Exploring consonance and dissonance can prove to be a difficult task. It is easy to jump to conclusions about these terms and assign them definitions based on what our Western trained ears tell us. Outside of the Western tradition, however, it is not easy to define dissonance and consonance in a way that satisfies all cultures. Britannica says the two terms refer to, “the impression of stability and repose (consonance) in relation to the impression of tension or clash (dissonance) experienced by a listener when certain combinations of tones or notes are sounded together”.
In The Craft of Musical Composition composer Paul Hindemith argues that we have not made any progress in trying to define these terms because "the two concepts have never been completely explained, and for a thousand years the definitions have varied" (Hindemith 92).
Even a definition this vague leaves questions to be answered. Who is allowed to say a certain interval has characteristics of dissonance when the exact same interval is used somewhere else to sound consonant? Perhaps the best way to explore this concept is through listening.
Take, for example, a Bulgarian Women’s Choir. These ensembles are known for their use of drone sounds which often result in a major second interval (something that sounds dissonant in the western context). In this context, however, the singers so often find themselves at this interval that it takes on the role of a “home” interval.
The intervals we consider dissonant in this video are not used in the same way we expect. While the ear expects a quick resolution from such a tense sound, the women take their time on such chords. Often they do not even “resolve” in the way we want them to, but continue to meander through other chords and return to occasional unison moments.
Consider this use of the major second with the major second we are used to. An easy and familiar example can be found in the children’s piano song “chopsticks”. As we begin hearing this close interval, our ears rejoice at the third that follows for it finally brings some consonance.
In this performance the ensemble displays classic Japanese Gagaku music.
Throughout the piece we hear a Major 2nd almost consistently between the separate parts. As Westerners, we hear tension in the sound, but this music is often played at celebrations and meant to be danced to. While someone from Japan may not describe this interval as “consonant” they certainly would not say there is tension in the sound. The tension we hear in dissonant intervals is completely arbitrary and stems from what our ears are used to hearing.
To close, let’s go back to what is familiar to us and see how it connects with these concepts. It is interesting to note that even Western art music has fluctuated over centuries in what is considered dissonance, consonance, and general tension and release. The folk music of the Medieval era employs a great deal of perfect intervals, creating a rather harsh and cold sounding harmony.
I am almost reminiscent of the Bulgarian singers after hearing this. Perhaps it is due to the lowest line very rarely moving, creating a lot of short drones below the moving melody (in a great deal of parallel fourths).
Compare this to the vocal music of the Renaissance, which warmed up harmonies through the use of thirds and sixths; intervals like fourths had to be resolved almost immediately.
In his prime, Bach solidified the concepts behind four-part harmony. Consonance and dissonance seem to come naturally, given these rules for voicing and harmony, and our human need for tension and resolution is satisfied.
Bach seems to take the best of both worlds in his harmonizing; nothing is as cold and rigid as it was in the renaissance, nor is there an endless stream of thirds and sixths melting into one another.
All this is to say that consonance and dissonance are extremely hard concepts to tackle in the realm of cultural music. We long for an answer, though it is fair to say there is not just one. Hindemith was right in saying these have never been defined, and we are right to assume this is because it is constantly changing.
Hannah: Writing and Media
Brian: Writing and Media
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