Is it like the visible spectrum and we just can’t physically hear anything else?
What determines the dividing line between each note?
I know this is more than one question but I just don’t understand the science behind music
In: Physics
A super-short answer is that there are actually quite a few tuning systems used in the world, presently and historically. The system used most in western music (and the one you’re most likely familiar with) is called 12-tone equal temperament. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musical_tuning?wprov=sfti1
Sound waves can exist at pretty much any frequency or pitch (humans can hear frequencies between 20 to 20000 hertz, assuming no hearing loss), but how we choose to divide up those frequencies is dependent on historical, cultural, linguistic, and social factors.
Think about it like measuring distance. The distance between where I am sitting and, for example, my bedroom window can be measured in inches, centimeters, cubits, light years, or any other unit of measurement you can think of, but the absolute distance is the same.
People who grew up listening to mostly western music will typically find the 12-tone equal temperament tuning to be the one that sounds “right”, but that’s only because of their culturally-shaped expectations. If you grew up listening to, say, traditional gamelan music with its five-tone tuning system, western classical music might sound very odd and even “out of tune” to you.
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