It sounds scary today even to people who can't understand Latin and have no idea it was originally used in Catholic requiem masses. The Dies Irae is a Gregorian chant with a mere eight notes and macabre, apocalyptic lyrics. Some musical works are still considered scary today because of their original purpose. There's also a scary-by-association factor that might not have anything to do with discordant notes or musical construction. Certain combinations of notes, like the tritone, have been carefully avoided throughout history so as not to be associated with any kind of negative emotion. The tritone, two notes that are three whole steps apart (like F and B), was known as diabolus in musica (devil in music) in the Middle Ages. Music theorists long ago identified the exact combinations of notes that are the most disturbing to our ears, although they never really figured out why they sound so dissonant. But why? Are these inherently scary sounds that provoke an instinctual reaction, or is this a socially conditioned response? Have we been somehow trained to think this type of music is scary? The shrieking noises, unpleasant-sounding chords, sudden high notes - they all combine to make us nervous and on edge. What is it about a scary piece of music that makes it instantly frightening? If you're not a music scholar you probably wouldn't be able to pinpoint it in technical terms, but you definitely know scary when you hear it.
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