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2. Note on the Perception of Musical Sounds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2014

John G. M'Kendrick
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Extract

Certain individuals appear to be incapable of appreciating musical sounds. They cannot distinguish one melody from another; and if by many repetitions of the melody in their hearing, they at last appear to know it, the addition of one or more of the parts of the harmony again renders the music unrecognisable to them. The question naturally arises, Is this defect owing to any peculiarity in the structure of the internal ear of persons so constituted which prevents them hearing certain sounds, or is it to be referred to the condition of the brain? On the other hand, many have what is termed a “fine ear,” by which we understand the faculty of appreciating, remembering, and, in some cases, of successfully imitating musical sounds. Have those individuals the organ of hearing more delicately developed?

Type
Proceedings 1873-74
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh , Volume 8 , 1875 , pp. 342 - 347
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1875

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References

page 347 note * Sound and Music: A Non-Mathematical Treatise on the Physical Constitution of Musical Sounds and Harmony, &c. By Taylor, Sedley, M.A., &c. London, 1873Google Scholar.