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1.2.3
Pitch in Music: Human Sounds Evolved Into Discrete Pitches

Non-human primate vocalization takes the form of unpitched grunts and calls, rather than discrete pitches. Your human brain does not respond happily to continuously sliding hootin’ and howlin’ when presented in musical or speech contexts. It gets confused.

Unlike all other animals, humans evolved a vocal communication system that uses mainly discrete pitches. You can hear it in both speech and music. That’s why the pitches in music found in all melodic traditions follow scales, groups of discrete pitches (the subject of Chapter 4).

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