Dissonance and Consonance

Dissonance or Consonance

Dissonance and consonance are inherent qualities of a relationship that is assigned to music intervals. Consonance is best described as intervals having harmonious ties that often create a pleasant sensation of repose. Simply put, a consonance contains notes and chords that sound exceptionally well together. While dissonance, on the other hand, have intervals that create sensations of tension and instability. Generally, consisting of tones that do not particularly sound well. A listener will hear slightly off-key chords and/or notes with the expectations of hearing something similar to that of consonance. A sonority, which is a consonant in one context, where it does not seem to demand resolution, may sound harsh or out of place in a different context where it must be resolved.

This distinction, however, depends entirely on the specific musical context. Typically dissonance is resolved by switching over to a consonant chord. This makes the initial feeling of tension, given by dissonant chords, come to a resolution. The commonly used term for this is called tension and release. However, dissonance does not always need to be resolved. For instance, the perfect fourth is the inversion of the perfect fifth. In music, this can be both consonant and dissonant. In this case dissonance does have a need for resolution when it is unsupported by lower notes.