David Baxter PhD
Late Founder
Why and how does music mean so much to people?
by Dr Alexandra Lamont, University of Keele
A growing body of research in psychology has been exploring how particular pieces of music can reduce us to tears or make us feel elated. One of the most important recent findings is that music does not work like a ?magic pill?. Certain elements of music that are more likely to induce strong emotional reactions (e.g. descending melodies often make listeners feel sad; music in a fast tempo usually generates some kind of energy in its listeners), but it is now becoming recognised that music is a much more complex phenomenon.
One important determinant of music?s effects is the listener. People with certain personality types prefer different kinds of music (e.g. sensation-seekers prefer music with exaggerated bass). At a more subtle level, our moods are not constant from moment to moment, and our research shows how the listener?s current mood state can change the effect that music will have. We are also finding that people feel differently about music; for some, music serves more as a backdrop to other activities, while others cannot live, travel, work, or function without it.
Another important element is choice. When music has been deliberately chosen, its emotional effects are always greater. Control over the listening environment seems to be very important for enabling a strong reaction. Although some strong responses to music can be created by novel music, this is usually within the bounds of the listener?s overall choice (for example, choosing random modes of play on an MP3 player from the listener?s own selected music).
The final important element is the listening context: what we are doing while listening; how much attention we can give the music; how appropriate the music is to the context and the links with mood. Very few listeners actually do nothing else but listen to music, and advances in technology have made it possible to listen to music while doing virtually everything else (walking, exercising, showering, driving, working).
So understanding how music interacts with other parts of our lives is extremely important. Listeners tell us that the same piece of music heard live at a festival and recorded on a CD in their bedroom have dramatically different effects, although music also helps retrieve the powerful emotions experienced in certain situations and translate them to others.
We are gaining more insight into the complexity of music and its effects on listeners but there is still a long way to go. The traditional psychological methods of experiments and questionnaires can shed very little light on this complex set of processes, so finding novel ways of exploring life as experienced is critically important.
More on the psychology of music at www.hearhere.org.uk
by Dr Alexandra Lamont, University of Keele
A growing body of research in psychology has been exploring how particular pieces of music can reduce us to tears or make us feel elated. One of the most important recent findings is that music does not work like a ?magic pill?. Certain elements of music that are more likely to induce strong emotional reactions (e.g. descending melodies often make listeners feel sad; music in a fast tempo usually generates some kind of energy in its listeners), but it is now becoming recognised that music is a much more complex phenomenon.
One important determinant of music?s effects is the listener. People with certain personality types prefer different kinds of music (e.g. sensation-seekers prefer music with exaggerated bass). At a more subtle level, our moods are not constant from moment to moment, and our research shows how the listener?s current mood state can change the effect that music will have. We are also finding that people feel differently about music; for some, music serves more as a backdrop to other activities, while others cannot live, travel, work, or function without it.
Another important element is choice. When music has been deliberately chosen, its emotional effects are always greater. Control over the listening environment seems to be very important for enabling a strong reaction. Although some strong responses to music can be created by novel music, this is usually within the bounds of the listener?s overall choice (for example, choosing random modes of play on an MP3 player from the listener?s own selected music).
The final important element is the listening context: what we are doing while listening; how much attention we can give the music; how appropriate the music is to the context and the links with mood. Very few listeners actually do nothing else but listen to music, and advances in technology have made it possible to listen to music while doing virtually everything else (walking, exercising, showering, driving, working).
So understanding how music interacts with other parts of our lives is extremely important. Listeners tell us that the same piece of music heard live at a festival and recorded on a CD in their bedroom have dramatically different effects, although music also helps retrieve the powerful emotions experienced in certain situations and translate them to others.
We are gaining more insight into the complexity of music and its effects on listeners but there is still a long way to go. The traditional psychological methods of experiments and questionnaires can shed very little light on this complex set of processes, so finding novel ways of exploring life as experienced is critically important.
More on the psychology of music at www.hearhere.org.uk
