fixed frequency to every note in
intervals and their tuning and intonation is the biological a diatonic scale, or an entire musical score (favor-
neural network, which allows for context-dependent ing Pythagorean or 12-EDO, since this is not pos-
learning of interval sizes in both everyday physical and sible in Just),
486 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

• Accommodating stretching of all intervals larger Just about every sound we hear at each ear is a superpo-
than about a P4, sition of direct and indirect (reflected) sound. The phase
• Enabling unlimited modulation to different difference between the two depends on the path differ-
chords and keys in the 12-tone chromatic scale ence, which is usually much bigger than the wavelength.
(favoring 12-EDO), and That makes the monaural phase difference between
• Approaching musically familiar interval sizes. direct and indirect sound effectively random. The
superposition of similar waveforms with different
It is often supposed that unlimited modulation is the
phases radically changes the shape of the waveform—
main reason why 12-EDO is so widely accepted today
so much that it is not generally possible to recognize
(e.g., Barbour, 2004). But that does not necessarily
(distinguish and identify) sound sources reliably on that
explain why choirs and string or wind ensembles per-
basis.
form close to 12-EDO. Unlimited modulation is just one
Terhardt (1988, p. 6) explained as follows (translation
point in a list of arguments that point to slightly
RP):
stretched 12-EDO as a good compromise solution. The
relative importance of unlimited modulation also Only the frequencies survive transport through the
depends on style and genre. linear system without noteworthy changes. The fact
In addition to these factors, sensitivity to mistuning that essential musical information, namely pitch, is
may depend on the complexity of the musical context. conveyed almost exclusively by the frequencies of
To test this idea, we might envisage an empirical study the partials, means that their propagational resili-
to compare standard deviations in interval sizes within ence (Übertragungsresistenz) is an indispensable
performed passages, comparing relatively consonant foundation for any enjoyment of music and evalu-
versus dissonant harmonies (e.g., major and minor ation of sound, whether it be in the concert hall, on
triads versus bitonal bebop chords) and relatively tonal a recording, or on the radio. We experience this state
versus atonal contexts. of affairs and take it for granted every day, but that
does not make it any less remarkable from a scien-
tific point of view; it can be regarded as a key to
AUDITORY SCENE ANALYSIS AND ECOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY
a deeper understanding of the process of musical
Since intonation is about quasi-exact tunings of fre-
(and incidentally also linguistic) communica-
quencies, we may ask why exactitude is so valued or
tion . . .The amplitudes of the partials are much less
desirable. Why are humans so sensitive to such small
reliable carriers of information. They are changed by
frequency differences?
the frequency response of the acoustic path between
According to Bregman’s (1990) theory of auditory
source and ear (Übertragungsstrecke) . . . For this
scene analysis, we recognize sound sources by recogniz-
reason, one can only make a very rough estimate of
ing patterns in frequency-time space. If the pitch of
the change in amplitude of a given partial during
a speaking voice goes up and down during an utterance,
transmission; the amplitude at the eardrum of the
the pitches of the audible harmonics go up and down
hearer can be several times more or less than the
with it (coherent frequency modulation). This charac-
estimate. This means that most of the information
teristic pattern (which looks like parallel curved lines on
carried by the amplitudes of individual partials is
a graph of pitch against time) is recognized by the audi-
lost . . . To a greater or lesser degree, this quasi-
tory system, allowing a listener to track a speaking voice
random variation of partial amplitudes affects all
in a noisy background (cocktail party effect). The psy-
sound features that depend on the detailed structure
chological reality of the effect is disputed: McAdams
of the partial amplitude distribution, such as timbre,
(1989) presented evidence in favor, Carlyon (1991)
beating and roughness. The result for the phases of
against.
the partials is even more pessimistic. They do not
This pattern-recognition process relies on a kind of
transmit any useful information at all, because phase
running spectrum analysis of incoming sounds in the
changes during transmission are almost entirely
auditory periphery. Without this initial analysis, it
unpredictable.
would be difficult to recognize sound sources reliably.
To understand why this is so, consider the physics of This is an ecological-evolutionary explanation for the
human acoustic interaction with everyday environ- important role of auditory spectrum analysis in all ani-
ments. The auditory world includes multiple acoustic mal hearing. An animal is more likely to survive and
reflectors: the ground, the walls and roof of a room, or reproduce if it can interact successfully with its physical
any nearby object from which sound can be reflected. and social environments. How it does that depends on
Bye Bye Pythagoras 487

the affordances of environmental organisms objects— a professional trumpeter may play close to 12-EDO,
their action possibilities, that is, what they can be used even if the accompaniment is in Just intonation (Kopiez,
for, dependent on both their physical properties and the 2003).
user’s capabilities (Gibson, 1979). That is why auditory If musical intervals are learned, where and when are
spectrum analysis is common among animals of all they learned, and from what source? If we consider the
kinds, including insects (Fonseca, Münch, & Henning, kinds of sounds to which humans are typically exposed
2000). According to Reed (1996), in everyday life, we can identify two main environmen-
tal sources of information about musical intervals: inter-
The fundamental hypothesis of ecological psy-
vals between audible harmonics within voiced speech
chology . . . is that affordances and only the rela-
sounds, and intervals between tones in music.
tive availability (or nonavailability) of affordances
Terhardt (1972, 1976) assumed that the auditory sys-
create selection pressure on animals; hence,
tem learns the pattern of intervals in the harmonic
behavior is regulated with respect to the affor-
series by exposure to voiced speech sounds (vowels and
dances of the environment for a given animal (p.
voiced consonants)—a prerequisite for speech acquisi-
18; italics in original).
tion. The process presumably begins in early life, given
Frequencies are not changed by reflection and superpo- the importance of fundamental frequency tracking for
sition, so animals can rely on them to provide informa- the prosodic meaning of speech (Pell, 2006).
tion about sound sources. Amplitudes are changed The fetus can hear the mother’s voice for 20 weeks
considerably, but they still provide some useful infor- before birth (Bibas et al., 2008; Pujol & Lavigne-
mation. Monaural phase relations between partials are Rebillard, 1995). During this time it is probably acquir-
usually jumbled so much that they might as well be ing information about both the harmonic series and
random. The auditory system cannot entirely ignore speech prosody. Ultimately, this ‘‘knowledge’’ may serve
them, because neural processes of pitch perception are to improve the bonding relationship with the mother
fundamentally time-domain processes (Cariani, 1999; after birth and in that way enhance the probability of
Langner, 1997; Patterson, 1987). That can explain why survival in ancient physical and social settings (Hepper
monaural phase differences between partials can shift & Shahidullah, 1994; Parncutt, 2009). This process also
the pitch of artificial sounds (Licklider, 1957) but not gives the infant a head-start on the long, complex, and
natural or quasi-natural sounds (Patterson, 1973); they socially essential process of speech acquisition. Empiri-
nevertheless affect timbre (Plomp & Steeneken, 1969). cal evidence for the sensitivity of the fetus to maternal
After auditory spectrum analysis, we recognize sound speech (DeCasper & Spence, 1986) suggests the fetus is
sources primarily from their characteristic frequency- acquiring information of this kind throughout the third
time patterns (Bregman, 1990). Spectrum analysis trimester. The fetus can hear fewer harmonics than the
enables us to separate signal from noise; in music, it infant in voiced speech sounds due to low-pass filtering
allows us to focus on a soloist and ignore the accompa- by the amniotic fluid, but frequencies between about
niment. The amplitude spectrum of a sound provides 100 and 1000 Hz are often audible (Richards, Frentzen,
further clues to the identity or state of the source, but Gerhardt, McCann, & Abrams, 1992).
timbre also depends crucially on the temporal amplitude These findings suggest that ‘‘knowledge’’ of the inter-
envelope (Houtsma et al., 1987, demonstration 29, track vals between the lower harmonics of harmonic complex
54-56), consistent with the idea that the frequencies of tones is present at birth and becomes more accurate and
the partials are more important for source recognition more complex in early infancy, given the ability of
(and hence for music) than their amplitudes. infants to track missing fundamental frequencies. He
and Trainor (2009) found that infants make significant
LEARNING MUSICAL INTERVALS progress in this task between 3 and 4 months postnatal
Loosen (1995) asked musicians to evaluate the tuning of age.
simple rising and falling scales that had been tuned to These ideas have interesting implications for the tun-
Just, Pythagorean, and 12-EDO. Violinists preferred ing of the M3 interval. The Just version of this interval
something approaching Pythagorean, pianists preferred corresponds to the perceived distance between the 4th
12-EDO, and nonmusicians had no preference. That and 5th harmonics in a speech sound, in the absence of
suggests that tuning preferences are primarily pitch shifts. If musicians or listeners are found in an
learned—not primarily determined by the acoustics of experiment to prefer the Just M3, familiarity with the
the sounds themselves, or by the physiology of hearing. pitches of the 4th and 5th harmonics may be the reason.
Learned intonation systems are remarkably robust; Another possible reason: when harmonic complex tones
488 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

span this interval, some of the upper partials overlap hand, performers are constantly evaluating and adjust-
exactly; the 5th (and 10th) harmonic of the lower tone ing the sizes of intervals between simultaneous and suc-
coincides with the 4th (and 8th) harmonic of the higher. cessive tones. On the other hand, they are adjusting the
This reduces the audible beating between almost- pitch of each tone relative to the prevailing scale that has
coincident partials, which may be a perceptible in slow been established in previous minutes of performance,
music composed of precisely tuned harmonic complex and confirmed in previous seconds, even if this scale is
tones without vibrato. In this second case, the optimum out of tune compared to some intended standard such
interval size would be learned from music in a two-stage as A4 ¼ 440 Hz. Drifts away from this standard may
process: first, musicians approach the ratio 5:4 to avoid happen even in the best performances and go unnoticed
beats, and second, listeners become familiar with M3s of by both performers and listeners.
this size and subsequently prefer them. Note that in Let us assume that a given interval (such as M3) has
both cases the listener does not perceive the 5:4 ratio a perceptually ideal target size that is independent of
per se; any apparent sensitivity to this ratio is a conse- context. This target size has been learned from experi-
quence of other sensitivity to other phenomena. ence of instruments such as the piano. In the real-time
Missing fundamentals are perceived by cats (Heffner context of an ensemble performance, a performer such
& Whitfield, 1976), fish (Fay, 1984), and songbirds as a singer or violinist who is aiming to produce this
(Cynx & Shapiro, 1986). The underlying process evi- interval must also deal with small shifts in the pitches of
dently involves both the time domain (periodicity detec- scale steps, as performers in the ensemble adjust their
tion) and the frequency domain (recognition of exact pitches according to different and sometimes con-
incomplete harmonic series), just as it does in humans flicting constraints of intonation. Performers must
(Cheveigné, 2003; Moore, 2012). Presumably, these ani- respond to these shifts if good intonation is to be main-
mals learn pitch intervals from complex tones in the tained; indeed that may be considered the central into-
environment just as humans do; there is no reason to national skill. At any moment in time, a performer who
suppose that human and non-human animals would be is about to perform a tone does that in a context of
different in this respect. Preisler and Schmidt (1998) slightly mistuned scale-step pitches produced by the
tentatively demonstrated ultrasonic missing fundamen- ensemble. She must navigate within a web of interval
tal perception in bats; the limited firing rate of auditory relations between the tone being played and other struc-
neurons points to a frequency-domain explanation turally or texturally important tones, all of which may
involving recognition of harmonic patterns of spectral be slightly mistuned. Performers are constantly making
pitches. On this basis, one may ask why non-human compromises in their tuning to adjust for such differ-
species are not making music with intervals corre- ences, and these adjustments happen largely automati-
sponding to distances between harmonic partials. In cally—not unlike the tiny adjustments that a downhill
fact, they sometimes are: certain songbirds produce har- skier constantly makes to the relative pressure on the
monic intervals more often than non-harmonic inter- two feet, direction of the skis, weight forward or back-
vals (Doolittle & Brumm, 2012). But that does not ward, bending of limbs, and so on.
necessarily make their songs ‘‘music’’; the difference Effects of this kind might explain why some perfor-
evidently involves human reflective consciousness. mers have the impression that the piano is out of tune.
Explanations for this impression that are based on ratio
THE REAL-TIME PROCESS OF ADJUSTING INTONATION IN theory are logically fallacious. There are several possible
PERFORMANCE reasons why a piano accompaniment might sound out
‘‘[I]ntonation is an amalgam of several sub-skills includ- of tune to a solo violinist, and deviation from ‘‘ideal’’
ing pitch discrimination, pitch matching, and instru- ratios is just one of them. Performers are constantly
ment tuning’’ (Morrison & Fyk, 2002, p. 183). What compensating for pitch shifts on stage, adjusting the
are the underlying processes as performers adjust inter- physical size of an interval to compensate for such
val sizes in real time? shifts, so that the interval approaches its ideal subjective
Morrison and Fyk (2002) continued: ‘‘[I]ntonation is size. Thus, physical tunings generally deviate from
a process that demands at least three levels of aware- ‘‘ideal’’ tunings, however defined.
ness—the performers’ own actions, the actions of those Consider the case of medieval chant, as performed
around them, and an abstract model of ideal perfor- both then and now. In music theory, the ideal intonation
mance’’ (p. 192). To understand this process, we must of chant is Pythagorean (e.g., Bower, 2002; Krahenbuehl
separate perception of isolated intervals from percep- & Schmidt, 1962). Today, we can only guess how chant
tion of pitch relative to the prevailing scale. On the one was intoned in the Middle Ages. Even then, intonation
Bye Bye Pythagoras 489

could have been closer, on average, to modern 12-EDO themselves but overlapping harmonics. The ratios
than Pythagorean, because even then 12-EDO repre- emerge when harmonic partials line up and not because
sented a compromise between Just and Pythagorean, the brain is processing ratios. Another factor is the
even if the idea of 12-EDO was unthinkable for the unusually slow harmonic rhythm of the music, which
theorists of the time (let alone the singers). may remind us of a violinist tuning a P5, sustaining
Medieval listeners presumably perceived the spectral a dyad and aligning the partials.
pitches at the 4th and 5th harmonics of an isolated com-
plex tone, just as we do today (e.g., in overtone singing), Perception of Musical Scales
which could have steered the intonation of chant in the
direction of Just. Evidence for this can be found in THE SUBJECTIVE SIZE OF INTERVALS IN MUSICAL CONTEXTS
statistical data on the prevalence of individual scale- The differences between pitch and frequency that we
steps in chant. In an unpublished computer-based anal- have considered can be measured by presenting two
ysis (similar to Parncutt & Prem, 2008) of the Liber sounds in succession and asking a listener which of the
Usualis using the database DDMAL (Thompson, Han- two was higher. Another difference involves psycho-
kinson, & Fujinaga, 2011), the most commonly sung physical scaling and the perceived size of an interval
tones (in any temporal position, whether the start, mid- between two successive tones with different frequencies.
dle, or end of a phrase or chant) were G and A, and The frequency JND of harmonic complex tones in the
the least commonly sung tone (apart from B ) was B. A central musical range is almost constant when expressed
possible explanation: individual tones in the context of in cents or as a percentage of frequency (Walliser,
a chant melody differ in consonance, depending on the 1969b), implying that the most suitable physical scale
relationship between their audible partials and the pre- for measuring musical intervals is the logarithm of fre-
vailing diatonic scale. The tone G is most common quency. On this basis, and on the basis of musical intu-
because all its audible partials correspond approxi- ition, the most psychologically appropriate unit for
mately to the prevailing diatonic scale; for the same pitch should be octaves, semitones or cents, not hertz
reason the tone B is least common. The chromas of (cycles per second, Hz).
the first ten harmonics of G are G, G, D, G, B, D, F, G, Empirical studies have shown that the subjective size
A, B, all of which correspond to the white-key diatonic of an interval between successive pure tones corre-
scale; by contrast, the first ten harmonics of B are B, B, sponds neither to the frequency ratio nor its logarithm
F , B, D , F , A, B, C , D . If this theory is correct, the (Stevens, Volkman, & Newman, 1937). The subjective
consonance of the tone G in a white-tone diatonic magnitude of a pure tone’s pitch may vary approxi-
context depends in part on the Just M3 interval mately as the logarithm of frequency at higher frequen-
between its 4th and 5th harmonics. We might therefore cies (well above 500 Hz) and approach a linear
expect that the distance between these harmonics relationship with frequency at lower frequencies (well
would influence the intonation of chant, contradicting below 500 Hz) (Zwicker, 1961). In speech, Hermes and
received music-theoretical wisdom that the tuning of Van Gestel (1991) confirmed that we perceive intona-
chant is Pythagorean. tion along a psychoacoustic scale that lies between a lin-
In composition, there is a large repertoire of music ear and a logarithmic scale of frequency, reflecting the
intended to be played in Just intonation. The underlying frequency selectivity of the auditory system. Based on
idea is often that beating may be minimized or maxi- measurements of critical bandwidth (or the effective
mized by the use of particular ratios, provided the music bandwidth of individual hair cells on the basilar mem-
is slow, with minimal vibrato, and perhaps computer- brane at different characteristic frequencies), Zwicker
controlled. An example is the work of American com- (1961) explained the ‘‘mel scale’’ in terms of a critical-
poser David Hykes (b. 1953) and his Harmonic Choir. band function or Tonheit; Moore and Glasberg (1983)
He developed a contemplative style of music, based on preferred the term ‘‘Equivalent-Rectangular-Bandwidth-
overtone singing, which he calls Harmonic Chant (1).1 rate ‘‘or ERB-rate. The operational definition was differ-
Similar examples can be found at the website of the ent, but the basic idea was the same. Although such scales
Overtone Music Network (2).2 The ultimate reason for apply only to pure tones, they also influence the percep-
Just tuning in this kind of music may not be ratios tion of complex tones. This is further evidence that a con-
cept of interval based on ratios is fundamentally
1
http://www.overtone.cc/profile/David_Hykes_Harmonic_Presence_ incorrect.
Foundation Stevens (1946) presented a general theory of psycho-
2
http:// www.overtone.cc logical scales and measurement with implications for
490 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

psychoacoustics. Stevens’ concept of ‘‘scale’’ differed but the musicians reliably and quickly named them
from the musical concept, which refers to a collection relative to the twelve categories of 12-EDO. For exam-
of tones of nominally fixed pitches, used for making ple, they quickly identified an interval of 350 cents as
music. Stevens more generally considered the problem either m3 or M3, and an interval of 450 cents as either
of perceiving points on a continuous scale relative to M3 or P4. The authors concluded that musical pitch
each other. For example, is a 100-watt light globe twice perception is categorical. Each perceptual category has
as bright as a 50-watt light globe? The answer is no, even a label corresponding to a chromatic scale step and
if the 100-watt globe is producing twice as much light a width of about one semitone.
power, because perceived brightness is not proportional The perception of harmonic pitch patterns within
to light power. individual complex tones is also categorical. Using
On this basis, Stevens asked whether it is possible to Terhardt’s terminology, a spectral pitch (audible partial)
measure human sensation, and defined measurement in must correspond approximately to a harmonic of a
a very general way as ‘‘the assignment of numerals to fundamental before the auditory system perceives that
objects or events according to rules’’ (p. 677). He then partial as belonging to a complex tone with that funda-
defined four kinds of scale: nominal, ordinal, interval, mental, and the spectral pitch contributes to the salience
and ratio. Musical scales can be of all four types. They of the virtual pitch at the fundamental. The expressions
are nominal scales (because scale steps have names, do re ‘‘tuning tolerance’’ and ‘‘category width’’ are quantita-
mi), ordinal scales (because scale steps are in a fixed tively and functionally comparable.
order), interval scales (because intervals have the same Intonation may be deemed acceptable if listeners can
size at different places in the scale), and ratio scales correctly categorize the tones in the chromatic scale;
(because two octaves are perceived as twice as big as that is, if pitches lie within category boundaries. Under
one octave, two semitones as twice as big as one). good conditions for performing frequencies or perceiv-
Dowling (1978) found that untrained listeners can ing pitches exactly, the categories become narrower.
easily recognize melodies or melodic motives when the One may, for example, recognize an interval as a M3
interval sizes are changed—provided the change does if it lies between 350 and 450 cents, but it may be con-
not affect contour, defined as the sequence of ups and sidered ‘‘in tune’’ if it lies between 380 and 430 cents.
downs. Although changing interval sizes can impair the Imagine someone listening to any such music, in any
recognition of familiar melodies, this finding neverthe- style or genre. The music suddenly stops. She then hears
less undermines the psychological idea of an interval a pure tone with randomly selected frequency in the
scale that is based on exact interval sizes, and suggests central musical range. In general, she will hear this tone
that it may be more appropriate to regard a musical relative to the prevailing diatonic and chromatic scales,
scale as an ordinal scale, or at least a scale based on as one of the chromatic steps (the closest) or as a natural
approximate interval sizes. or shifted diatonic step. Unless she has absolute pitch, or
If we built musical scales according to the Pythago- good relative pitch plus knowledge of the key in which
rean concept of ratios, the resultant constructs would be the music was playing, she will not say ‘‘aha, that was
‘‘ratio scales’’ in Stevens’ terminology. The listener a D ’’ or ‘‘aha, that was the 4th scale degree in A  major,’’
would be sensitive to pitch ratios (e.g., tone A perceived but the empirical literature on categorical perception of
as twice as high as tone B) whether or not she was musical pitch suggests that she will hear the tone as if it
sensitive to frequency ratios. But this idea contradicts were one of those things. If the tone had been tuned
the psychological evidence. From a psychological view- differently, but was still within a quartertone of D , she
point, listeners can only perceive the ratio of two pitches would hear it as that and may not even be aware of the
very approximately, and the ratios do not correspond to mistuning. She would assume that the musicians had
frequency ratios; a tone an octave above another tone is intended to play D , even if the tone was perceptibly
not perceived to have twice the pitch, and a tone a M3 mistuned.
above another tone is not perceived to have 25% more This thought experiment explains why pitch is per-
pitch. ceived categorically. In most music, mistunings of
a quartertone or even a semitone are commonplace. The
CATEGORICAL PERCEPTION OF MUSICAL PITCH ear must tolerate mistunings of this order, otherwise
Burns and Ward (1978) presented pairs of tones to musical appreciation would be impossible. Mistunings
musicians and asked them to name the intervals. The of partials within harmonic complex tones can be com-
participants seldom made errors. The intervals in the parable; a familiar example is the stretched harmonic
experiment were mistuned by as much as a quartertone, series in every piano tone (Martin & Ward, 1961). That
Bye Bye Pythagoras 491

can explain why partials within a harmonic complex argument against the idea of intervals as ratios and for
tone can be mistuned by a quartertone or even a semi- the idea of intervals as categories.
tone without being separately noticed (Moore et al, A well-known example of music-structural categori-
1986). Like pitches in a melody, partials are perceived zation is consonance and dissonance. There is a long
categorically: either they belong to a given harmonic tradition in music theory of grouping intervals into
complex tone or they do not. This form of categorical categories with labels such as perfect consonance,
perception was assumed by Terhardt et al. (1982) and imperfect consonance, and dissonance. Chords are sim-
Parncutt (1989) when considering the perception of ilarly classified as consonant or dissonant, either abso-
harmonic patterns of spectral pitches, as part of a model lutely or relative to each other. Membership of these
of the pitch of complex tones that can explain aspects of categories has changed from one historical period to
the perception of harmony and tonality in music. another. For example, for much of the history of classi-
The empirical literature on the categorical perception cal music, consonances were considered to contain no
of musical pitch implies that intervals do not sound as far more than three pitch classes, whereas in the tonal
out of tune as they really are. We are remarkably good at music of the 20th century (blues, jazz), chords of four
ignoring mistuning in performance and guessing the pitch classes (major-minor or dominant seventh, minor
pitch a performer is aiming for, as if our perception were seventh, added sixth, major seventh) were effectively
shifted toward the intended pitch of each tone (zurecht treated as consonances.
hören: Bruhn, 1994; Fricke, 1988; Kurth, 1931). It cannot Music theorists of the Middle Ages disagreed about
be otherwise if the results of studies such as Devaney whether the harmonic P4 was a consonance or a disso-
et al. (2012), Kopiez (2003), and Rakowski (1990) are nance. Pythagorean theory, which was originally limited
correct. Categorical perception is like a filter that assigns to the first four numbers, regarded the 4:3 ratio as a con-
out-of-tune intervals to familiar categories, as if they were sonance. Medieval polyphonic practice suggested other-
in tune. This is a saving grace for amateur choirs and wise: a P4 interval demanded resolution onto a more
orchestras, if not for the best professionals. consonant third interval (imperfect consonance)—
The cited empirical literature on intonation implies another argument against ratio theory. Today, we can
that even professional musicians with the best aural assert that consonance and dissonance do not depend
abilities may have difficulty distinguishing between on ratios, because ratio theory has repeatedly failed to
musical pitches and their categorical perception in musi- account for variations in consonance and dissonance.
cal contexts. Empirical research in the tradition of Krum- There is no clear evidence for two different M3s (5:4
hansl (1990) additionally implies that precise tuning is and 81:64) of differing consonance in music perception
easier within a clear hierarchical structures, in which or performance, and a diminished triad (5:6:7) is not
some pitches are more stable than others and therefore more consonant than a minor triad (10:12:15).
act as reference tones, which also makes intervals easier Consonance and dissonance (like many psychological
to recognize (Rakowski, 1990). This claim agrees with the measures) are multifactorial. They depend in part on
personal experience of the second author while compos- roughness (Helmholtz, 1877/1954) and harmonicity
ing and rehearsing music in 19-EDO in an example of (fusion) (Stumpf, 1883), both of which depend indi-
what Tymoczko (2010) calls ‘‘harmony and counterpoint rectly on ratios—at least in the ideal case of simultane-
in the extended common practice.’’ ities of harmonic complex tones. Consonance and
Categorical perception of musical pitch contradicts dissonance also depend strongly on familiarity (Cazden,
Pythagorean theory, in which musical intervals are held 1945), which is independent of ratios. The relative
to have single, exact sizes. A musical interval label corre- importance of the factors depends on historical and
sponds to a continuous range of interval sizes; any inter- cultural context, as well as individual psychological dif-
val in the range 350 to 450 cents may be perceived as ferences, which can explain why the boundary between
a M3. Plus or minus a quartertone might seem like a wide consonance and dissonance has changed over time
range of uncertainty, but that is essentially what the (Parncutt & Hair, 2011; Tenney, 1988). At the local level
experiments of Burns and Ward (1978) established (see in a musical passage, consonances and dissonances may
also Halpern & Zatorre, 1979; Siegel & Siegel, 1977). still be perceived as two contrasting categories. Prefix
dissonances resolve to consonances and suffix disso-
CATEGORICAL PERCEPTION OF OTHER MUSICAL PARAMETERS nances follow them—analogous to suffix neighbor-
Intonation is one of several examples of categorical tones that sometimes follow principal melodic tones.
perception in music. If there is a general tendency to Another example of musical categories is rhythm. In
categorize music-structural parameters, that is another a waltz, most sound events that we hear are categorized
492 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

as falling on beats 1, 2, or 3 of the bar. Events that occur of evidence that any well-known tuning system is inher-
between the beats may be perceived as either beat sub- ently superior to any other, or that musicians of the past
divisions (eighth notes in 3/4 time) or timing deviations (singers and performers of instruments with real-time
(anticipating and lengthening the second beat in a Vien- continuous pitch adjustment) deviated from 12-EDO in
nese waltz). Psychologically, it is possible to demonstrate consistent ways. Music theorists and analysts should
a category boundary between, say, 6/8 and 4/4 versions of avoid theories based on ratios, which are misleading
the same melody (Schulze, 1989). at best; those who document and interpret the long and
The existence of perceptual categories in the percep- fascinating history of ratio theory should avoid being
tion of rhythm and meter (Clarke, 1987) and systematic seduced by it. Acousticians and psychologists should
deviations from notated temporal ratios in musical clearly separate physical effects from psychological
rhythms (Gabrielsson, 1985) suggests that time intervals ones, recognizing that while it may be meaningful to
and pitch intervals have something in common; namely, speak of ratios when discussing the vibrations of strings
they are perceived as categories rather than ratios. Anal- and air columns, the psychological correlate of those
ysis of timing in different rhythmic styles (Polak & ratios may be something else entirely. Computer scien-
London, 2014) suggests in addition that rhythms are tists should resist the temptation to develop and imple-
not necessarily based on an isochronous beat. In gen- ment models of musical structure based on frequency
eral, dimensions of musical structures in pitch and time ratios. Neuroscientists should keep in mind that neural
are learned and flexible, not physically predetermined. synchronies, phase-locking, and resultant ratios do not
necessary have correlates in conscious experience.
Conclusion While humanities scholars may immediately recognize
the dangers of scientism and the application of quanti-
THE NATURE OF MUSICAL INTERVALS tative theory to explain qualitative phenomena, they
Musical intervals are not ratios, nor are they magical should be careful not to fall into the trap of taking ratio
mathematical entities. They are learned, approximate, theorists at their word, just because of their enormous
perceptual distances. They emerge from a multigenera- influence on the history of ideas.
tional perceptual-historical process, mediated by the Our approach has a modernist flavor, suggesting that
physical properties of musical tones and the physiolog- all kinds of intervals, scales, and harmonies are musi-
ical and psychological properties and limitations of the cally possible. At first sight, that seems inconsistent with
human auditory system. the continuing popularity of the 12-tone chromatic
Musical intervals belong to the subjective world of scale, its diatonic subsets, and the still hegemonic
human culture, not the objective world of mathematics major-minor tonal system. But the apparently stubborn
and physics. They are perceived between musical conservatism of most musical tastes can be explained
pitches as they occur in musical contexts, and are expe- another way. From a cognitive viewpoint, music proces-
rienced by performers and listeners. Both pitches and sing involves a high information load that is reduced by
the intervals between them are experiential phenomena. chunking and hierarchical organization (Baddeley,
They are also quantitative, although they can also be 1994; Krumhansl, 1990; Tillmann et al., 2000). The
described qualitatively. From a philosophical viewpoint, foundations for the hierarchical cognitive organization
our detailed consideration of this problem could be of musical pitch structure are laid during early learning
regarded as a form of quantitative phenomenology. and enculturation (Hannon & Trainor, 2007; North,
These insights have profound implications for many Hargreaves, & O’Neill, 2000). Such effects can explain
aspects of music and musical scholarship, including the stability of diatonicity and major-minor tonality
practice (composition, performance), theory (music without any recourse to ratio theory.
theory and analysis), sciences (acoustics, psychology, The concept of interval that we have presented con-
cognition, computer science, neuroscience), and tradicts millennia of music theory, but it agrees with the
humanities (history, ethnology, philosophy, theoretical ancient approach of Aristoxenus. Placed in a modern
sociology, aesthetics). For composers, our findings context, that approach has the potential to transform
imply that ratio theory cannot be considered a scientific the foundations of music theory. Musical scales become
foundation for their art; if the music of ratio theorizing collections of pitch categories from which different pitch
microtonalists was successful in the past, as it often was combinations can be selected. Pitch-class set theory
(Gilmore, 1995), other factors must explain that success. (Forte, 1977) becomes equally appropriate for tonal and
Performers who aspire to Just intonation might instead atonal music, or anything in between, provided musical
consider aspiring to (stretched) 12-EDO, given the lack pitch patterns (as perceived) are defined as collections of
Bye Bye Pythagoras 493

pitch categories, rather than collections of exact pitches and comparing the predictions of the theory with the
or (worse) frequencies. The vocabulary of melodic and historical development of tonal-harmonic syntax in the
voice-leading patterns, chords, and chord progressions in Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque periods.
a given style depends on how combinations of tones
corresponding to those pitch categories are perceived, not THE INTRANSIGENCE OF PYTHAGOREAN BELIEFS
on their frequencies or notation. There are still Pythagoreans in our midst who consider
The idea of intervals as ratios is still useful for answer- intervals to be ratios, in spite of the overwhelming empir-
ing certain questions. We may, for example, ask why ical evidence to the contrary—for example, evidence that
Western music is based on a division of the octave into intonation in music performance varies over a range that
12 equal parts, and not some other number. The reason easily includes different theoretical ratios and may devi-
is that ratios of small numbers match a 12-fold subdi- ate systematically from them. Why do they still believe in
vision better than other subdivisions, while at the same ratios? Why is this ancient idea so resilient?
time optimizing the number of tones per octave, given Almost a millennium after Pythagoras, Pythagorean
limitations on human capacities for information proces- ideas were promoted and spread in the writings of
sing and additional issues of pitch discrimination and Boethius (c. 480-524), who was both a founding father
frequency adjustment in complex musical contexts. of Western music theory and a major neo-Platonic phi-
Equal subdivisions of the octave that come relatively losopher (Chadwick, 1981). One might have expected the
close to small-number ratios include 5, 7, 12, 19, 22, scientific revolution (15th–18th centuries) to seal the
31, 34, 41, 53 and 72 (Gamer, 1967; Mandelbaum, Pythagorean coffin, but if anything it did the opposite.
1961), of which 19, 31, and 53 are promising alterna- The Pythagorean concept of intervals as ratios was cham-
tives to 12 for modernist composition. Equal subdivi- pioned by some of the most important figures in the
sions of 5 and 7 tones per octave are already approached history of science, including Copernicus (15th century),
in some traditions; for example, Middle Eastern musics Galileo (16th), Descartes, Leibnitz, Newton (17th), and
with (approximately) quartertone scales, in which the Euler (18th). Even Helmholtz (1877/1954) devoted long
m3 interval is divided into roughly equal halves (neutral passages to ratio theory.
seconds), or musics with neutral third intervals that lie Why did these great scientists fail to recognize funda-
midway between a M3 and m3 (Spector, 1970). Another mental problems with ratio theory as pointed out repeat-
example is the Indonesian sléndro scale that divides an edly since Aristoxenus? The answer to this intriguing
octave into 5 roughly equal intervals (Carterette & Ken- question involves histories of different kinds—political,
dall, 1994; Hajdu, 1993). The larger the number of social, cultural—as well as the history of ideas. To answer
tones, the greater the cognitive load, and the fewer JNDs it plausibly, we need to adopt a humanities mindset and
in intervals between adjacent scale-steps. The success of engage with non-scientific epistemological frameworks.
such mathematical derivations does not mean the inter- It is tempting to claim that scientism—the excessive
vals themselves are ratios in an ontological sense; the emphasis on scientific approaches at the expense of
derivations succeed because musical intervals are often others, and the belief in the inherent supremacy of the
approximations to ratios, as are intervals between par- physical world (by comparison to subjectivity) and
tials in harmonic complex tones or harmonic complex quantitative explanations (by comparison to qualitative)
tones in music whose partials almost coincide. (Mahoney, 1989; Regelski, 1996, Sorell, 2013)—was the
A psychologically and culturally founded approach to ultimate cause of the misleading belief in musical inter-
the theory of tonal music as it ‘‘really is’’ according to vals as ratios. But in recent decades the problem has also
positivist modern science (as opposed to how it was involved a failure to acknowledge scientific methods
conceived and verbalized by theorists of the past) might and empirical findings. Empirical research on intona-
begin with a theory of consonance and dissonance tion in music performance has consistently failed to
based on psychological parameters such as roughness, support ratio theory, even when the researchers initially
harmonicity, and familiarity. It would then proceed to set out to confirm it. To understand the historic resili-
derive the chromatic and diatonic scales as promising ence of Pythagorean thought and move on, it may help
solutions (but not the only musically useful ones) to the to promote a better balance between sciences and
problem of how best to subdivide pitch-space under humanities (Parncutt, 2007; Snow, 1959).
certain psychologically and culturally motivated The intransigence of Pythagorean thought may be
assumptions. The theory would build up the vocabulary founded on music’s intrinsic beauty. We tend to idealize
of tonal music by considering how tones are perceived music because of the wonderful emotions it evokes. We
simultaneously and sequentially in musical contexts, associate positive emotions with tones that sound in
494 Richard Parncutt & Graham Hair

tune, and hence harmonious with other tones. Research Pythagoreanism in their simple directness, and the pro-
on the positive emotions evoked by sad music (Huron, blems that arise when they are applied in practice. The
2011; Kawakami, Furukawa, Katahira, & Okanoya, proposed solution is too simple given the complexity of
2013; Parncutt, 2014; Schubert, 1996; Vuoskoski, the situation.
Thompson, McIlwain, & Eerola, 2012) suggests that the Utopian concepts are no less common in the theory
positive emotional effect of in-tuneness includes minor and practice of music. In the 20th century, modernist
and dissonant harmonies. A beautiful phenomenon utopian musical ideas grew from the ascendancy of pro-
begs for a beautiful theory, and the elegance of Pythag- ducer autonomy over listeners’ perception of musical
orean mathematics feels intuitively right. structure (Taruskin 2009). Schoenberg famously pro-
We can also take a broader view and consider general posed to Josef Rufer, concerning his discovery of the
tendencies in the history of ideas. Music is a form of technique of ‘‘composing with twelve tones related only
culture that shares features with the utopian Platonic to one another,’’ that ‘‘I have made a discovery which
and neo-Platonic thought of the ancient and medieval will ensure the supremacy of German music for the next
worlds. Pythagoreanism may be an example of the nir- hundred years’’ (Stuckenschmidt 2011, p. 277). In the
vana fallacy or perfect solution fallacy (Coyne, 2006): optimistic post-war years following the demise of
the putting of unrealistic, idealized alternatives in the Nazism, which was itself an extreme example of a uto-
place of achievable real things, or being driven by the pian worldview, Pierre Boulez criticized Schoenberg’s
assumption that there is a perfect solution to a particular radical musical language for not being radical enough;
problem. From a psychological perspective, human rea- for him, it retained too many rhythmic and formal con-
soning is based on beliefs, and simpler beliefs may be cepts from the classical tradition, the very features that
preferred because they enable more rapid or efficient enable most listeners to hear some coherence. These are
responses to new situations representing either danger examples of a post-Enlightenment form of utopianism
or opportunity. As a result, there are strong links that Meyer (1967) described as imagining a Golden Age,
between beliefs, desires, and intentions (Bratman, not in the remote past (as in the Weltanshauung of the
1999; Wellman & Woolley, 1990). philosophers of the ancient world or the Middle Ages),
It may seem far-fetched to compare Pythagorean but as something still to come, to be brought about by
thinking with politics. But historical political parallels visionary thinking in the present. They signify a refusal
may be evidence for an underlying psychosocial ten- to let how things are stand in the way of how things
dency to naively believe in simplistic theories. Consider ought to be.
this political example: Another reason why many still cling to Pythago-
rean beliefs may be their apparent success at explain-
Attempts to reconstruct weak and failed countries
ing aspects of music for very long historical periods.
suffer from a nirvana fallacy. Where central gov-
In the history of science and ideas, there was a gen-
ernments are absent or dysfunctional, it is assumed
eral reluctance to give up previously successful theo-
that reconstruction efforts by foreign governments
ries. Like Kuhn’s (1962) paradigms in the history of
generate a preferable outcome. This assumption
science, Pythagoreanism may only be overthrown
overlooks (1) the possibility that foreign govern-
when its failures become intolerable and the suc-
ment interventions can fail, (2) the possibility that
cesses of an alternative become compelling, just as
reconstruction efforts can do more harm than good,
classical mechanics was overthrown by quantum
and (3) the possibility that indigenous governance
mechanics and relativity. As an approximation, how-
mechanisms may evolve that are more effective than
ever, the Pythagorean approach will always be useful,
those imposed by military occupiers.’’ (Coyne, 2006,
just as classical mechanics is still useful. Musical
p. 343).
practice is constantly changing in accordance with
Political examples of the nirvana fallacy include the changes in the economic, sociological, philosophical,
October revolution in 1917, which was motivated by the historical, political, ideological, and other circum-
belief that communism would solve the problems of cap- stances; humanities disciplines are consequently
italism. In the 1990s, many believed that neoliberalism ‘‘devoted less to the ‘advancement of knowledge’ than
and ‘‘trickle-down economics’’ (Aghion & Bolton, 1997) to the propagation of moral and intellectual values’’
would improve quality of life for all. In 2010, the theory (Scruton 2007, p. 3).
that democracy is universally desirable led many to Finally, we may exaggerate the ‘‘exactness’’ of the so-
believe that the Arab Spring would improve living stan- called ‘‘exact sciences.’’ Physics is often thought of as an
dards in Arab countries. These theories are similar to ‘‘exact science’’ because it is dominated by mathematical
Bye Bye Pythagoras 495

theory. But mathematics is also an excellent tool for exact to very approximate. The number ratios that cor-
dealing with inexactness. One approach is the order- respond to musical intervals also lie somewhere along
of-magnitude estimate: the size of a quark is less than that spectrum.
10-18 m; the weak nuclear force operates over a range
of 10-14 m; the temperature of a supernova expansion is Author Note
1010 Kelvin; there are 1014 cells in the human body; and
there are 1080 fundamental particles in the universe. Correspondence concerning this article should be
Music theory is often considered mathematical and addressed to Richard Parncutt, Centre for Systematic
therefore exact. In fact, the quantities considered in Musicology, University of Graz, Merangasse 70, 8010
applied mathematics vary along a spectrum from very Graz, Austria. E-mail: parncutt@uni-graz.at

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