"It's only a !@#$%^&* doorbell!"
The human mind has an amazing capacity to create complexity from the simplest musical material. Consider a musical object common to everyday urban life - a doorbell.
When I was a kid, I loved the sound of the doorbell in my grandparents' apartment. Here's how I remember it:
Example 1:
Example 1:
While your ears are still unbiased by the examples below, I urge you to take the time to listen to that doorbell again. Sing it to yourself. Make up little tunes with it. Try to connect the two tones with another one. Even better, see if you can relate the interval of Example 1 to the major scale from the previous section.
At the very least, just plain listen to it for awhile before going on.
Do those two tones suggest a third one to you? Remind you of tunes you already know? Sound euphonious? Drive you nuts?
I cannot stress this enough: there are no "right" answers to these questions. The way you hear that doorbell and whatever associations you make with the sound, musical or non-musical, are yours and yours alone.
Nor does it matter that you have no musical training. Beyond the fact that a trained musician could use technical terms unfamiliar to you to describe that doorbell sound, your experience of it may be richer than that of somebody who's been playing the violin since she was three. On the other hand, hearing nothing in particular beyond a doorbell is as valid a response as anything else.
For as long as I can remember, whenever I have heard that sound, my inner ear has provided a third tone, like this:
Example 2:
If I fill in all the notes in between, I do it this way.
Example 2a:
Example 2a:
For most of my life, based on absolutely no evidence, I assumed that my way was the "natural" way, that there was something intrinsic about Example 1 that would suggest Example 2 to most people. Finally, stimulated by the prospect of creating this website, I thought it might be wise to check out my hypothesis. Proceeding with typical scientific rigor, I started with my wife, Gretta.
Gretta used to play the flute and still understands the principles of music notation, but she has virtually no knowledge of (and in fact no interest in) formal music theory. She does have an incredibly sharp sense of musical time - i.e., she's got rhythm - and, I am sure, missed out on a career as a jazz drummer. (In fact she was a math major who eventually ended up as a now mostly retired psychiatrist.)
She and I share many musical likes (J.S. Bach, Gerry Mulligan, Igor Stravinsky) and dislikes (so-called "Smooth Jazz," Andrew Lloyd Weber, Ralph Vaughn Williams), but for the almost 30 years that we've known each other I have been trying, with little success, to understand how she perceives music.
The following conversation is typical. Although it is a dramatic recreation, it captures the sense if not the literal content of many similar conversations we have had.
"Gretta, listen to this."
I ring our door bell, which happens to play the same interval as Example 1.
"When you hear that, do you think of a third note?"
"What? No. I just hear the doorbell."
"Well, what do you think of when you hear a doorbell?"
She sings. (Singing is not Gretta's greatest talent, but she has graciously given me permission to publish this recording. You may want to turn your volume up a bit.)
Example 3:
Gretta used to play the flute and still understands the principles of music notation, but she has virtually no knowledge of (and in fact no interest in) formal music theory. She does have an incredibly sharp sense of musical time - i.e., she's got rhythm - and, I am sure, missed out on a career as a jazz drummer. (In fact she was a math major who eventually ended up as a now mostly retired psychiatrist.)
She and I share many musical likes (J.S. Bach, Gerry Mulligan, Igor Stravinsky) and dislikes (so-called "Smooth Jazz," Andrew Lloyd Weber, Ralph Vaughn Williams), but for the almost 30 years that we've known each other I have been trying, with little success, to understand how she perceives music.
The following conversation is typical. Although it is a dramatic recreation, it captures the sense if not the literal content of many similar conversations we have had.
"Gretta, listen to this."
I ring our door bell, which happens to play the same interval as Example 1.
"When you hear that, do you think of a third note?"
"What? No. I just hear the doorbell."
"Well, what do you think of when you hear a doorbell?"
She sings. (Singing is not Gretta's greatest talent, but she has graciously given me permission to publish this recording. You may want to turn your volume up a bit.)
Example 3:
She says "I think 'Who's at the door?' "
After all these years, I really should know to just let it go. But nooo!, I press on.
"Hmm, that's interesting. How would you fill the notes between the "bing" and the "bong"? Would you ...."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. It's just a damn doorbell!"
Actually, she uses a word other than "damn."
After all these years, I really should know to just let it go. But nooo!, I press on.
"Hmm, that's interesting. How would you fill the notes between the "bing" and the "bong"? Would you ...."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. It's just a damn doorbell!"
Actually, she uses a word other than "damn."
Undeterred, I try my younger brother, Robert.
Robert, who lives in the Boston area, is among those one in a thousand or so people who have perfect pitch - that is, he can tell you not just the relationship of those two notes in Example 1, but exactly what notes they are (E-flat and C). He, like me, majored in music and, also like me, is a retired software developer. Here's a brief synopsis of our phone conversation:
"Remember that nice doorbell in Grandma Dora's apartment? "
"Umm, maybe. Not really."
I remind him of the details. I expound my theory.
"Huh? I dunno. I never thought about it much. It never occurred to me."
We go on to discuss the Red Sox.
Next up, a few days later, my piano teacher, Peter. Peter does not have perfect pitch, but he does have a rare gift for harmony and improvisation and, within a given musical context, can name any chord he hears.
I explain the doorbell business to him, play the two tones on the piano, ask him if he hears a third tone. He looks at me blankly. He obviously thinks I'm nuts. But he humors me and allows that he hears, instead of my Example 2, this:
Example 4:
Robert, who lives in the Boston area, is among those one in a thousand or so people who have perfect pitch - that is, he can tell you not just the relationship of those two notes in Example 1, but exactly what notes they are (E-flat and C). He, like me, majored in music and, also like me, is a retired software developer. Here's a brief synopsis of our phone conversation:
"Remember that nice doorbell in Grandma Dora's apartment? "
"Umm, maybe. Not really."
I remind him of the details. I expound my theory.
"Huh? I dunno. I never thought about it much. It never occurred to me."
We go on to discuss the Red Sox.
Next up, a few days later, my piano teacher, Peter. Peter does not have perfect pitch, but he does have a rare gift for harmony and improvisation and, within a given musical context, can name any chord he hears.
I explain the doorbell business to him, play the two tones on the piano, ask him if he hears a third tone. He looks at me blankly. He obviously thinks I'm nuts. But he humors me and allows that he hears, instead of my Example 2, this:
Example 4:
and says he would fill in these three notes with, in contrast to Example 2a, something like this:
Example 5:
Example 5:
As I wrote this, Gretta was sitting across the room editing photos on her computer, not paying much attention to what I was doing. But as soon as I created Example 4, she exclaimed "Misty!"
Whaa?
For a few seconds I had no idea what she meant, until I realized that while my inner ear was attuned to something like this,
Example 6:
Whaa?
For a few seconds I had no idea what she meant, until I realized that while my inner ear was attuned to something like this,
Example 6:
Gretta was on another planet, hearing the harmonies of the Erroll Garner jazz standard:
Example 7:
Example 7:
(It somehow seems appropriate to mention that Garner did not know how to read music.)
It may seem as if we're quickly leaving my favorite doorbell sound far behind, but really all I've done so far is add two possibilities for a third note to the interval of Example 1, one in Example 2 and another in Example 4. And with hardly any effort on my part - it certainly doesn't qualify as research - I've found three people - Peter, Gretta, and myself - who create entirely different musical contexts for themselves from just two consecutive pitches.
So, to reiterate the idea that I will probably never get tired of repeating: we all live in parallel musical universes, uniquely responding to the vibrations in the air that somehow become activity in our brains.
Moreover, I believe that we're all hearing more than we think we are. For example, Gretta claims that she pays very little attention to anything but melody and rhythm when she listens to music, but she readily agrees that while Example 7 is "Misty," Example 6 is not. She's obviously hearing a lot more than she herself is consciously aware of.
Let's get back to the intervals that doorbells play, but let's think about them in terms of Section 2 - that is, in terms of the major scale.
It may seem as if we're quickly leaving my favorite doorbell sound far behind, but really all I've done so far is add two possibilities for a third note to the interval of Example 1, one in Example 2 and another in Example 4. And with hardly any effort on my part - it certainly doesn't qualify as research - I've found three people - Peter, Gretta, and myself - who create entirely different musical contexts for themselves from just two consecutive pitches.
So, to reiterate the idea that I will probably never get tired of repeating: we all live in parallel musical universes, uniquely responding to the vibrations in the air that somehow become activity in our brains.
Moreover, I believe that we're all hearing more than we think we are. For example, Gretta claims that she pays very little attention to anything but melody and rhythm when she listens to music, but she readily agrees that while Example 7 is "Misty," Example 6 is not. She's obviously hearing a lot more than she herself is consciously aware of.
Let's get back to the intervals that doorbells play, but let's think about them in terms of Section 2 - that is, in terms of the major scale.
When I recorded Example 3, Gretta picked whatever pitch came into her head and sang. If you were listen to examples 1, 2, 2a, and 3 in succession - and it really doesn't matter what order you play them in - you'd see that I've arranged them all to be, as it were, in Gretta's key. That is, the four examples together all add up to form steps 1 through 5 of a major scale. My version of the doorbell (Example 1) is on steps 5 and 3 of that scale; Gretta's (Example 3) is on steps 3 and 1. So that you don't have to keep jumping back and forth, here they are all together, adjusted to match Gretta's tempo (sort of).
Example 8:
Example 8:
All we need is for Gretta to sing "CHAW-klet" instead of "bing-bong," and we'd have an old Nestles commercial.
It so happens that because of the pitches that Gretta happened to sing - C and A-flat - I'm using the A-flat major scale; that is, we're in the key of A-flat major. But remember, unless you have absolute pitch, the specific key I'm using doesn't matter; all that matters is the relationships of pitches within the scale.
(If you're ambitious and want to go back to the virtual keyboard from Section 2 and play these examples for yourself, you'll have to figure out how to build a major scale starting on A-flat. Here's the link to that virtual keyboard. You have all the information you need to do so, but you certainly shouldn't feel that it's a necessity.)
It so happens that because of the pitches that Gretta happened to sing - C and A-flat - I'm using the A-flat major scale; that is, we're in the key of A-flat major. But remember, unless you have absolute pitch, the specific key I'm using doesn't matter; all that matters is the relationships of pitches within the scale.
(If you're ambitious and want to go back to the virtual keyboard from Section 2 and play these examples for yourself, you'll have to figure out how to build a major scale starting on A-flat. Here's the link to that virtual keyboard. You have all the information you need to do so, but you certainly shouldn't feel that it's a necessity.)
As we saw in Section 2, intervals are named by how many scale steps they comprise, so the interval between steps 1 and 3 and the one between steps 3 and 5 are both called thirds. But, again referring back to Section 2, because the steps within the scale come in two sizes - major second and minor second, or half-steps and whole-steps - intervals built from these steps also come in different sizes: the interval formed by steps 1 and 3 of the major scale is a major third, the one between steps 3 and 5, a minor third.
Demonstrating that these two intervals are not the same size is as easy as counting on the fingers of one hand. Here are the notes of the C major scale on the piano keyboard, with their scale steps numbered.
C D E F G A B C
C D E F G A B C
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
As you can see, it takes 4 half-steps to get from C to E, but only 3 to get from E to G. So, without actually listening to anything, we've proved that I remember my Grandma Dora's doorbell as a minor third,
Example 9:
Example 9:
while Gretta thinks a doorbell plays a major third.
Example 9a:
Example 9a:
There's a good reason for this: if you begin paying attention to doorbells in TV shows or movies, you'll find that the classic "bing-bong" doorbell chime comes in two basic flavors - major third and minor third. And if you rummage around bit with Google (try searching on doorbell sound or doorbell major minor third), you'll find an astonishing amount of material, some of it fascinating, some of it inane: a wealth of free doorbell sound clips, descriptions of how doorbell chimes work, folks debating the value of doorbells as ear-training tools, etc.
As I write this, I keep on remembering my cautionary tale from my mission statement, the one about the student who despaired because she couldn't tell the difference between major and minor. And I'll bet that some of you are feeling quite uneasy about the distinction I've just made between major and minor thirds, that there's a voice inside your heads saying something like: "What's wrong with me? I really don't hear what he means; those intervals sound pretty much alike to me."
If that's the case, I know exactly what you mean. In the context of the major scale, the difference between a major third and a minor third does not seem like a particularly big deal to me either. The major scale enforces such a strong sense of musical teamwork among its components - i.e., the intervals that make it up - that its overall orderly logic is more important to me than the differences of its individual parts.
If that's the case, I know exactly what you mean. In the context of the major scale, the difference between a major third and a minor third does not seem like a particularly big deal to me either. The major scale enforces such a strong sense of musical teamwork among its components - i.e., the intervals that make it up - that its overall orderly logic is more important to me than the differences of its individual parts.
But if we change the musical context, the difference between major and minor thirds has profound consequences, consequences that I am fairly confident you'll be able to hear easily. For example, what happens if we try to make the interval between steps 3 and 1 into a minor third?
If we do that, steps 5, 3, and 1 in sequence would sound not like Example 2,
Example 2 repeated:
If we do that, steps 5, 3, and 1 in sequence would sound not like Example 2,
Example 2 repeated:
but like this.
Example 10:
Example 10:
And here's what happens if we instead make the interval between Steps 5 and 3 into a major third.
Example 10a:
Example 10a:
That one sounds particularly odd to me.
And here are the two kinds of thirds, minor followed by major, pulled out of the context of the scale and laid out side by side on the table, so to speak:
Example 11:
And here are the two kinds of thirds, minor followed by major, pulled out of the context of the scale and laid out side by side on the table, so to speak:
Example 11:
I want to be very clear about this: there is no necessity to for you to be able to identify the difference between a major and a minor third. If you get satisfaction out of being able to do so, so much the better. If you want to improve your interval recognition ability, there are several free on-line ear training websites you can practice with.
My goal is only to dramatize the importance of musical context. For me, the distinction between minor third and major third in Example 8 is something of an abstraction, something that I'm hardly aware of. In Example 11, there is nothing left to hear but that distinction. In music, context is everything!
My goal is only to dramatize the importance of musical context. For me, the distinction between minor third and major third in Example 8 is something of an abstraction, something that I'm hardly aware of. In Example 11, there is nothing left to hear but that distinction. In music, context is everything!
Perhaps you feel as if you've had more than enough about major and minor thirds, but as long as we've come this far, I think I would do you an injustice not to go on just a bit further.
There is one doorbell combination we have not yet considered. Suppose, instead of Example 2, we move step 3 of the scale down a half-step, so that now there is a major third between steps 5 and 3 and a minor third between steps 3 and 1. Now we have this:
Example 12:
There is one doorbell combination we have not yet considered. Suppose, instead of Example 2, we move step 3 of the scale down a half-step, so that now there is a major third between steps 5 and 3 and a minor third between steps 3 and 1. Now we have this:
Example 12:
And if fill in steps 5 through 1, instead of Example 2a,
Example 2a repeated:
Example 2a repeated:
we have this:
Example 12a:
Example 12a:
What I've just done is changed from the major scale to the minor scale. To be complete, the full minor scale also lowers step 6 of the major scale, so that while the descending major scale sounds like this,
Example 12b:
Example 12b:
the descending minor scale sounds like this.
Example 12c:
Example 12c:
Many people hear Examples 12 and 12a as darker, more melancholy versions of Examples 2 and 2a, enough of them so that you are apt to hear that the major scale is "happy" and the minor scale is "sad." I'm sure there are plenty of people who hear the difference but who have no particular emotional response to it. And there are some who simply don't hear the difference at all.
To measure your own reaction, here is the ending "God Bless America," a phrase that features steps 6 and 3 of the scale prominently, first in its major form:
Example 13:
To measure your own reaction, here is the ending "God Bless America," a phrase that features steps 6 and 3 of the scale prominently, first in its major form:
Example 13:
and now in its minor form.
Example 13a:
Example 13a:
Here we are back in the context of a scale. For me, the differences in emotional tone between Examples 13 and 13a - what a Baroque composer would have called their affect - is, again, not determined by individual intervals - after all, both scales have major and minor thirds, just arranged differently - but by the overall effect of the intervals working in the harness of a scale.
Allow me one final demonstration of how ambiguity can be found in even the most familiar music. Consider the following sequence of pitches, a descending major third followed by a descending minor third.
Example 14:
Example 14:
Is the second pitch step 1 of a major scale?
Example 14a:
Example 14a:
Or is it step 3 of a minor scale?
Example 14b:
Example 14b:
There is no right answer; both Examples 14a and 14b are perfectly reasonable continuations of Example 14. But if we allow notes to be repeated and change the rhythm a bit, the pitches of Example 14 become what I daresay is the most famous sequence of thirds in classical music, perhaps the most famous sequence of thirds in the world.
Example 15:
Example 15:
Ambiguity and indecisiveness are not words usually associated with Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. But if you can imagine yourself as a member of the orchestra playing it for the first time ever, there is absolutely no way of knowing from Example 15, even on the printed page, whether its context is Example 14a or 14b.
For those many musicians who have been familiar with Beethoven's Fifth since an early age, it is perhaps difficult to think of Example 15 in the context of Example 14a - that is, to imagine the piece in the context of the major scale - but in fact, there is nothing syntactically wrong with tacking Example 15 onto the beginning of Beethoven's "Emperor" Piano Concerto, which is in the major key of Example 14a.
Example 16:
For those many musicians who have been familiar with Beethoven's Fifth since an early age, it is perhaps difficult to think of Example 15 in the context of Example 14a - that is, to imagine the piece in the context of the major scale - but in fact, there is nothing syntactically wrong with tacking Example 15 onto the beginning of Beethoven's "Emperor" Piano Concerto, which is in the major key of Example 14a.
Example 16:
If that example seems a bit odd to you (although I must admit that I'm a bit surprised at how quickly I've gotten accustomed to it), it's only because you are so used to hearing the symphony. Once you've heard the symphony's first 40 seconds a few times,
Example 17:
Example 17:
Beethoven's 5th is likely to be indelibly stamped in your mind as a piece in a minor key, even if you don't think that you can tell the difference between minor and major.
To get back to Grandma Dora's doorbell: Why do I hear that minor third as part of major scale? Why does Peter (Examples 4 and 4a) hear it in the context of a minor scale? Why does Gretta hear a major scale, but within the world of exotic jazz harmonies?
Who knows? I certainly don't. What is clear, though, is that when you hear a bit of music - a doorbell, a car horn, the Mr. Softee truck - you create a musical context for it - which might take the form of no context at all - based on your own experiences and associations, musical and otherwise.
Who knows? I certainly don't. What is clear, though, is that when you hear a bit of music - a doorbell, a car horn, the Mr. Softee truck - you create a musical context for it - which might take the form of no context at all - based on your own experiences and associations, musical and otherwise.
One final question: Why do doorbells use thirds in the first place?
I think the reason is that most people find thirds, both major and minor, to be euphonious, comforting sounds. You don't want to market a product that's going to make people any more nervous than they already are about seeing who's at the doorstep. In fact, I have given this aspect of thirds - the fact that they're just plain pretty - short shrift. I'll try to make up for it in the next section.
I think the reason is that most people find thirds, both major and minor, to be euphonious, comforting sounds. You don't want to market a product that's going to make people any more nervous than they already are about seeing who's at the doorstep. In fact, I have given this aspect of thirds - the fact that they're just plain pretty - short shrift. I'll try to make up for it in the next section.