Development of consonance preferences in Western listeners

Many scholars consider preferences for consonance, as defined by Western music theorists, to be based primarily on biological factors, while others emphasize experiential factors, notably the nature of musical exposure. Cross-cultural experiments suggest that consonance preferences are shaped by musical experience, implying that preferences should emerge or become stronger over development for individuals in Western cultures. However, little is known about this developmental trajectory. We measured preferences for the consonance of simultaneous sounds and related acoustic properties in children and adults to characterize their developmental course and dependence on musical experience. In Study 1, adults and children 6 to 10 years of age rated their liking of simultaneous tone combinations (dyads) and affective vocalizations. Preferences for consonance increased with age and were predicted by changing preferences for harmonicity-the degree to which a sound's frequencies are multiples of a common fundamental frequency-but not by evaluations of beating-fluctuations in amplitude that occur when frequencies are close but not identical, producing the sensation of acoustic roughness. In Study 2, musically trained adults and 10-year-old children also rated the same stimuli. Age and musical training were associated with enhanced preference for consonance. Both measures of experience were associated with an enhanced preference for harmonicity, but were unrelated to evaluations of beating stimuli. The findings are consistent with cross-cultural evidence and the effects of musicianship in Western adults in linking Western musical experience to preferences for consonance and harmonicity.