Attention
Chord Consonance Task
Also called: consonance ratings, consonance and dissonance perception, chord pleasantness ratings, simultaneous consonance
Compare how pleasant different chords sound: rate major, minor, diminished and augmented chords at three pitches through headphones.
3-5 minUntimed
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Try it here first, with no account.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 154
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 1
What it measures
Measures how pleasant different chords sound to a listener. Participants rate four chord types at three pitches through headphones. Scores compare major and minor ratings with diminished and augmented ratings, alongside ratings for each chord. There is no correct rating.
Constructs
- Consonance preference
- Musical pleasantness
- Auditory appraisal
Research uses
- Music perception research
- Musical experience research
- Cross-cultural preference research
How the paradigm works
Chord consonance research asks how notes sound together. Pleasantness ratings capture a listener’s preference without requiring knowledge of music theory. Comparing ratings across chord types helps study how experience and sound structure relate to preference.
More about the paradigm
Set a comfortable volume and take the 6-trial headphone check. A failed check stops the task by default; researchers can continue with a quality flag.
Four equal-tempered triads: major (0, 4, 7 semitones), minor (0, 3, 7), diminished (0, 3, 6) and augmented (0, 4, 8). Each plays at roots of 196, 220 and about 246.94 Hz.
Three notes together for 1,000 ms with 50 ms raised-cosine ramps. Each note has 8 harmonics with amplitude 1/harmonic number. Chords have equal RMS and play 14 dB below the volume-setting tone.
Press Play, listen once, then rate from 1 (very unpleasant) to 7 (very pleasant), with no time limit. There is no correct rating.
The 12 chord and pitch combinations each repeat twice: 24 scored ratings. Repetitions are a setting from 2 to 6, giving 24 to 72 ratings. Each repetition contains all 12 combinations in its own seeded order.
2 practice ratings, followed by the chosen number for 1,000 ms. The task gives no advice on which chord to prefer.
The primary contrast is the mean of the major and minor chord ratings minus the mean of the diminished and augmented ratings, weighting each chord type equally. Ratings by chord, mean pleasantness and the absolute difference between consecutive ratings of the same chord and root accompany it. Answers under 100 ms from the rating buttons opening leave scores.
Scores
- Chord rating differencescore
- Mean major/minor ratings minus mean diminished/augmented ratings; all four chord types must have usable ratings.
- Descriptive; no better direction
- Mean pleasantnessscore
- Average usable rating on the 1 to 7 scale.
- Descriptive; no better direction
- Ratings by chordscore
- Mean usable rating for each of the four chord types.
- Descriptive; no better direction
- Repeated rating differencescore
- Mean absolute change between consecutive repetitions of each chord at the same root; scale points.
- Informational
- Median answer timems
- Median time after rating buttons open.
- Informational
- Anticipationscount
- Ratings under 100 ms, excluded from scores.
- Informational
- Completed trialstrials
- Valid ratings in the selected run.
- Informational
- Planned trialstrials
- Number planned in the selected run.
- Informational
- Headphone check passedscore
- 1 for a passed equipment check, 0 for a failed check.
- Informational
- Headphone check correctcount
- Correct equipment-check responses out of six.
- Informational
- Reported output delayms
- Output delay reported by the browser, empty when unavailable.
- Informational
Use and evidence
154 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 14% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 185 of 582 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 33 |
| 2024 | 33 |
| 2023 | 32 |
| 2022 | 32 |
| 2021 | 24 |
| 2020 | 27 |
| 2019 | 33 |
| 2018 | 16 |
| 2017 | 31 |
| 2016 | 28 |
| 2015 | 28 |
| 2014 | 25 |
| 2013 | 21 |
| 2012 | 14 |
| 2011 | 17 |
| 2010 | 16 |
| 2009 | 15 |
| 2008 | 12 |
| 2007 | 9 |
| 2006 | 8 |
| 2005 | 9 |
| 2004 | 14 |
| 2003 | 5 |
| 2002 | 10 |
| 2001 | 7 |
| 2000 | 1 |
Use grade C
100 to 299 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade D
Little published measurement evidence found.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 0
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 6
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 1
Measured on ConductCognition
Pooled across the studies that feed our platform norms, by device group. A figure needs 50 or more people.
No pooled figure yet.
Note on the counts: includes music theory and acoustics papers.
How the grades work
Use: A is 1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025, B 300 to 999, C 100 to 299, D 30 to 99 and E fewer than 30. Evidence: A means at least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome; B, at least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers; C, at least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies; D, little published measurement evidence found. The counts measure use. They include every paper that names the task in its title or abstract. Grades describe the published research on this task, not ConductCognition's version of it.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Sound setup
- Set a comfortable volume and take the 6-trial headphone check. A failed check stops the task by default; researchers can continue with a quality flag.
- Chords
- Four equal-tempered triads: major (0, 4, 7 semitones), minor (0, 3, 7), diminished (0, 3, 6) and augmented (0, 4, 8). Each plays at roots of 196, 220 and about 246.94 Hz.
- Sound
- Three notes together for 1,000 ms with 50 ms raised-cosine ramps. Each note has 8 harmonics with amplitude 1/harmonic number. Chords have equal RMS and play 14 dB below the volume-setting tone.
- Trial
- Press Play, listen once, then rate from 1 (very unpleasant) to 7 (very pleasant), with no time limit. There is no correct rating.
- Trials
- The 12 chord and pitch combinations each repeat twice: 24 scored ratings. Repetitions are a setting from 2 to 6, giving 24 to 72 ratings. Each repetition contains all 12 combinations in its own seeded order.
- Practice
- 2 practice ratings, followed by the chosen number for 1,000 ms. The task gives no advice on which chord to prefer.
- Scores
- The primary contrast is the mean of the major and minor chord ratings minus the mean of the diminished and augmented ratings, weighting each chord type equally. Ratings by chord, mean pleasantness and the absolute difference between consecutive ratings of the same chord and root accompany it. Answers under 100 ms from the rating buttons opening leave scores.
This is our fixed set of synthetic chords. Preferences depend on musical experience, culture and timbre, so the contrast describes preferences within this task, with no better direction or percentile. Headphones, normal hearing and a comfortable volume are required; levels are relative rather than calibrated. Results do not assess hearing.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: chord_consonance_test from the selected run, ratings from 1 to 7 after playback. Ratings have no correct answer. One rating throughout and an incomplete run are flagged for review; ratings under 100 ms leave scores and invalidate when at least half. A failed headphone check is flagged when continued, and a stopped check leaves no results.
Why these rules
There is no correct option to compare with chance, so accuracy is not judged against chance. A listener can prefer any chord or rate all of them alike. Repeated ratings therefore flag review only. Answer buttons open after the chord finishes.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| When the headphone check fails | Stop the test | Stop the test, Continue the test |
| Repetitions | 2 | 2 to 6 |
Yearly plans can change settings within these limits. Free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Needs headphones. Participant devices
- Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- No percentile. Scores and quality flags only. How norms work
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Chord Consonance Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Marjieh and colleagues, 2024; McDermott and colleagues, 2016), with the standard settings (when the headphone check fails: Stop the test; repetitions: 2). The main score was chord rating difference (mean major/minor ratings minus mean diminished/augmented ratings; all four chord types must have usable ratings).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Marjieh, R., Harrison, P. M. C., Lee, H., Deligiannaki, F., & Jacoby, N. (2024). Timbral effects on consonance disentangle psychoacoustic mechanisms and suggest perceptual origins for musical scales. Nature Communications, 15, 1482. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45812-zPleasantness ratings of chords made from complex tones. Our fixed triads and envelopes differ from the continuous interval sampling in this study.
- McDermott, J. H., Schultz, A. F., Undurraga, E. A., & Godoy, R. A. (2016). Indifference to dissonance in native Amazonians reveals cultural variation in music perception. Nature, 535(7613), 547-550. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature18635Consonance preferences vary across musical cultures; a rating difference is not an ability score.
- Woods, K. J. P., Siegel, M. H., Traer, J., & McDermott, J. H. (2017). Headphone screening to facilitate web-based auditory experiments. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 79(7), 2064-2072. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-017-1361-2The shared headphone check.
Source papers
- Marjieh, R., Harrison, P. M. C., Lee, H., Deligiannaki, F., & Jacoby, N. (2024). Timbral effects on consonance disentangle psychoacoustic mechanisms and suggest perceptual origins for musical scales. Nature Communications, 15, 1482.Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Chord Consonance Task take?
About 3 to 5 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Needs headphones. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Chord rating difference, Mean pleasantness, Ratings by chord, Repeated rating difference, Median answer time, Anticipations, Completed trials, Planned trials, Headphone check passed, Headphone check correct and Reported output delay. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Chord Consonance Task used in research?
154 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, up 14% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 185 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade C). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Chord Consonance Task have?
In the published research, 0 papers report its test-retest reliability and 1 registered clinical study uses it as an outcome (evidence grade D in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
When the headphone check fails (Stop the test, Continue the test) and repetitions (2 to 6). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
Participants can take this test in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. English is on every plan, and the other languages come with yearly plans. Have a native speaker read the machine-translated text before launch.
Is this a clinical test?
No. ConductCognition is for research use only. It runs, scores and exports the test; clinical interpretation is outside the platform.
Every test: the full test list.
Run this test in your next study
Start free with 10 free participants on any test, then use participant credits or a yearly plan.