Devil in the Music !

I just discovered, that there are particular intervals in music which are actually referred to as Diabolous in Musica or the Devil’s Interval because it is believed that the Devil resides in these intervals. As a matter of fact, some of the most famous examples of these tritons are Black Sabbath (quite naturally!) and the Simpsons theme song (this was a shocker). I find this very amusing and scary in a weird way.

The reason given for this fascinating christening is that the tritons create a kind of a dissonance which was not acceptable in the earlier days of long curly-haired, tuxedo-wearing, stick-swinging musicians. Besides it was apparently difficult to create as well.

Of course the alternative explanation I found which also happens to be more interesting is that tritones create a spooky, eerie and sometimes sexual feeling in the listener. That would explain the name and the fact that the tritones were not taught in the earlier times.

After reading this I listened to Black Sabbath (by Black Sabbath), the Simpsons theme song and even the whole Diabolous in Musica album (by Slayer) but I did not experience the spooky or the sexual emotions (damn!). Although I sure wish it was true, we could have had a much better alternative to Viagra in the making.

For me, the music I choose sometimes depends on my mood, and sometimes the music I choose shapes up my mood. There’s nothing like putting on the Dark side of the Moon or P-U-L-S-E, laying back, staring at the ceiling and thinking or experience nothing but pure bliss. Or, like putting on Master of Puppets and feeling the adrenaline rush. I believe that music definitely affects or is affected by emotions. And I can’t stop imagining the possibilities if the kind of emotions about the tritones were true ! :)