On 5 Feb 2005 at 19:54, Darcy James Argue wrote:

> No one is arguing that the Western system of functional harmony is
> "natural" or innate. . . .

Perhaps no one in this particular discussion has explicitly argued 
that, but there are lots of people who *do* believe exactly that, and 
that body of research has, in fact, been cited (at least 
elliptically) in this discussion.

> . . . Only that there might well be some innateness to
> more general concepts of "consonance" and "dissonance."

I reject the word "innate." There are explanations of why, 
acoustically, certain intervals tend to be perceived as exceptional,  
but that is *not* the same thing as "innateness."

And the people who make a habit of writing about this subject tend to 
make assertions well beyond what you've made (even excusing the 
unwarranted use of the word "innate"). When you join that side of the 
argument, it's hard for those familiar with the debate to know 
whether you're in agreement with the wingnuts or not.

-- 
David W. Fenton                        http://www.bway.net/~dfenton
David Fenton Associates                http://www.bway.net/~dfassoc

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