Music is a common phenomenon that connects all borders of nationality, race, and culture. It is used as a tool for arousing emotions and feelings. Music is said to be even more powerful than any language and individual can ever learn. An increased interest in how the brain processes musical emotion can be attributed to the way in which it is described as a “language of emotion” across cultures. (Psych Central) Whether it be in films, live orchestras, concerts, or a simple home stereo, music can be so overwhelming that it can only be described as standing halfway between thought and reality. But why exactly does this experience of music distinctly transcend other sensory experiences? How is it able to arouse emotion in a way that is matchless …show more content…
The appreciation of music is tied to the ability to process its composition — the ability to predict what will occur next in the song. But this structure has to involve some level of the unexpected, or it will ultimately lack the sense of emotion. Skilled composers may control the amount of emotion within a song by knowing what their audience’s expectations are, and controlling when those expectations will and will not be met. This successful manipulation is what elicits the chills that are part of any song or movement.Music is however similar to language in many ways but it is simply more rooted in the primitive brain structures that play a part in the motivation, reward and emotion part of the …show more content…
Music is a form of entertainment for many people. It has the ability to affect our emotions whether that be making us happy, sad, or just mellow.. It can even cause us to alter physically in some fashion.. Music can have an overwhelming outcome on the emotional, social, intellectual, and physical status of an individual. However, I think that music has the biggest impact on the emotional state of a person. Music can provoke emotions such as: depression, misery and joy. There are several different aspects of music that contribute to how a song is interpreted. Among them is the tempo, which is the speed of the song. If a song is sad, the tempo is often slower. If a song is meant to be happy, the tempo is quick and upbeat. If the motive of the song is to bring about fear, it is either extremely slow, or grave and can transition to allegro which is a quicker tempo and can get the adrenaline pumping. Another factor of interpretation is the key it is in. A key is, “a particular scale or system of tones” (Dictionary.com). There are 24 different keys in music; 12 major keys and 12 minor keys. Each key can be put together in some form or fashion to create a tune that appeals to a different
Whether you’re a devoted music enthusiast or you just listen to the radio to pass time, we all listen to music. However, when listening to music, nobody stops to think about what they are doing. Nobody stops to contemplate how the music they are listening to affects them psychologically. We just listen to the music and enjoy ourselves. In fact however, a great deal of research has been done to determine the psychophysiological effects of music. Many studies have been conducted to determine whether music can help people who suffer from psychological and medical disorders, Scholars continually debate whether music can influence behavior, and researchers are attempting to understand what is happening in our brain when we listen to music.
...ide of people, which is generally excited by happiness in the central case (Matravers 174). Music is not the whole part of the feeling; it just causes it (Matravers 174). When the volume from the music goes up, emotions will rise (Matravers 174). As the music goes down, the emotions decline as well (Matravers 174). The connection between music and emotions are similar to a mirror (Matravers 174). Whatever happens to the music, the human feelings will follow.
Throughout my life, music has always been a major influence. It has the power to change my mood when I'm feeling down, but the thing I find most intriguing about music is that it doesn't always end up improving your mood: like all forms of art, it imitates life, which is not always portrayed in a positive light. The musicians that I admire most have the versatility to induce several different emotional responses in the same piece. This quality is present in most of the wide variety of music I listen to, from Russian composer Dmiti Shostakovich, to Chicago jazz band Tortoise, to California pop/rock sextet Mr. Bungle.
Emotion and music tend to be intuitively linked. Music that creates vivid emotional responses is highly praised and respected for most humans. Music has a creative, uncanny ability to create feelings of sheer joy, or terror, impending doom, or yearning. This ability of music is manipulated and formed into many important types of cultural facets. For example, the Portuguese music, fado, has a distinctively solemn, longing sound. This kind of music has become highly sought after in Portugal, and very well respected. But when studying this music it becomes apparent that there is much more to it than simply sad tunes for guitars and voice. There are layers of depth and history within the music. In her journal article for Ethnomusicology, Lila Gray
There is a growing body of work in the philosophy of music and musical aesthetics that has considered the various ways that music can be meaningful: music as representational (that is, musical depictions of persons, places, processes, or events); musical as quasi-linguistic reference (as when a musical figure underscores the presence of a character in a film or opera), and most especially, music as emotionally expressive. Here I will focus on the last topic, for I believe it will be useful for researchers in music perception and cognition to avail themselves of the distinctions that aestheticians have worked out regarding the musical expression of emotion.
It is true that music has a compact link to our emotions. Music assists people to overcome the bad situations in their life, just like it did for Sonny, the barmaid, or some other people in the Harlem. Music has a tremendous effect on people’s mind because it makes them feel relax and comfortable, especially the soft classical music. It helps distressed people to stay smooth and peaceful. In fact, music is a remarkable way to ease our stress.
Music connects to the emotions present
music is not limited to changing the body's responses in only one direction. The nature
Have you ever been in a really good mood then you decide to listen to your favorite song? Don't you just want to get up and dance? Music not only can be something to cure silence, but it can change one's mood. Although it might not put you into a good mood, it still affects your emotions. Emotion expressed in music affects one's mood through the use of thoughtful lyrics, different rhythms, notes, tempos and music classified with emotions.
Music stimulates multiple areas of the brain by provoking auditory, emotional, autonomic, and cognitive processing. Once the sound waves from the music are heard, signaling travels from the auditory system to the areas of the brain responsible for processing and dissecting the sound information. These areas are the primary auditory cortex, heschl’s gyrus, the frontal operculum, the superior temporal sulcus, and cortical language areas. Following sound processing, emotional processing of the sound heard takes place in the amygdala, cingulate gyrus, and medical orbitofrontal cortex of the brain. Feedback from the processed music can lead to physiological responses and changes in the autonomic nervous system as a result of the type of music heard (Nizamie and Tikka). For example, harsh, fast paced music tends to increase sympathetic nervous system activity (increased heart rate, faster breathing), whereas gentle, soothing music stimulates the body to relax, activating the parasympathetic nervous system (slower heart rate, lower blood pressure and slower breathing) (...
Vaidya, Geetanjali. "Music, Emotion and the Brain." Serendip. N.p., 2004. Web. 7 Jan 2012. .
"Emotional Responses to Music: Implicit and Explicit Effects in Listeners and Performers." Psycology of Music. N.p., n.d. Web. April 2011. .
When we listen to music a number of things occur: we process sound through the auditory complex, an artist’s movement through the visual cortex, dancing and other rhythmical movement through the cerebellum. The Motor Cortex also enables movement such as foot tapping or hand clapping. Our Hippocampus stores our experiences through music and enables musicians to remember musical pieces. Finally, the Amygdala allows for emotional reactions to music. Because music is a combination of our different senses, we as individuals can process things differently and naturally we will like some genres more than others. Music is one of th...
“Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb; Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow.” For centuries “Mary had a little lamb” has become one of the most universally recognized nursery rhythms since being published in 1830. Centuries later it is still one of the most popular songs of the world. Merriam Dictionary defines music as “the science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and in temporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity.” With that in mind, music is found everywhere. Whether it’s in the Great Wall of China to the jungles in Africa, music is found everywhere. The main purpose of this paper is to show that music is in fact a universal language by comparing music with other official languages, showing how music influences emotions and how music literacy and emotions helps people understand music as a language. In order to fully execute my purpose of proving that music is a universal language, I will be focusing on using personal experiences, researching articles and specific musical examples from class.
Well, have you ever wondered why music can engender strong emotional reactions in us? Why we like some music and not others? Why some performances have an emotional impact, and others don’t?