Mondo Knows Facts
Simple frequency ratios sound calm
Octaves are two to one and fifths three to two, and they blend rather than clash Ratios with small numbers produce harmonics that line up often, so listeners hear one fused sound. Ratios with larger numbers produce beating and roughness. Under equal temperament the ratios are slightly off but close enough. It sits in Mondo's music collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
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Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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More facts like this
Twelve pure fifths overshoot seven octavesThe gap is called the Pythagorean comma, about 23 centsMusicians tune by listening for beatsTwo nearly matched frequencies produce a slow throb that stops when they agreeHalving a string raises it an octaveOther simple length ratios give fifth, fourth and thirdBaroque music ran on a bass line and chordsThe continuo filled in harmony from a figured bassThe circle of fifths orders every keyMoving one step adds a sharp or removes a flatSonata form sets two ideas against each otherExposition, development and recapitulation is the usual pattern
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Tags: harmony, intervals, psychoacoustics
Simple frequency ratios sound calm: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Octaves are two to one and fifths three to two, and they blend rather than clash. The figure is taken from Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a music fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Music shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.