| Author |
Topic: Are We the Only Species to Hear Music? |
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
|
Posted 30 Apr 2014 10:18 am |
|
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=264974
As I mentioned in the above tab, music is based on arithmetical relationships between sound vibration rates, and the notes actually continue to have the same relationships well outside our frequency range of hearing.
The same notes that we hear are heard by all living creatures, and there is evidence to suggest that even plants can feel vibrations and can maybe sense the difference between frequencies. Many creatures can hear notes well above and/or below our hearing limits.
Is music hot-wired into us at conception, and, if so, since we creatures have all evolved from the same primeval cells, do all creatures have a sense of music? |
|
|
 |
Barry Blackwood
|
Posted 30 Apr 2014 10:43 am
|
|
| Alan, define "sense of music." This all sounds more like anthropomorphizing to me. |
|
|
|
Rick Schacter
From:
Portland, Or.
|
Posted 30 Apr 2014 12:52 pm
|
|
"Are We the Only Species to Hear Music"?
I don't think so.
I'd seriously doubt that my dogs are thinking in music theory terms and trying to analyze how certain pieces are played, but I can sure tell when they like a song or not.
One of them is a pedal steel fan, the other one...not so much. She leaves the room when I play.
Of course she may be a more honest critic than the other one. 
Rick |
|
|
|
Jim Cohen
From:
Philadelphia, PA
|
|
|
|
Curt Trisko
From:
St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
|
Posted 30 Apr 2014 1:20 pm
|
|
No kidding. Also, animal calls have all the characteristics of music: rhythm, pitch, and so on. They even have repeating patterns like music does(verse, bridge, chorus).
I wouldn't be surprised if people have theorized that animal calls and music are one and the same and that's why we naturally are drawn to it. The real question underlying this thread might be at which point in the development of different forms of life did this musical tendency arise and how. Obviously, it's about communication and how it becomes so ingrained that the desire persists even when no other individuals are around. As opposed to a cricket chirp, which is more like Morse Code, a more musical form of communication is much more efficient at delivering information. |
|
|
|
Barry Blackwood
|
Posted 30 Apr 2014 2:11 pm
|
|
| Quote: |
| "Are We the Only Species to Hear Music"? |
Of course not, but without the benefit of speech, what music means to other species is still a mystery that us homo sapiens can only speculate about.. |
|
|
|
Rick Schacter
From:
Portland, Or.
|
Posted 30 Apr 2014 3:57 pm
|
|
The first bird has better taste in music, IMO, and both birds have a better sense of rhythm than some people I know. 
Rick |
|
|
|
Franklin
|
|
|
|
Ken Campbell
From:
Ferndale, Montana
|
Posted 1 May 2014 3:59 am
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Shane Reilly
From:
Melbourne, Australia
|
Posted 1 May 2014 8:43 am
|
|
That cows vid is awesome, I couldn't help but sing to myself…Just a closer walk with beef.
Sorry cows. |
|
|
|
Andy Volk
From:
Boston, MA
|
Posted 1 May 2014 10:54 am
|
|
The cow video is sublime. They have better taste than every Justin Bieber fan!
_________________
Steel Guitar Books! Website: www.volkmediabooks.com |
|
|
|
Barry Blackwood
|
Posted 1 May 2014 12:07 pm
|
|
They have better taste right next to the mashed potatoes..  |
|
|
|
Donny Hinson
From:
Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.
|
Posted 3 May 2014 5:29 am
|
|
That music only works for cows. 
Calves prefer distorted guitars, loud drums, laser light-shows, and pyrotechnics. |
|
|
|
Richard Sinkler
From:
aka: Rusty Strings -- Missoula, Montana
|
Posted 3 May 2014 8:41 am
|
|
Not only can other species hear music, but some can play it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjsu3SGAdLs
_________________
Carter D10 8p/8k, Dekley S10 3p/4k C6 setup,Regal RD40 Dobro, Recording King Professional Dobro, NV400, NV112,Ibanez Gio guitar, Epiphone SG Special (open D slide guitar) . Playing for 54 years and still counting. |
|
|
|
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
|
Posted 3 May 2014 9:50 am
|
|
Imagine a simple tune like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, in three-part harmony. Record it then put it up two octaves. You can still hear it as a tune, but put it up another four octaves and it's probably completely beyond your spectrum of hearing, but the song still exists and still fulfils all the relationships of harmony, etc. Some animals and insects will be able to hear it.
Again, do the same thing but lower it until it's below our spectrum of hearing and the same thing happens. The song still exists and follows all the rules of harmony, but to us it is completely silent. But some animals; whales, for instance; will probably still hear it, and maybe some plants will, too.
If we could only hear the sounds which are beyond our spectrum of hearing there are probably all sorts of wonderful sounds that other creatures can hear. Maybe that's why some animals can hear earthquakes before they reach the surface. |
|
|
|
Hook Moore
From:
South Charleston,West Virginia
|
|
|
|
Johan Jansen
From:
Europe
|
|
|
|
Chris Bauer
From:
Nashville, TN USA
|
Posted 7 May 2014 12:35 pm
|
|
Depending on how deeply you want to get into it, here's a little 'light bedtime reading' for you: http://cognet.mit.edu/library/books/view?isbn=0262232065.
I only know about it because, as it happens, my wife wrote one of the chapters and worked, at one time or another, with several of the other authors.
P.S. I make no claim to be able to understand the scientific jargon but will be happy to ask her to translate it into the language of us commoners if anyone's interested. |
|
|
|
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
|
Posted 8 May 2014 10:55 am
|
|
Thanks for that link, Chris. That book is very interesting.  |
|
|
|
Barry Blackwood
|
Posted 10 May 2014 8:51 am
|
|
| Quote: |
| If we could only hear the sounds which are beyond our spectrum of hearing there are probably all sorts of wonderful sounds that other creatures can hear. |
May I suggest accepting the limitations of our current hearing? I don't want to hear the sound of my vegetables screaming as I eat them.. |
|
|
|
Georg Sørtun
From:
Mandal, Agder, Norway
|
Posted 10 May 2014 12:20 pm
|
|
| Our cows insisted I tuned and played JI, or else they would walk away |
|
|
|
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
|
Posted 11 May 2014 9:54 am
|
|
| I'm sure cows hear music. Soft classical music sooths them. |
|
|
|
Barry Blackwood
|
Posted 22 May 2014 8:55 am
|
|
| Quote: |
| The first bird has better taste in music, IMO, and both birds have a better sense of rhythm than some people I know. |
 |
|
|
|
Alan Brookes
From:
Brummy living in Southern California
|
|
|
|
Peter Wojnar
From:
New York, USA
|
Posted 28 Oct 2014 7:09 pm
|
|
Whenever my gf's cats started getting too....familiar.... a nice loud tri-tone on the archtop would send them scurrying.
On the other hand, if they were property respectful and keeping their distance, they seemed to enjoy some of my more accomplished chord-melody offerings.
What is that George Strait song about...."Even my girlfriend thinks I like her cat..." or something like that?! |
|
|
|
