Yes, a tritone is dissonant because it isn’t close to any simple ratio of frequencies. It has a spiciness that makes the music sound interesting without it bein

Yes, a tritone is dissonant because it isn’t close to any simple ratio of frequencies. It has a spiciness that makes the music sound interesting without it being overly unpleasant. Avoiding dissonance entirely can also be unpleasant. e.g. barbershop harmony can sound saccharine because the human voice can hit those simple ratios much closer than 12TET can. 12TET gives us some dissonance for free, which people have learned to appreciate. Like spice tolerance, dissonance tolerance is learned not inate. A minor second is very dissonant, you can hear pronounced beating between the tones: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(acoustics) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beat_(acoustics). This makes it stick out more than a tritone, so it has to be balanced more carefully.