The sound of this note curves upward and then down three successive times. Commentators suggest that when a shalshelet appears, it indicates a feeling of hesitation by a character in the text.

Western ears consider a pitch at double the frequency of a lower pitch to be the same note, an octave higher. The Tsimane’, an indigenous people in the Bolivian Amazon basin, do not.

Most music around the world uses frequencies in between Western notes. With these “microtones”, the range of possible notes extends considerably, and so does their combinatorial potential.