Click here to hear a minor chord

Click here to hear a major chord

Music has the ability to express emotion. Even an untrained ear can tell you the difference between a happy-sounding major key and a sad-sounding minor key. A study was published this week which found a link between the pitch intonations conveying sadness in the english language.

Think about what it sounds like when your upset, or making a sad statement- how the pitch lowers a certain degree at the end of the statement. Or when a dog makes an upset whine, it sounds sad to you right?

The ratio of pitch frequencies in these sad tones was the same as the relationship in the minor third.  I’ve often thought about this relationship, it puts a smile on my face to see someone else proving it with mathematics

Check out Curtis’ study from Tufts here