Even if we leave the basic idea of a metaphysical connection between music and the structure of the world to historians in today’s scientific age, there is still a striking similarity between the structure of music and the chemistry of the world.

Just as the world is made up of chemical elements, the intervals are the elementary building blocks of music. Chemical elements and musical intervals have even more in common than one might think.

An isolated interval, like a chemical element such as iron, has a typical form. However, when it enters into connections, for example in a chord or a melody, its form can change profoundly. Just as iron changes its form when it combines with oxygen to form iron oxide, the major third changes its appearance in a minor chord.