# Why and how does music mean so much to people?



## David Baxter PhD

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


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## Into The Light

very interesting. i love music, this is some pretty interesting research.


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## xenopath

I've never cared for music, either its an annoyance, or a active intrusion on my thoughts- silence is always preferable. The only time I play music is to drown out a more annoying background noise- the concept of listening to music by choice is baffling to me.


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## David Baxter PhD

I feel sorry for you, xenopath. You are missing one of life's great universal pleasures. Maybe you just haven't found the best type of music for you. Have you ever listened to Beethoven or Mozart or Tchaikovsky?


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## ladylore

I love music too. Especially Celtic. I love drums. Music as the ability to transport me to a safer place and allows me to chill for a bit.


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## Retired

> I love drums



Ah!  So do I!   

When I listen to any piece of music containing percussion, my ears and mind zero in on the drummer, and other percussion instruments.  When we attend our favorite Pops orchestra, my eyes are glued to the drummer and the timpani, and the percussion section.

In my music collection I have a number of drum solos, the most exciting of which is called "Let there be Drums" by the Ventures.

But my music taste is diverse, and except for rap, have a cross section of music types.

I favor instrumental light jazz, where I can enjoy performances of individual artists on specific instruments.

Xeno, I agree there are types of music that can be irritating, and I carefully filter what I allow my ears to absorb.  By finding the sounds that please you, you can enter a method of pleasure and enjoyment that can take you away from the stresses of daily life.


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## Daniel

TSOW said:
			
		

> In my music collection I have a number of drum solos, the most exciting of which is called "Let there be Drums" by the Ventures



I enjoyed seeing that on YouTube just now.  BTW, my favorite percussionist is a not-so-well-known guy named Marc Anderson, and his best work is his long collaboration with fusionist and guitarist Steve Tibbets, e.g.:



> "...thundering drums and electric guitar that ascend from the abyss, spitting hellfire."
> 
> Amazon.com: Man About a Horse: Steve Tibbetts: Music


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## Halo

Great post 

I am definitely one that cannot do without music.  I have it playing at all times no matter where I am. If I walk into my bedroom it is the first thing that I turn on.  The minute my feet hit the floor in the morning, I put on my radio. 

My choice in music varies a lot and on my MP3 I have everything from rap to hip-hop to country to rock....and yes I like to put it on random but more as a surprise as I never know which song is coming next.  But I will say that my favourite music is a tie between 80s and current rap/hip-hop.


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## Daniel

> But I will say that my favourite music is a tie between 80s and current rap/hip-hop



Care to mention a fave for hip hop?   Like TSOW, I have trouble appreciating that genre 

Oh, scratch that, I just remembered....I like one hip hop song.  It's "La Receta," which was part of the soundtrack for the movie _10 Items or Less_.  And there is a hip hop element I like in "Glamorous" by Fergie.


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## Halo

Well it is not hard core hip-hop but some artists/songs that I currently like are:

Ray J - Sexy Can I
Nelly ft. Paul Wall - Grillz
Katy Perry - I Kissed A Girl 
Chris Brown - Forever
Flo Rida - Low
Snoop Dog - I wanna love you
Neyo - When your mad


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## xenopath

David Baxter said:


> I feel sorry for you, xenopath. You are missing one of life's great universal pleasures. Maybe you just haven't found the best type of music for you. Have you ever listened to Beethoven or Mozart or Tchaikovsky?



I use music to drown out other sounds, especially people's voices. As such, I prefer to use music with no lyrics, and that usually means classical. Most of the music I listen to is organ music, Bach and such, because it is both loud and dischordant, so it covers a lot of background sounds.

As to the pleasures of music, I don't really feel any pleasures, music included. I often suspect people who wax lyrical about the sublime nature of music and art are merely fooling themselves, parroting the line they've been taught is the correct one without actually feeling what they claim to feel.


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## David Baxter PhD

xenopath said:


> As to the pleasures of music, I don't really feel any pleasures, music included. I often suspect people who wax lyrical about the sublime nature of music and art are merely fooling themselves, parroting the line they've been taught is the correct one without actually feeling what they claim to feel.



You're entitled to your opinion, but frankly I find your post arrogant, condescending, and insulting. You may not have the mind or attitude to appreciate music but that doesn't make it valueless. I get music, as do many others. I listen to it, play it, and create it.  Obviously, you don't.


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## Daniel

> Nelly ft. Paul Wall - Grillz



Thanks for mentioning that.  It let me find his other song with this lyric:



> Oh why do I live this way? (Hey, must be the money!)
> 
> Song: _"Ride wit Me"_


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## Halo

Yes, Nelly has some good stuff out....awesome artist


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## Retired

What's the difference / similarity between rap and hip-hop?

I have tried to find some common ground in listening to rap, but haven't found it yet.

Could someone who enjoys rap please explain the merits of this genre to this lover of ballads and understandable lyrics?


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## ladylore

TSOW said:


> What's the difference / similarity between rap and hip-hop?
> 
> I have tried to find some common ground in listening to rap, but haven't found it yet.
> 
> Could someone who enjoys rap please explain the merits of this genre to this lover of ballads and understandable lyrics?



Don't think its going to happen TSOW. 

Although I like Sarah Brightman I don't get opera. I think it has to do with age possibly. I am not much into hiphop myself or heavy metal. However bands like Bon Jovi I still love. Go figure.


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## Daniel

TSOW said:
			
		

> What's the difference / similarity between rap and hip-hop?



I think they are mostly one in the same:



> Hip hop, also referred to as rap music, is a music genre typically consisting of a rhythmic style of speaking called rap over backing beats.
> 
> The term rap is sometimes used synonymously with hip hop music, though it originally referred only to rapping itself.
> 
> ...[Starting in 2000], hip hop has transformed from the more or less "old school" rhythmic rap to a more melodic hip hop that has the elements of jazz, classical, pop, reggae, and many other genres. Hip hop also gave birth to subgenres such as snap music and crunk. Hip hop influences also found their way into mainstream pop during this period as well.
> 
> Hip hop music - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Regarding some of the merits of the genre: 



> If disco had anything redeemable for urban audiences, however, it was the *strong, eminently danceable beats*, and hip hop rose to take advantage of the beats while providing *a musical outlet for the masses that hated disco*.
> 
> Hip hop music - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## xenopath

David Baxter said:


> You're entitled to your opinion, but frankly I find your post arrogant, condescending, and insulting. You may not have the mind or attitude to appreciate music but that doesn't make it valueless. I get music, as do many others. I listen to it, play it, and create it.  Obviously, you don't.



This is what I mean. People have an absurdly extreme reaction to music, and to criticism of music, which leads me to think one of two things- either I'm correct in my assessment, following the adage of the lady doth protest too much, or else that it is very socially damaging for a person to question the value of music. 

Your reaction really could be interpreted either way but for the sake of harmonious relations I shall assume the latter is the motive. Which makes me wonder what survival advantage admiring certain noises confers.


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## Mari

> Which makes me wonder what survival advantage admiring certain noises confers.



Certainly birds use musical sound to their advantage and I would not doubt that other species including humans do as well. You may simply be lacking the ability to process music such as people who are tone deaf. About half the people in my family have an ear for music and can play and produce music quite easily. The other half (such as myself) can play only by reading and reproducing the notes. I am still able to appreciate music and applaud those with talent. :band::clap: Mari


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## Daniel

That is a good point.  It certainly has communicative/social value, as mentioned in this podcast, which argues that music is more than "auditory cheesecake":



> Dr Ian Cross talks about how music acts as a social tool. Dr Eric Clark at Oxford University tells us why dance music has such a profound effect on a club full of revellers. And Paul Robertson, founder and leader of the Medici String Quartet explains music can communicate subtle ideas and help people with Alzheimer's diease. Also, Dr Adena Schachner at Harvard tell us why animals dance.
> 
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/audio/2008/aug/18/science.weekly.podcast


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## white page

Hi , 
Music , which is essentially organised sound and silence , has always had a vital importance for mankind in communicating non verbal emotions. It has long been used in rituals to achieve trance like exalted states . , the rythmic beats of certain contemporary music , such as techno serves the same purpose. To a greater or lesser degree most music produces a certain sense of otherness, I listen to specific types of music to achieve deep concentration , because it serves as a filter and allows a greater clarity of thought ,I would just like to say ,  with all due respect to xenopath , that all types of music serve a function , at times we need soup at others we need  caviar ,
most persons have a private relation with sounds which has nothing to do with peer or social pressure .
best wishes and good listening 
white page


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## David Baxter PhD

Mari said:


> Certainly birds use musical sound to their advantage and I would not doubt that other species including humans do as well. You may simply be lacking the ability to process music such as people who are tone deaf. About half the people in my family have an ear for music and can play and produce music quite easily. The other half (such as myself) can play only by reading and reproducing the notes. I am still able to appreciate music and applaud those with talent. :band::clap: Mari



:goodpost:


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