The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #58162 Message #923915
Posted By: Burke
01-Apr-03 - 05:38 PM
Thread Name: Neuro-physiology and music structures
Subject: RE: Neuro-physiology and music structures
You can search article topics and read abstracts on PubMed for free.
I think I used music & neurophysiology as my terms, then clicked on related article links. Most of the abstracts indicated that the brains of musicians & non-musicians did not respond in the same way to whatever the test was. I did not dig enough to find any that specifically dealt with harmony.
I took it to mean that musicians have 'programmed' themselves to hear differently than non-musicians.
My own opinion is that there is physics--all the relationships that have been mentioned & there's cultural training. There are some kinds of music that like hearing very close tones simultaneously, finding it shimmery & beautiful. The Balinese Gamelan comes to mind. We'd call the same sounds out of tune, or dissonant.
There's certain ethnic musics I can't listen too very long because it sets my teeth on edge. I should think the culture that creates that music is not reacting the same way.