Harrer?

[greg]

I learned about some hypothesis or theory called "Harrer" (if that's how you spell it) yesterday, and what it is is a measure of how many numbers you can store in your mind at once without counting. The example given was if someone looks into a classroom and sees 7 students (without counting), then if asked how many students there are, they'd be able to say 7- but that's the limit for most people, after that, it's "a bunch". And it varies from culture to culture, from person to person.

It made me wonder if there is somewhat of a connection here between understanding tonal and atonal music. 7 is the number of notes in a standard scale, 5 in a pentatonic scale- thus, in tonal music, you've usually got harmony of using just 7 different notes for a while, which is the same number. I just wonder if there is a connection, or if there's been a study done somewhere.

[sound67]

You sure about "Harrer"? No matter how I try to google that, I won't find a match.

Thomas

[greg]

no, i'm not sure at all.....

it's pronounced "huh + rer", with the accent on the second syllable. I've never seen it in writing.....

[M forever]

Maybe like my g-friend's last name, Herrera.

[greg]

Maybe like my g-friend's last name, Herrera.

That does seem close....... hm, nothing comes up when I go to google and type that in (with or without "hypothesis", too). But I'm not sure it was called a hypothesis, either.....