Do some songs make you happier or sadder than others?
If you’ve answered yes, you’re not alone. It seems music does this to all of us. Regardless of age, culture,or birth country, we all speak the emotional language of music.
If we look back in time, music has always captured human hearts and minds.
The origin of music is unknown because it began before recorded history. However, the world’s oldest musical instrument dates back to around 42,000–43,000 years ago.It was a flute, made from a vulture’s wing bone, found in the Hohle Fels cave in southern Germany.
Music has been part of human evolution. And we are even born with musical instruments—our voices.
From ancient indigenous tribes to China’s Yayue and the sophistication of Ancient Greece’s various musical instruments, such as cornua, lyres,dr ums, and cymbals, music has appeared across the globe. Music is both ancient and modern. In fact, it’s a universal language. It seamlessly crosses languages and cultures and is used everywhere for ceremonies like weddings and funerals as well as other celebrations.
Music is in our blood. It’s not surprising that our love affair with music has not stopped, but only evolved.
Music ignites powerful emotional responses—it can excite us, soothe our heartbreaks, and even give us chills. But why? Why are humans moved by music?
Emotions Brought by Music
Pleasure
Have you ever played a song over and over again simply because you loved it?
Cognitive psychologist Steven Pinker once descr ibed music as “auditory cheesecake.” In his view,music is like a cocktail we ingest through the ear to stimulate a blend of pleasure circuits. And he’s not wrong.
Research shows that listening to music has a significant effect on our moods and emotions because of brain dopamine regulation. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter strongly involved in emot ional behavior and mood regulation. Studies have shown that music activates the reward systems in our brain. So when we hear a song that we like, we tend to play it over and over because we cannot get enough of it. The song causes our brains to be rewarded with hits of dopamine.
Creativity and Goals
But our dopamine friend isn’t just about pleasure. Irma Jarvela, of the University of Helsinki, says, positive music unlocks our creativity. She said,”Dopamine also increases creative thinking and goal-directed working.”So if you want to achieve or create something, music can ignite new streams of thinking and aid focus and action.
Music Expresses for Us
Music, with its tempos, patterns,h i g h s , a n d l o ws , e a s i l y mi mi c s e mo t i o n s . F o r e x a mp l e , a s l o w tempo naturally conveys reflection or sadness. Or a fast tempo may express a fast or frantic moment in our lives.
People who have difficulty expressing their feelings in words sometimes feel more comfortable expressing these emotions through music . Unexpe cted changes in musical intensity and tempo are one of the primary means by which music ignites a strong emotional response in listeners.
Remembering
Have you ever hear d a song that reminded you of someone or a particular time in your life?
List ening t o music t hat was played a lot dur ing a signif icant life event can trigger a nostalgic emotional experience. The feeling is not only from the music but from whatever memory it triggers. Certain songs stand out because they were accompanied by intense emotional experiences or specific events. We often link certain events in our lives with the music playing at the time.That music reminds us of people and moments involved with the events.
Think of each national anthem pla y ed a t t he Oly mpic s a nd t he feelings it creates in both the athlete and the country’s citizens.
Awe, Wonder, and Greatness
Music often gives us chills or can bring us to tears of reverence because we experience a sense of inspiration,awe, and admiration. Robert Emmons,PhD, describes awe as a sensitivity to greatness accompanied by a sense of being overwhelmed by the object of greatness . In response to these emotions, we may experience goose bumps and heightened motivation to be greater for either ourselves or society.
Think of music that accompanies movies in the moment when the hero finally conquers their obstacle or enemies. The music is deliberate in its composition—to inspire greatness and evoke f eelings of awe. The crescendos are well-placed to create optimal impact.
Connection
Music is a connector. Cross-cultural studies have shown that list ener s f r om dif f er ent par t s of the world can relate emotionally to unfamiliar music from varied cultures.This s hows t ha t emot ion is t he connector, not language. Think of Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. People from all over the world have felt similar feelings simply from listening to their compositions.
Mood-Changer
We can also alter our moods with the right type of music. High-performance athletes often use music to either calm their nerves or motivate themselves. Music is a natural mood-changer.
We naturally synchronize our bodys’ movements to music. Rhythm in music has a powerful effect on movement because t he audit or y system has a deep connection to motor systems in the brain. These connections help explain why music often makes us want to dance, and why we feel a natural inclination to tap along with music.
Sounds that are loud, sudden, and fast-paced can make people more excited. In contrast, relaxing music can reduce feelings of anxiety .
This is an aspect of what scientists are calling emotional contagion.
Emotional contagion refers to the idea that perceiving emotion c a n s omet imes inv it e t he s a me emotion. As an example, a sad cello performance may induce a genuine state of sadness in a listener.
Uplifting music usually includes a faster tempo, major keys, bright timbres (like music played on strings ), consonant harmonies, and regular rhyth ms . This type of music is more likely to make people happier than slower music using minor keys and irregular melodies. Any music that mimics events in our world that alert us—like fast or loud sounds, or unexpected events—will physiologically arouse us and have the potential to energize us.
Music that has a slow tempo with warm timbres (for example, music played on strings) and legato (smoothly connected) notes is generally soothing and helps relax us.
Emotional Equivalents of Music Played in Specific Keys
Here are some keys and the emotional equivalents of music played in them.
Not All Music All the Time
First, it needs to be said that as much as music emotionally impacts us, we frequently hear music without actually feeling any emotion at all.
Music arouses emotions about 55–65 percent of the time. However,individuals react differently, and not everyone experiences an emotional response to music at this percentage.
Also, when music does evoke emotions, it may bring on a wide range. The most frequently reported emotions to date are:
calm–relaxed,
happy–joyful,
nostalgic–longing,
interested–expectant,
pleased–enjoyment,
sad–melancholy,
aroused–energetic,
love–tenderness,
and proud–confident.
“Mixed” emot ions, such as a blend of both happiness and sadness,occur but only around 13 percent of the time.
Sandra Garrido, PhD, an expert in music and emotions from Western Sydney University has shown that we need to be careful with what we listen to. Her studies show that someone with clinical depression can become sadder by listening to depressive music. Sometimes sad music can deepen someone’s own sad feelings and encourage a repetitive cycle of unhelpful or negative thinking.
However, there’s an upside too. Music can also reduce depression and anxiety and improve self-esteem and mood. Music helps regulate emotions, so it can be a great idea to use music deliberately. Adam Sankowski from Harvard Medical Center says, “nstead of listening to the music that matches your current mood, try listening to the music that matches the mood that you want to be in. A basic guideline is to try to match the music to the mood that you want to have. If you need to get excited, listen to exciting music. Need to calm down? Listen to calming music.”
Music and the Brain
Music is like glorious fireworks for the brain . Neuroimaging studies on music and emotion reveal that music can modulate activity in brain structures that are known to be crucially involved in emotion, such as the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, hypothalamus, hippocampus, insula, c ingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex.
In truth, there is no ‘one area’ of the brain that is affected by music. Music stimulates many areas of the brain and its effects cannot be localized. The simple act of playing and listening to music creates activity in all regions of the brain.
Music for Medical Health
Music’s potential to modulate activity in these structures is an important finding showing that music may help in the treatment of mental health issues including psychiatric and neurological disorders. Music also supports physical health.
Music is widely recognized as a safe and drug-free way to alleviate some conditions. The American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) reports that music therapy programs can manage stress, enhance memory, and reduce pain.
A 2015 study in The Lancet showed that people who listened to music before, during, or after surgery experienced less pain and anxiety when compared with patients who did not listen to music. The people who listened to music didn’t require as much pain medication as the people who didn’t listen to music.
The researchers looked at data from seventy-three different trials, involving more than seven thousand patients and found something fascinating. The patients who experienced a slightly greater reduction in pain and required the least amount of pain medication were the patients who got to pick their own music. Lead author, Catherine Meads, PhD, believes that music as an intervention “should be available to everyone undergoing surgery.”
Imagine the difference picking their own music would make to so many anxious people awaiting and going in for surgery. It would soothe many worries and help them cope better.
Music doesn’t just help people cope with surgery and physical pain. A recent review in the World Journal of Psychiatry found that music therapy can be an effective treatment for mood disorders related to neurological conditions, including Parkinson’s disease, dementia, stroke, and multiple sclerosis.
Music for Study, Helpful or Not?
Many students study for exams or do homework while listening to music. Many say that listening to their favorite tunes helps them study better. But is this true? Does music help or does it interfere?
Researchers from the applied psychology department at Cardiff Metropolitan University investigated this very question. In the study, they put students into four groups as they revised their studies .
Group 1 revised in silence.
Group 2 revised while listening to music with lyrics they liked.
Group 3 revised to music with lyrics they did not like.
Group 4 revised while listening to music without lyrics.
Stud e nts th e n to o k a test and were also asked to rate how distracting their environment had been while studying. They also had to write down their predictions for how well they thought they had done on the test.
The results showed that students who revised in quiet environments performed more than 60 percent better on the exam than those who revised while listening to music with lyrics . Students who revised while listening to music without lyrics did better than those who had revised to music with lyrics.
So, according to this study, a quiet environment seems to help students retain information and focus on study better than music with lyrics. However, for those that enjoy using music, music without lyrics seems better.
Your Brain and Emotions Thrive on Music
Whatever your taste in music, we can say that your body and brain are better with music (unless you’re studying for exams).
Music that uplifts your spirits or calms a stressful mood, or simply puts you in a good mood is healthy for you. It’s a natural medicine and a feel-good solution.
So what are you waiting for? Time to turn up your favorite tune and give your body and brain a massive boost.
