Music and Emotion
While attending various music and psychology classes throughout my undergraduate student career, I often posed the following question to myself, "How are music and emotions connected?" There are hundreds of emotions that a human can experience and there are dozens of different genres of music. How, then, can two vastly variable subjects relate so strongly to one another?
To answer this, one must first answer: What is Emotion? and What is Music?
What is Emotion?
There are two general theories about emotions:
Emotions are intentional attitudes, similar to judgement or belief.
Emotions are a non-intentional state or feeling in response to an action
It has been widely studied that most people experience similar emotions but that each emotion may be triggered by different actions or situations. For example, if a dog suddenly approached a group of people, some people may get a burst of happiness while others may be confused and others may act afraid. Everyone in the group has the capacity to experience happiness, confusion and fear but past experiences determine the emotional reaction to a situation.
Emotion, therefore, is highly subject to memory. The people who are scared of the dog have a fear because they remember a bad experience with a dog or were told about a bad experience.
What is Music?
If we are to produce a literal definition, music can be defined as "an art of sound in time that expresses ideas in significant forms through the combination of several elements." But what elements make up music?
Melody - the sequence of musical notes that are perceived as a single coherent line.
Harmony - the simultaneous combination of notes and the relationships between these notes when they are played.
Rhythm - pattern of durations and accents in the notes of a musical piece.
Timbre - the particular tone which distinguishes a sound or combinations of sounds.
Tempo - the speed of a piece of music.
Form- the structure of the music, such as the arrangement of sections and the way they relate to each other.
Texture - The way different melodic, rhythmic, and harmonic elements are combined in a composition.
Pitch - the frequency at which a sound or note vibrates.
Dynamics - the volume produced in a piece of music, as well as the changes between “louds” and “softs” in the spectrum of volume.
Separately, these elements are not particularly special but the moment they are combined together, a deeper meaning and mood is created which triggers the evocation of emotion.
How are Music and Emotion connected?
As stated above, it is the combination of the aforementioned musical elements that create a soundscape that triggers an emotional response. If we look at the definition of emotion and the importance of past experience and memory, the reason for unique and individual preferences become clear. Differences in upbringing, social and political ideologies, education, ethnic backgrounds, locale, etc. combine to form unique experiences that give each of us unique emotions. Therefore, dozens of genres, thousands of musical groups and millions of songs were created to help humans process, enjoy, evoke and connect to one another in a language that's universal.
Music and Emotion Collective
Would you like to see how your experiences and preferences compare with others? Complete the Form below and peruse through the graphs.
Complete the google form linked to the left to add your opinions to the poll and see how you compare in the charts below.
What other people have said....
What emotions are related to Fairytale Music?
Happy
Joyful
Wonder
Nostalgia
What are some favorite Fairytale Songs?
"Colors of the Wind" - Pocahontas
"Touch the Sky" - Brave
"Whole New World" - Aladdin
"Go the Distance" - Hercules
"Almost There" - Princess & the Frog
"Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" - Lilo & Stitch
"You'll be in my Heart" - Tarzan
What do Fairytale songs make you feel?
Freedom
Inspired
Relaxed
Curious
Hopeful
Fun
References:
Zemach, E. M. (2001). What is emotion?. American Philosophical Quarterly, 38(2), 197-207.
Jackendoff, R., & Lerdahl, F. (2006). The capacity for music: What is it, and what’s special about it?. Cognition, 100(1), 33-72.
Roy, W. G., & Dowd, T. J. (2010). What is sociological about music?. Annual Review of Sociology, 36, 183-203.
Eerola, T., & Vuoskoski, J. K. (2012). A review of music and emotion studies: Approaches, emotion models, and stimuli. Music Perception: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 30(3), 307-340.
Hunter, P. G., & Schellenberg, E. G. (2010). Music and emotion. Music perception, 129-164.