In
music, a
consonance (Latin
com-, "with" +
sonare, "to sound") is a
harmony,
chord, or
interval considered stable, as opposed to a
dissonance (Latin
dis-, "apart" +
sonare, "to sound") — considered unstable (or temporary, transitional). The strictest definition of consonance may be only those sounds which are pleasant, while the most general definition includes any sounds which are used freely.
Consonance has been defined variously through With ratios of lower simple numbers being more consonant than those which are higher (Pythagoras). Many of these definitions do not require exact integer tunings, only approximation.
In what is now called the in Western music, consonant intervals include
"A stable tone combination is a consonance; consonances are points of arrival, rest, and resolution."
