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Music Structure and Emotional Response: Some Empirical Findings
Abstract
Eighty-three music listeners completed a questionnaire in which thev provided information about the occurrence of a range of physical reactions while listening to music. Shivers down the spine, laughter, tears and lump in the throat were reported by over 80(% of respondents. Respondents were asked to locate specific musical passages that reliably evoked such responses. Structural analysis of these passages showed that tears were most reliablN evoked by passages containing sequences and appogiaturas, while shivers were most reliably evoked by passages containing new or unexpected harmonies. The data generally support theoretical approaches to elmotion based on confirmations and violations of expectancv.
... Many studies have demonstrated the positive effects of music, elucidating why people enjoy music listening [1][2][3][4][5][6] . Indeed, listeners experience strong reactions to liked music, e.g., chills or 'thrills, ' charactised by extremely pleasant responses to music [7][8][9] . However, people can also experience strong reactions to disliked music [10][11][12][13] . ...
While previous research has shown the positive effects of music listening in response to one’s favorite music, the negative effects of one’s most disliked music have not gained much attention. In the current study, participants listened to three self-selected disliked musical pieces which evoked highly unpleasant feelings. As a contrast, three musical pieces were individually selected for each participant based on neutral liking ratings they provided to other participants’ disliked music. During music listening, real-time ratings of subjective (dis)pleasure and simultaneous recordings of peripheral measures were obtained. Results showed that compared to neutral music, listening to disliked music evoked physiological reactions reflecting higher arousal (heart rate, skin conductance response, body temperature), disgust (levator labii muscle), anger (corrugator supercilii muscle), distress and grimacing (zygomaticus major muscle). The differences between conditions were most prominent during “very unpleasant” real-time ratings, showing peak responses for the disliked music. Hence, disliked music has a strenuous effect, as shown in strong physiological arousal responses and facial expression, reflecting the listener’s attitude toward the music.
... Bharucha 1987, Gjerdingen 1990) demonstrate one way in which complex mental representations might be built up from such simple groupings on the basis of repeated exposure to a variety of musical examples sharing similar structures. There is also the beginnings of an understanding of how the confirmation and violation of expectations built up within such a system may lead to the experience of music-induced emotion and mood (Jackendoff 1991, Narmour 1991, Sloboda 1991. We may, therefore, make the strong conjecture that exposure through enculturation to certain types of music can be a sufficient condition for the development of musical ability. ...
The available evidence points to the conclusion that the vast majority of the population has acquired a common receptive musical ability, clearly evident through experimental demonstration, regardless of accomplishment in any particular sphere of musical performance, and regardless of having been in receipt of any formal musical education or training. There is broad agreement between music theorists and psychologists that the most prevalent musical idioms have structural and mathematical properties that make them easily analysable by universal pre-cultural mechanisms of auditory perceptual grouping. Connectionist models of learning applied to music demonstrate one way in which complex mental representations might be built up from such simple groupings on the basis of repeated exposure to a variety of musical examples sharing similar structures. This chapter states that what makes any performance musically interesting are the slight fluctuations in duration, loudness, pitch, and timbre which together constitute expressive performance.
... Music's ability to modulate cognitive and emotional processes has been widely documented over the years [1][2][3][4], making it a relevant tool to investigate the brain correlates of emotional processes [5]. However, little is known about the impact of different sound-source locations on the emotional response to music, as only a few studies have addressed this issue [6][7][8]. ...
p>Little is currently known about how varied source locations affect a listener’s emotional reaction to music. Here, using spectral features extracted from electrophysiology (EEG) data, we tested through machine learning whether four music source positions (front, back, left, and right) could be accurately distinguished according to the type of valence in a subject-wise manner. The findings demonstrate that distinct EEG correlates can reliably classify the four source locations and that the effect is stronger when music with a negative emotional va- lence is played outside of the listener’s visual field. This proof-of-concept study may pave the way for advanced spatial audio analysis approaches in music infor- mation retrieval by considering the listener’s emotional impact depending on the source direction of incidence. </p
... Finally, in computational models of reward-based learning, predictions tend to be about the timing or magnitude of the reward (Schultz, Dayan, & Montague, 1997;Sutton & Barto, 2018). In music, the predictive processes themselves are thought to generate reward (Ferreri et al., 2019;Hansen et al., 2017;Huron, 2006;Meyer, 1956;Salimpoor et al., 2015;Sloboda, 1991). This highlights that music listening is seen as an active process involving the continuous generation and updating of predictions and that affective responses to music depend not only on the music itself but how we actively engage with it (Mencke, Omigie, Quiroga-Martinez, & Brattico, 2022). ...
Interacting with music is a uniquely pleasurable activity that is ubiquitous across human cultures. Current theories suggest that a prominent driver of musical pleasure responses is the violation and confirmation of temporal predictions. For example, the pleasurable urge to move to music (PLUMM), which is associated with the broader concept of groove, is higher for moderately complex rhythms compared to simple and complex rhythms. This inverted U-shaped relation between PLUMM and rhythmic complexity is thought to result from a balance between predictability and uncertainty. That is, moderately complex rhythms lead to strongly weighted prediction errors which elicit an urge to move to reinforce the predictive model (i.e., the meter). However, the details of these processes and how they bring about positive affective responses are currently underspecified. We propose that the intrinsic motivation for learning progress drives PLUMM and informs the music humans choose to listen to, dance to, and create. Here, learning progress reflects the rate of prediction error minimization over time. Accordingly, reducible prediction errors signal the potential for learning progress, producing a pleasurable, curious state characterized by the mobilization of attentional and memory resources. We discuss this hypothesis in the context of current psychological and neuroscientific research on musical pleasure and PLUMM. We propose a theoretical neuroscientific model focusing on the roles of dopamine and norepinephrine within a feedback loop linking prediction-based learning, curiosity, and memory. This perspective provides testable predictions that will motivate future research to further illuminate the fundamental relation between predictions, movement, and reward.
... Typically consisting of three or more individual notes, chords function as a "unit" and together lay out the harmonic framework or backbone of a musical passage. The specific selection of simultaneous notes (i.e., harmonically building chords) has profound effects on the listening experience of audiences, forming one of the key building blocks of strong physiological responses to music (Lowis, 2002;Sloboda, 1991). The masterful selection of notes, rhythms, and instruments requires both intuition and craft, and basic principles are articulated in numerous treatises on composition (Clough & Conley, 1984), and guidelines to orchestration (Alexander & Broughton, 2008;Rimsky-Korsakov, 1964). ...
This study aims to explore how the implementation of Musical Inculturation takes place during Mass in the Catholic Churches within the Tomohon archdiocese. Employing a qualitative descriptive method, data for this research is derived from interviews, photographs, and audio as well as video recordings. The theoretical framework encompasses musicology, music psychology, theology, ethnomusicology, and the Theory of PML, asserting that inculturation involves several stages, including translation, transition, adaptation, and the creation of new elements. The study substantiates that Inculturation in the Tomohon Archdiocese is widely embraced by the congregation, enhancing their faith, particularly during liturgical celebrations of the Mass. The infusion of culture into the liturgy deepens the congregation's connection with the divine, and according to the research findings and interviews with the congregation, it is evident that the presence of enculturated music in the Church has heightened the meaning of liturgical celebrations for the congregation. The enthusiasm among the congregation is notably high, and there is a consistent longing for the divine presence. The congregation expresses joy as the profound values of culture are accorded a special place in the Mass.
Situated within the context of higher music education, the empirical orientation of this study is on the reflective accounts of young musicians participating in collaborative ensemble work in an educational institution in Norway. Drawing on theories of regulated learning from educational psychology, this study explores the affective and relational aspects of music students’ experiences of small ensembles. Specifically, it examines students’ perceptions of an ideal ensemble environment, socio-emotional challenges encountered during rehearsals, and the emotion-regulation strategies employed within these contexts. Eleven participants, 4 women and 7 men, with a median age of 22, were interviewed. The data were analyzed using a combination of inductive and deductive approaches to thematic analysis. The findings reveal that music students highly value collaborative ensembles as a gateway to acquiring new knowledge and performance skills, which are predominantly gained through peer interaction and active participation in the learning processes. Respect and receptivity emerged as critical qualities for fruitful musical collaborations. Notably, participants prioritized the well-being of the socio-emotional climate over musical competency, underscoring the formative role of emotions in these social learning environments. Furthermore, the study explored the self-reported emotion-regulation strategies employed by student musicians to maintain and/or re-establish a positive socio-emotional group climate. These regulation strategies involved both self- and other- directed processes.
Duygusal aracılık hipotezi, insanların müzik-renk arasında eşleşmeler yaptıklarında müziğin duygusal çağrışımlarına uygun renklerin seçildiğini savunur. Bu araştırmada klasik batı müziği piyano eserleri ile ilgili müzik-renk ve müzik-duygu çağrışımlarının belirlenerek duygusal aracılık hipotezinin test edilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Çalışma Ordu Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi’nin farklı anabilim dallarında öğrenim gören 151 öğrenci üzerinde yürütülmüştür. Çalışmada son-test tek gruplu deneme öncesi desen kullanılmıştır. Deneysel işlemde katılımcılara Mozart (Majör tonunda/hızlı tempoda), Beethoven (Minör tonunda/hızlı tempoda) ve Chopin’in (Minör tonunda/yavaş tempoda) piyano eserleri dinletilmiştir. Katılımcılar dinledikleri her bir eseri yakın üç renkle ve en yakın üç duyguyla eşleştirmişledir. Katılımcıların renkleri seçmesi için 37 renkten oluşan bir kartela kullanılmıştır. Duygular için mutlu/üzgün, huzurlu/gergin, güçlü/zayıf olmak üzere 6 duygu durumu sunulmuştur. Verilerin analizinde betimsel istatistik yöntemlerinden yararlanılmıştır. Elde edilen verilerin duygusal aracılık hipotezini desteklediği söylenebilir. Katılımcıların seçtikleri renkler ve duygu durumları dinlenen müziklerin ton ve hızlarına göre farklı dağılımlar göstermektedir. Ayrıca sonuçlar müzik-renk ve müzik-duygu çağrışımları dağılımının alanyazındaki çalışmalar ile örtüştüğünü göstermektedir.
In this essay, I approach the art of music from several perspectives. As a classical pianist, I think about music as an immensely powerful way of communication. As a music teacher, I am interested in explaining the tangibles of music in the clearest terms possible. And as a scholar in the cognitive sciences, I believe that the psychology of music can advance our understanding of the human mind.
This chapter discusses the ways that Forsythe stages perceptually performativity conditions in works that include minimalist music scores of ostinato music structures and drones that typically evoke altered or non-ordinary states of consciousness, which manifest in profound but also less extreme forms. Calling on Jacques Attali’s distinction between noise and music and reviewing the literature on sonic induction of non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSCs), the chapter describes Forsythe’s inclusion of spoken text, sonic overlays in soundscores by his collaborator Thom Willems, or other sounds that disturb the immersive qualities of lulling music by dishabituating spectator-auditors, reflecting what Ross Brown refers to as “design through annoyance.” As well, Forsythe stages visual interruptions to hypnotic rhythmic movement at such points. Instances in works including Artifact, The Loss of Small Detail, Eidos: Telos, 7 to 10 Passages, Decreation, and I don't believe in outer space show how Forsythe’s choreography differentially supports the performative effects of the two soundscore types considered.
Thirty-eight children between ages 3 and 12 listened to 12 short musical passages derived from a counterbalanced 2 × 2 arrangement of (1) major versus minor modes and (2) harmonized versus simple melodic realizations of these modes. For each passage, they pointed to one of four schematic faces chosen to symbolize happy, sad, angry, and contented facial expressions. The main result was that all children, even the youngest, showed a reliable positive-major/negative-minor connotation, thus conforming to the conventional stereotype. The possible contributions of native and experiential factors to this behavior are discussed.