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Sensory Perception pp 205–214Cite as

A biological basis for musical tonality

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Abstract

Like other sensory qualities, the human ability to perceive tonal sound stimuli has presumably evolved because of its utility. Although a variety of tonal sounds are present in the human auditory environment, the vocalizations of other humans are the most biologically relevant and the most frequently experienced. It is thus reasonable to assume that our appreciation of tonal sounds has arisen primarily for the benefits that accrue from this conspecific information. It follows that the structure and function of the tonal sounds produced by the human vocal apparatus may provide the key to understanding how and why we perceive tonality in music the way that we do. Here we consider recent evidence that bears on this idea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neurobiology, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, 8 College Road, Level 05, Singapore, 169857, Singapore

    Daniel Bowling & Dale Purves

Authors
  1. Daniel Bowling
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  2. Dale Purves
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Friedrich G. Barth

  2. Institute of Philosophy, University of Vienna, Austria

    Patrizia Giampieri-Deutsch  & Hans-Dieter Klein  & 

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Bowling, D., Purves, D. (2012). A biological basis for musical tonality. In: Barth, F.G., Giampieri-Deutsch, P., Klein, HD. (eds) Sensory Perception. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-211-99751-2_12

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