Why do we hear sound frequencies in 12 steps instead of an even fade?

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Why does the whole range of one of these steps sound virtually the same? And why, when an instrument tries to play between them, is it just both notes at the same time?

In: Physics

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Dividing the sound spectrum into 12 “steps” or notes is a western music invention and not some fundamental property of physics or the human ear. We can produce sound of any frequency and most of us can discern frequency differences between notes.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microtone_(music)

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