The Emotional Impact Of Music

“Where words fail, music speaks.” – Hans Christian Andersen 

Music is deeply woven into the very fabric of our being. Parents sing lullabies to their children to gently put them to bed, some form of music is used in alarms while waking up.

We use music to express the feelings that we are unable to express with words and share it with others. We see patients with communicative disabilities responding well with music. While going through an emotional period, whether happy or sad, we find it easier to express our emotion through music. Former dancers are able to recollect the movements to a song they once danced on very instantly.

Music has the ability to fill us up with energy or bring us to tears.

There is clearly a link between music and emotions, lets try to understand it a bit better.

Music And Emotions

The word emotion comes from the latin word emovere which means “to move or to agitate”. When we try to express that certain movement within us, we use descriptive words such as happiness, sorrow, anger, fear, etc.

A point to note is that emotions differ from feelings. A feeling is the result of an emotion or a mix of them, and often last longer than the emotion itself. It occurs after interpreting or integrating a certain emotion. Feeling is something we sense, emotionally or physically as a result of emotions, and may be disordered or inaccurate.

Here is a good example to clarify this concept. Two friends are walking into a party. They both feel butterflies in their stomach, but the emotion they feel is not the same. One of them is nervous to be in such a crowded setting and the other is simply excited to socialise and meet new people. The feeling here is fluttering in the stomach, with two separate emotions behind it.

Music has a powerful effect on emotions, which is subjective in nature. The effect depends upon various factors of the listener such as age, culture, situation, mood, etc. However, there are some emotions that most people agree can be expressed using music.

 

Effects Of Music On Us

Experiencing Happiness or Joy

Music which tends to bring out the emotion of joy in people usually has a ascending melody, a major key and an upbeat, fast- paced tempo. This type of music triggers a release of a hormone called dopamine into the brain which leave you feeling happy and fills you with positive feelings.

Listening to your favourite song or a song you once loved can also trigger the same reaction.

Releasing Sorrow or Sadness.

These songs usually have a lower tempo and are in a minor key. Their melody is usually descending in nature. This music triggers a release of the hormone prolactin in response to sadness or grief.

Usually sad songs help feel grief and release the negative emotions and tears, this helps people when they are going through tough times with a lot of pent up emotions.

Invoking Anger

This is an emotion expressed through a briskly tempo, dissonant chords and, above all, with high dynamics. Anger is an emotion that feels like “burning” internally. Sometimes, you can feel hot to the touch physically as well. An upbeat rhythm is essential to communicate this intense feeling.

Getting Chills

Chills happen when our body is met by a rush of endorphins all together. This happens by anticipation followed by reward. When we listen to our favourite song and know that a beat drop is coming right before the chorus, our anticipation rises as the chorus approaches and bam! Once the beat drops, our mind registers a burst of dopamine which sends that “chilling” feeling down the spine.

This is usually accompanied by an increase in heart rate and elevated body temperature. The greater the anticipation is, the stronger the chills.

Feeling Fear

Have you ever tried watching a horror movie with no sound? You’ll realise, its not really that scary anymore. The reason for that is, a major part of the fear felt by us while watching such films originates from the background music itself

Music that causes fear typically includes noise, musical dissonance and unstable dynamics. It invokes feelings of suspense and fright

 

Encountering Tenderness

The feeling of tenderness can be evoked by music that has a low tempo, major and consonant chords, a relatively ascending melody and high pitched sounds.

Tenderness is not an emotion that can be recognised by facial expressions easily. It confers other warm emotions such as love, affection and vulnerability. To me, its meaning comes close to that of adoration.

 

Having Nostalgia

Nostalgia is the feeling of sentimentality for a certain period of time in the past. It usually comes from remembering memories or previous experiences. Some songs can bring out old memories and invoke this feeling of nostalgia within us.

Nostalgia in music can come from using certain instruments that were popular in a region and no longer are. It can even come from the lyrics used in a song, which might remind people of similar shared experiences.

 

Enduring Longing or yearning

Yearning is not a straight-forward emotion, but a mixture of various emotions like hope, loneliness and desire. This emotion isn’t one that can be expressed by any particular chord progression, tempo or melody. It can be expressed by any song. The emotion of longing may be a highly personal experience, but it can also be relatable to others and move them.

Through words and accompanying melodies, artists can communicate what it feels like to be in a state of yearning and longing.

 

A peculiar pattern I have noticed is that the greater knowledge of music or realisation of these effects, the more intense these effects are on us.

Now a question may arise, why exactly does music have such an intense effect on our feelings and emotions?

This effect has been greatly studied on by scientists and still cannot be fully explained. It may take many more years to untangle this web but thankfully, we can enjoy music and realise its effects without knowing all of the science behind it.

On this high note, I'd love to hear more about your favourite songs and the emotions it makes you feel! I'm always open to feedback and suggest as well. 

See you next time!