Harmony Explained: Progress Towards a Scientific Theory of Music (2012)

# Summary Daniel Shawcross Wilkerson presents a scientific theory of music harmony based on both physical and computational phenomena, deriving the major scale, standard chord dictionary, and the distinct feeling between major and minor triads. The work critiques 19th-century physicist Hermann Helmholtz's theory of harmony as logically flawed, arguing that his framework would paradoxically suggest a single note is most harmonious rather than explaining why harmony exists as a musical phenomenon at all.