consonance-efficiency · tymoczko2006-geometry-chords

It follows that the acoustically consonant chords of traditional Western music can be connected by efficient voice leading. ... These chords are therefore clustered near the center of the orbifolds (Table 1) and can be linked by efficient, independent voice leadings. Traditional tonal music exploits this possibility (Fig. 1, A to C, and movie S4). This central feature of Western counterpoint is made possible by composers' interest in the harmonic property of acoustic consonance.