By Marcela Pizzato

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:: Was that a bump in the night? A scary creature? A super freak? No, it was an eerily theoretical blog…  

:: November 2, 2026

:: If you were in the same music class as I was in the eighth grade you would know that there are certain combinations of piano notes that conjure the devil and all other spooky spirits. These combinations can be heard in the “Jaws” theme, the “Psycho” shower scene and my personal favorite “Pirate of Penance” by Joni Mitchell. The secret behind conjuring these spooky tunes is the combination of the tight interval between notes. These intervals are called minor seconds or half steps. Taking in consideration that I am in no means a music major, let’s go into the haunting reasons why some songs may sound eerie to us.

There are theories as to why we perceive minor steps as being creepy. One of these theories is that they mimic distress similar to a cry of pain. Because the notes are adjacent to each other, they clash when played at the same time which creates an acoustic dissonance. There is also a slight rebound effect. Composers know that certain combinations of notes sound alarming to us and so they use it in movies to provoke distress in the audience.

Musicians can also use these techniques to convey the heinousness of the narrative they are singing about. “Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday pairs the haunting lyrics describing graphic violence and dissonant chords. Holiday also uses the “Tritone” which is also known as diabolus in musica or “the Devil’s Interval.”  Tritones split the octave in half and create a tension that feels unresolved to the listener.

The singer’s voice has a large part in the creepiness of the song. My best friend always says that she can’t listen to Lorde because she finds her songs too creepy. Whenever I play “400 Lux” she calls it exposure therapy. Lorde is a great example of how vocals can cause the feeling of unease on the listener. The vocals in Lorde’s songs are stripped down. When she sings it feels like she is physically closer to us than she would be if she were cushioning her voice with synths or reverbs. What my best friend feels when she hears Lorde I feel when I listen to Black Box Recorder. Whenever I am listening to “Child Psychology” it seems like Sarah Nixey is standing right behind me singing about her weird childhood.

In my opinion, when musical techniques like the tritone and the minor seconds are coupled with lyrics that tell a story some of the most beautiful songs are created. “The Pirate of Penance” is from the point of view of Penance Crane. Penance is recalling the arrival of a pirate to a harbour town. The pirate has taken other lovers in the past (including Penance) but this time he is in town to see a dancer. Both Penance and the Dancer are lamenting over their relationship with the pirate, who promises them many things but eventually leaves. That’s when we find out the pirate was murdered! The Dancer and Penance blame each other and the result is a haunting duet between Joni Mitchell and herself. What makes this chorus so haunting other than the lyrics? The devil is in the details, and the dissonance.

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