The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article from a scientist that has studied why some songs—like Adele’s “Someone Like You”–brings out the emotion in people. “Researchers have found that certain features of music are consistently associated with producing strong emotions in listeners. Combined with heartfelt lyrics and a powerhouse voice, these structures can send reward signals to our brains that rival any other pleasure.”
Chill-provoking passages, they found, shared at least four features. They began softly and then suddenly became loud. They included an abrupt entrance of a new “voice,” either a new instrument or harmony. And they often involved an expansion of the frequencies played. In one passage from Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 (K. 488), for instance, the violins jump up one octave to echo the melody. Finally, all the passages contained unexpected deviations in the melody or the harmony. Music is most likely to tingle the spine, in short, when it includes surprises in volume, timbre and harmonic pattern.
Crying while listening to a powerful ballad? Sometimes its the spirit of God…and sometimes its not.
via Why Adele’s ‘Someone Like You’ Makes Everyone Cry – WSJ.com.
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