Is this really what people hear when they hear a chord or interval?

Definitely, though it depends on a number of factors – and of course it’s impossible to know how people hear specifically. I think the more kinds of music a person is exposed to (especially different cultures’ music) can impact this dramatically though.

Ok…that’s really fascinating. Thanks.

My computer’s being horrifically slow tonight, so the clip keeps buffering on me – I’m getting it in 2 second bits!

However, as far as I can make out, he’s suggesting that people might confuse which is the bottom note of the interval and therefore the one to count from… So C to G is a fifth, but if G were the bottom note, and therefore it was G to C, it would be a fourth… It’s not something I’ve had a problem with, but maybe people do?

Add to post above – I’ve played instruments for over two thirds of my life though… Without that background, I may well not be able to clearly know which is the lower note…

I have no training in music theory so most of what he was saying sounded like a foreign language to me. I would have to hear examples to understand what he was going on about.

@harple I’m quite certain being able to distinguish the relative pitch of different sounds is an inherent human ability. Most people should be able to tell that one note is higher or lower than another, and for anyone for which ear training is relevant at all, this should not be an issue. What this guy is talking about in the video is meaningless.

@chocolatechip I’m relieved you say this, as I was surprised by it… It’s just a “filler” video for the sake of making a video really isn’t it?!