Part 4/8:
The tritone paradox demonstrates how pitch perception can be influenced by a listener's cultural background and personal experience. When two pitches are played that are a tritone apart, individuals often perceive one tone as being higher than the other, but this perception can vary widely based on prior exposure to musical scales. Strikingly, preferences for which tone is perceived as higher can shift according to the absolute pitch positions, revealing the complexity of how our ears and brains interpret various sounds.