David's Tip of the Day: Textures - What the Ear Hears

Play a 4 draw. Now play a 4 draw with a little bit of 5 draw... your ear still hears the 4 draw as the main note, the 5 draw is just there for texture. Play a 4/5 shake... again you still hear the 4 draw as the main note. When playing adjacent notes, the ear hears the bottom note of the harmony.

Now play a 1 draw-4 draw octave. In this case the ear hears the upper octave... the 4 draw. When playing an octave (or other type of split), the ear hears the top note.

This is great to know when you're exploring different textural options in your writing.