Consonance and dissonance judgments stem from critical bandwidth mechanics

Evidence

The psychoacoustic basis behind consonance and dissonance relates to critical bandwidth, which provides a means for determining the degree of consonance (or dissonance) of musical intervals. — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 934

Categorization

• DEFINE: Anchor: consonance/dissonance is defined through the critical-bandwidth construct, the key concept this whole passage chain is building toward.
• XREF: Critical bandwidth was likely set up in an earlier chapter (Figure 2.6 cross-refs); this is the payoff linking that sensory mechanism to musical consonance. — connects to: Dissonance depends on proportional separation falling inside the critical bandwidth, not absolute frequency difference; Consonance judgments rest on psychoacoustic critical bandwidth; Perceived dissonance arises when nearby harmonics fall within critical bandwidth (+13 more)
• ADDENDUM: Bolsters the historical sweep of the musical-interval discussion in a way that clarifies why tuning systems matter.

Broader Connections

• Dissonance depends on proportional separation falling inside the critical bandwidth, not absolute frequency difference #expands (0.90)
• Perceived dissonance arises when nearby harmonics fall within critical bandwidth #expands (0.90)
• Critical bandwidth is the psychoacoustic basis of consonance and dissonance. #epitomizes (0.90)
• Consonance judgments rest on psychoacoustic critical bandwidth #corroborates (0.85)
• Clashing tones within one critical band produce roughness that underlies dissonance #expands (0.85)
• Interval consonance ranking derives from critical-bandwidth proximity between harmonics #corroborates (0.85) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 958
• Rapid beating between nearby partials causes perceived dissonance #expands (0.85) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2324
• Roughness between note partials determines perceived musical dissonance #expands (0.85) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1350
• Dissonance between complex tones reduces to summed penalties from near-coincident partials #expands (0.80) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2349
• Perceived roughness to smoothness shifts exactly at the critical bandwidth boundary #expands (0.80) — David Howard, Jamie Angus, coustics and Psychoacoustics, 951
• Critical bandwidth marks the perceptual shift from rough to smooth tone resolution #expands (0.80)
• Dissonance depends on musical interval, not a fixed beat rate across frequencies #qualifies (0.80)
• Consonance is continuous tone flow while dissonance is intermittent roughness #expands (0.75) — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 2345
• Critical bandwidth is measured through masking effects rather than direct perception #complicates (0.75) — David M. Howard, Jamie Angus, Acoustics and Psychoacoustics, 585
• Peak dissonance between two tones occurs at a quarter critical band separation #expands (0.70) — Ville Pulkki, Matti Karjalainen, Communication Acoustics- An…, 1291