Ask anyone, and they will tell you the music they listen to sparks a certain emotional response inside them. It seems completely normal; however, it is extremely difficult for musicians to light up certain emotions in people through their music. Not all people respond to the same music. Therefore, pleasing huge numbers of people is challenging for artists. However, what generally happens is that artists make music that emotionally appeals to them, and transfer those emotions to their audience. If those emotions don't transfer, musicians try again, until they can get their audience to emotionally appreciate their music. As Leo Tolstoy said, "Music is the shorthand of emotion". This phrase is self-explanatory. Music sparks emotion. Music makes one feel with more intensity, with more feelings. Music is, in a way, an emotional escape to another world, where the person listening to the music feels a connection to the music, and can explore and exploit their emotions fully. Music can even put people into trances, which are intense emotional "fade-aways".
Music is very unstable when it touches one's emotions. Different songs from maybe the same artists or the same song covered by different artists can inspire different emotional responses in people. Also, different songs reach different "depths" of the human psyche. A song is sad because it makes us feel sad. A song is happy because it has reminded us of a happy memory. In a way, music empathizes with the human psyche to activate different emotional responses in the brain. One must be careful with music, for one never knows to which emotional depths it might take one. Music hurts because it reminds us of a tragic event in our past, or music gives one shivers because it is so beautiful, or so inspiring that the person's emotional response is too strong.
Finally, music can calm, excite, sadden, brighten up, and spark many other emotions in a person. When one has found the style of music that best "fits" emotionally, that person has found the music that will make them feel the most. That can be a good or bad thing, for emotions are uncontrollable, and music makes people loose and harder to control. Music is one of the bases of all emotion. Music is magical in a sense, for not many things can make a person feel the way music does.
Very interesting, I too believe in this correlation between music and ones emotions and I've always asked myself why is that? However what i want to point out in this comment is how true this is and want to add a personal touch from a music lover. As a hip hop fan I listen to hard hip hop with fast beats and by listening to these songs i feel happier and in a way stronger and sometimes my heart beats faster as the song and beat goes faster. Also when I listen to hard rock sometimes i feel some kind of hysteria where I just feel like being violent and break something just for fun, or another example when you hear a slow music and you feel tired and depressed. Ive always wanted to design an experiment to see this effect. It would be to make people listen to different kinds of music and measure their testosterone level and see what is happening in their heads using a scanner. I hypothesize that the faster the beat is and the violent the song is the faster the heart beat will go with an increase of testosterone. And maybe some parts of the brains such as memory and feelings might be triggered by songs.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree with everything that you have said in this blog, I would like to ask, why does music trigger emotions? Although I do understand that songs with sad or uplifting lyrics can have an effect on the person listening to them, because they have words which have meaning, why does music itself have the same effect. To put it in simple terms, music has no meaning. It is just a composition of sounds of different frequencies that someone arranges. Yet, it seems that these very frequencies can have a massive effect on someone. Personally, I do not feel very emotionally affected when I am listening to music, but I know many people who are. Also, I would like to ask, why are some people only emotionally triggered when they listen to certain types of music. For example, a person listening to opera might say that it evokes feelings of sadness or happiness in them, while another person might say it leaves them indifferent. These are all questions that remain unanswered, but could it be possible that people are born with an innate attraction to certain sounds, rather than developing a liking for them?
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post because I personally feel different emotions depending on the music I listen to. However, I believe that the lyrics of the song play a very important in the emotion which is triggered since it has a direct relation with memory. When the song deals with ideas such as death, or suffering, you will probably label it as a sad song. On the other hand, the tone of the song and the instruments used, establish a specific ambiance or atmosphere which will make you feel a certain way. Therefore, it is very easy to alter someone's emotions which shows the weakness of our emotions. Music can be used to manipulate a person thus our emotions are not as easy to control as we think. Even a person with a high EQ can be affected with music or images. But I still do not understand why a song with a faster rhythm makes you feel happier while a song with a slow rhythm makes you feel either relaxed or sad. How does music simulate certain emotions? Is it a physical reaction to the different frequencies or is it because of your memory?
ReplyDeleteWow, I really like you post! I completely agree. The human psyche seems to respond to music in very different ways at times, but this connection between music and emotion is especially interesting. I also wanted to ask you a question: when you play certain chords on the piano, aren't there some that give you goosebumps (not necessarily a song, just a chord). This happens to me a lot and I try to find as many of these chords as possible. I think that even a sound can have meaning. Major and minor keys have very different sounds and these affect the mood that the music is transferring to its audience. It is true that music affects emotion, but have you ever thought of emotion affecting music. When you play the same song but with different moods, doesn't the sound of the song mirror your mood. I find that even songs that are 'happy' morph to fit the emotion you are transferring into the piano. Music seems to be the most fulfilling way to express and feel our emotions. I think that human reaction to music is completely uncontrolled (although it may be affected by moods/emotion) and can not be shut out entirely. Even people with mental disabilities or with disorders such as autism react to music and can communicate through it. A lot of times, it has come to my attention that languages like english or french or arabic are not enough to express myself, but I never seem to find that problem with music. Thanks for bringing this up.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you have posted. Music and emotion are age long buddies and can induce various responses. When ever I listen to calm, dreamy and instrumental music, I feel nostalgic and reminiscently happy, and I'm inspired to do things. Whenever I listen to rock or indie music, I feel happy and energetic and just want to get things done. Something I find interesting is the way a persons taste in music changes. A lot of people have different music tastes in different stages of life, and their preference of music often clearly represents their personality and how they feel in general. Such as when someone is a younger teenager, or rather a tween, they might love listening to pop and hip hop, but as they grow older they might begin to prefer rock or indie music. I for one remember how I never took much of an interest in rock or indie music when I was younger, but as I grew older, I started liking those two music genres much more than others.
ReplyDeleteFrom Adam: Now that you have brought up this point, Nassim, I am becoming more aware of the power certain things have on our emotions. It is not only music that induces emotions, it can also be done by other forms of art such as painting and literature. As Said has mentioned above, these forms of art are able to tap into our stored memories. I believe that the feelings created by music or not actually us reacting emotionally to the song, but rather resurfacing emotions in us that are linked to memories that have been connected with the novel, painting, or song.
ReplyDeleteOne other point I would like to mentions is that sometimes our feelings and mood dictate what type of music we listen to. For example, someone who is sad will most likely listen to music that is sad. This I believe is because of the humans desire for connections. Once we are able to emotionally connect our selves with something that shares the same feelings, then we can be relieved of that feeling. It is very interesting how we would rather listen to sad music when are sad than happy music in attempt to raise our spirits and cheer us up. What do you think?