Consonance processing in the absence of relevant experience: evidence from nonhuman animals

Consonance is a major feature in harmonic music that has been related to how pleasant a sound is perceived. Consonant chords are defined by simple frequency ratios between their composing tones, whereas dissonant chords are defined by more complex frequency ratios. The extent to which such simple ratios in consonant chords could give rise to preferences and processing advantages for consonance over dissonance has generated much research. Additionally, there is mounting evidence for a role of experience in consonance perception. Here we review experimental data coming from studies with different species that help to broaden our understanding of consonance and the role that experience plays on it. Comparative studies offer the possibility of disentangling the relative contributions of species-specific vocalizations (by comparing across species with rich and poor vocal repertoires) and exposure to harmonic stimuli (by comparing populations differing in their experience with music). This is a relative new field of inquiry, and much more research is needed to get a full understanding of consonance as one of the bases for harmonic music.This research was funded by the ERC Starting Grant contract number 312519. We thank the contributions of three anonymous reviewers who greatly contributed to improve this article