# The Psychology of Musiced Deutsch **Opening (not a real abstract):** A. What Are Musical Tones? The definition of a tone—a periodic sound that elicits a pitch sensation—encompasses the vast majority of musical sounds. Tones can be either pure—sinusoidal variations in air pressure at a single frequency—or complex. Complex tones can be divided into two categories, harmonic and inharmonic. Harmonic complex tones are periodic, with a repetition rate known as the fundamental frequency (F0), and are composed of a sum of sinusoids with frequencies that are all integer multiples, or harmonics, of the F0. Inharmonic complex tones are composed of multiple sinusoids that are not simple integer multiples of any common F0. Most musical instrumental or vocal tones are more or less harmonic but some, such as bell chimes, can be inharmonic. **Authors:** [[Andrew J. Oxenham]]