Tonal Dissonance Curves

Do you ever wonder why some note combinations sound pleasing to our ears, while others make us cringe? When we create a sound, such as playing a cello, the strings vibrate back and forth. This causes energy to travel through the air, in waves. The number of times per second these waves hit our ear is called the frequency, which is measured in Hertz (Hz). The more waves per second that are created the higher the pitch. One example is the middle C note at about 262 Hz, and the A note, which is below middle C, at 220 Hz. To explain why some notes sound well together, we look at a chord, such as the frequencies of the notes in a C Major chord: C − 261.6 Hz