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[DunDunDunpachi]

Our brains are wired to observe and translate patterns. The mathematical spacing of notes in music surely plays some role. Perhaps we all have an innate desire to express worship toward a higher power or higher ideal, to compose something that expresses the inexpressible. Maybe music is just a happenstance phenomenon that humans invented to entertain ourselves.

Even if you are not as easily stirred emotionally, most can listen to a piece of music and give their opinion on what emotions they think the piece conveys.



I often wonder why a piece of music feels a certain way and whether others feel the same way about it. Music has its own language, using pauses and inflection and intensity to speak to the listener without explicitly spelling out what it is trying to convey. What I find strange is this 'language' can be perceived even if you do not necessarily come from the culture / society from which the music came. That's weird and indicates a deeper biological / metaphysical relationship between music and the human species. How can you understand a language a priori to any intellectual knowledge of it? Body language is much the same way.



Does this song make you laugh, or cringe, or bob your head, or get swept up in the romance? Could you spell out the exact lyrics or chord-progressions or percussion that makes you feel that way, or do your emotions come from the inexplicable "wholeness" of the experience?

There is a tremendous range of opinion on this topic -- from the materialist to the spiritualist -- so I wanted to hear the range of GAFer opinions.

 

[Southern Gentleman]

Why does *anything* affect us emotionally or stimulate us intellectually?

 

[EverydayBeast]

It's supposed to make you feel good and is a welcome to human ears, I think we all grew up with music in some way or another.

 

[Elektro Demon]

This question is too deep for a simpleton like me.

 

[triplestation]

IT SPEAKS

WITHOUT SPEAKING

 

[Dark Star]

Music makes me feel good

 

[Cutty Flam]

I believe it is simply something universal that perhaps every living being can connect with maybe? I feel terrible that there are some who cannot hear and enjoy music, I hope they have something that we who can hear to make up for it and maybe even give more pleasure. Seems so cruel to not be able to live your life with music / to enjoy music.....

 

[Tesseract]

jiggling atoms in yer ears

 

[TUROK]

Same reason there's good touch sensations, good tastes, good smells, and whatnot.

Living things are just wired to seek out what they enjoy.

The interesting part to me is WHY certain people are drawn to certain types of music. Or even broader, why living things like what they like.

There does seem to be SOME consensus among humans as to what sounds we find pleasant. There's probably some complex neurological explanation behind that.

 

[Tesseract]

we are pattern seekers

vibrations in the air, language of god and all that

 

[Halo is Back]

Its the same thing with all art that moves us. I believe we feel emotions from art, because art in of itself is a human construct. If another human made it and it's essentially an expression of said person's beliefs/feelings then I think it makes sense that art can resonate with us and develop emotions. No matter who made it, there is almost always someone who is able to relate to it in some way. Take metal for example, most people will see it as annoying garbage but I see it as a way to relieve pain for I can sense the pain of the artist who made the music.

 

[MGHA]

Thats how I feel about NeoGAF.

 

[Urprobablyright]

I think at our core, and this is just a brief bit of thought that doesn't do justice to the medium, i think our companions were all we had in prehistoric times when we were building our instincts, and the generosity and pleasure of listening to another person perform for us is set deep in the general vicinity of our mortality/shelter instincts~

 

[haxan7]

Steven Pinker’s take on it is interesting. Music is a biproduct of other evolutionary adaptations.

 

[Humdinger]

Any explanation would need to account for how music also affects animals, not just humans. And not just animals, but rudimentary growth. For instance, I saw research where they exposed growing crystals to either classical music or heavy metal. If they were exposed to heavy metal, the crystals grew into disorderly, disorganized forms. If they played classical, the crystals grew into beautiful, symmetrical forms. Weird.

I've also heard it said that string theory makes the underlying structure of the universe seem analogous to music.

I don't know the answer. I know that music can bypass my intellect and speak straight to my heart.

Beethoven said "music is a higher revelation than philosophy." I get what he means.

 

[RSB]

I don't know why music can have such an emotional effect on us, but yeah, it does.

 

[synchronicity]

Everything is rhythm, frequency, vibration. Some frequencies resonate particularly harmoniously with other frequencies.

Edit: Also, it's non-verbal communication. Language, as useful as it can be, inevitably distorts reality with symbols that attempt to substitute one thing for another. Music has no such barrier. We can *feel* it. It is living and breathing. (lyrical pieces aside)

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

I find it bizarre to be moved by lyrical music even if it is in a language you don't speak.

 

[#Phonepunk#]

OP have you heard of the concept of the Harmony of the Spheres? it's an interesting theory. Pythagoras was one of the founders of the Western musical scale, as well as a major proponent of this theory that tied musical scales to astronomy and religion.

Musica universalis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The musica universalis (literally universal music), also called music of the spheres or harmony of the spheres, is an ancient philosophical concept that regards proportions in the movements of celestial bodies—the Sun, Moon, and planets—as a form of music. This "music" is not thought to be audible, but rather a harmonic, mathematical or religious concept. The idea continued to appeal to scholars until the end of the Renaissance, influencing many kinds of scholars, including humanists. Further scientific exploration discovered orbital resonance in specific proportions in some orbital motion.

In 1619 Kepler published Harmonices Mundi (literally Harmony of the Worlds), expanding on the concepts he introduced in Mysterium and positing that musical intervals and harmonies describe the motions of the six known planets of the time. He believed that this harmony, while inaudible, could be heard by the soul, and that it gave a “very agreeable feeling of bliss, afforded him by this music in the imitation of God.”

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

OP have you heard of the concept of the Harmony of the Spheres? it's an interesting theory. Pythagoras was one of the founders of the Western musical scale, as well as a major proponent of this theory that tied musical scales to astronomy and religion.

Musica universalis - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yeah I've heard of it before. The idea is referenced in the book of Job: "when the morning stars sang together". A morning star refers to a planet such as Venus in ancient cosmology. Many religions incorporate music on the premise that there is something divine to it.

 

[Master Of Illusion]

Human consciousness was a tragic misstep in evolution, that's why *checks notes* Kevin.

 

[Pejo]

I think the effect that churches have on music is interesting.

 

[Old Retro]

It instantly warps us back to moments in our lives, good or bad. When I hear certain songs or tracks, I still remember the first time I heard them. Interesting to hear stories from other people of the first time they heard peices of music.

 

[Tesseract]

 

[Cunth]

How do you feel about pew pew music