Editing Harmony (section)

=== Familiarity ===
Familiarity also contributes to the perceived harmony of an interval. Chords that have often been heard in musical contexts tend to sound more consonant. This principle explains the gradual historical increase in harmonic complexity of Western music. For example, around 1600 unprepared seventh chords gradually became familiar and were therefore gradually perceived as more consonant.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Parncutt|first=Richard|date=2011|title=The Tonic as Triad: Key Profiles as Pitch Salience Profiles of Tonic Triads|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/mp.2011.28.4.333|journal=Music Perception|volume=28|issue=4|pages=333–366|doi=10.1525/mp.2011.28.4.333|issn=0730-7829}}</ref>

Individual characteristics such as age and musical experience also have an effect on harmony perception.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bidelman|first1=Gavin M.|last2=Gandour|first2=Jackson T.|last3=Krishnan|first3=Ananthanarayan|date=2011|title=Musicians demonstrate experience-dependent brainstem enhancement of musical scale features within continuously gliding pitch|journal=Neuroscience Letters|volume=503|issue=3|pages=203–207|doi=10.1016/j.neulet.2011.08.036|pmid=21906656|issn=0304-3940|pmc=3196385}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Bones|first1=O.|last2=Plack|first2=C. J.|date=2015-03-04|title=Losing the Music: Aging Affects the Perception and Subcortical Neural Representation of Musical Harmony|journal=Journal of Neuroscience|volume=35|issue=9|pages=4071–4080|doi=10.1523/jneurosci.3214-14.2015|pmid=25740534|pmc=4348197|issn=0270-6474|doi-access=free}}</ref>