The Science Behind Music

Like everyone on Earth I love to listen to music. Everyone listens to different types of music but something that I have always wondered was what makes us like the music that we like.

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Here is an article explaining how we grow to like music as we get older. It talks about how the music we listen to growing up stays with us. Another thing mentioned in the article is how the music we listen to affects how we take on differences. If we listen to the same unchanging music growing up, we are less likely to be open to different music. For example if we listen to pop for years, it would be hard to switch to rap. The article also talks about how when researchers studied music many of the melodies and sounds were the same, but the loudness and pitch differed. So we are not really listening to new music, we are listening to the same thing except it is louder. Another factor that can determine the music we like is how we are feeling when we hear the music. There are many examples of people, including myself, who at first hate the song at first because you are in a bad mood, but later when you are happy and the song comes on, you like it.

Here is another article/blog from Doctor’s and Professor’s who talk about music and how we come to like certain music. While the Professor’s in the blog do not argue that the music we like comes from when and where we grew up, Doctor Robert Zatorre proposes that if you have any musical experience you are more likely to like the music that you were taught to play. In the blog, Mariusz Kozak talks about the use of a mechanism in music, meaning that music brings all types of people together.

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Because there is always music that matches our mood and feelings, music is extremely influential in our every day lives. If we are sad we listen to depressing music, if we are happy we listen to happy music, and if we are trying to get pumped up for a game you listen to rap or whatever music gets you excited to play. In a way music is a way for us to describe ourselves in ways people do not understand and we also associate music with certain stereotypes of people. For example someone who you think is very sweet and cute could actually listen to heavy metal music. An example of this is found here. In the video two siblings try out for America’s Got Talent and what the judges and audience hear is not what they expected.

In conclusion the type of music we listen to has nothing to do with a special chemical that makes us like one type of music over another. It has to do with the people we hang out with and what we have grown up with. Music shapes our minds and what we believe. Like Friedrich Nietzsche said “without music, life would be a mistake.”

Sources:

Here is where I got the quote from.

Here is where the video is from.

Here is where I got the music picture from.

Here is where I got the different genre’s of music from.

5 thoughts on “The Science Behind Music

  1. Sabrina Chan

    I am an avid listener of music. I tend to think I listen to almost every genre, so it’s interesting that your post says that I probably just listen to a louder or quieter version of the same standard tune.

    Some of my friends actually don’t listen to much music, which is madness to me. However, this makes me wonder if they would like music any more if other senses were connected to the sense of hearing. What I’m talking about is synesthesia, which is explained in this article: ** https://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/syne.html ** Basically, it’s when one sense runs into another. For example, you may hear certain sounds when you see certain numbers, or you may see something every time you taste a certain flavor. Seeing dancing images before you while listening to music, on one hand, sounds absolutely riveting; on the other hand, I feel like I may get annoyed or tired of it after a while. It would literally be being forced to associate songs with certain images, which is probably something I am not adept to handle. Either way, it’s still a fascinating topic that would possibly make listening to music more enjoyable for people that don’t particularly enjoy listening to music.

  2. Kacey Elizabeth Gill

    Hello Emily,

    I definitely agree that music shapes who we are and that it is an important part of our daily lives. I myself listen to music daily and it always varies in genre. Growing up I listened to classic rock because it is what my Dad always had on and yes it shaped me and gave me a big appreciation for “real music.” That music and the classic pop songs from the early 2000’s will always stay with me you’re correct but I still find myself finding new genres of music to love everyday. I listen to rap, pop, rock, metal, electronic, dub step the list goes on and again you’re correct that I am influenced by the people around me. I think it would have been interesting if you talked about the effects music has on us and what sparks something in us to like a certain song rather than a genre as a whole. Is there something in each of us that registers to liking an upbeat pop song verses a meaningful ballad because you can listen to a friends music and never grow to like it (trust me I’ve been there) Here is a post that I think you would find interesting regarding what makes a song so “catchy.”

    1. Kacey Elizabeth Gill

      I am reposting my comment because the link was dead

      Hello Emily,

      I definitely agree that music shapes who we are and that it is an important part of our daily lives. I myself listen to music daily and it always varies in genre. Growing up I listened to classic rock because it is what my Dad always had on and yes it shaped me and gave me a big appreciation for “real music.” That music and the classic pop songs from the early 2000’s will always stay with me you’re correct but I still find myself finding new genres of music to love everyday. I listen to rap, pop, rock, metal, electronic, dub step the list goes on and again you’re correct that I am influenced by the people around me. I think it would have been interesting if you talked about the effects music has on us and what sparks something in us to like a certain song rather than a genre as a whole. Is there something in each of us that registers to liking an upbeat pop song verses a meaningful ballad because you can listen to a friends music and never grow to like it (trust me I’ve been there) Here is a post that I think you would find interesting regarding what makes a song so “catchy.”

  3. Valerie Lauren Murphy

    I definitely agree that the mood we’re in when we hear a song influences if we enjoy it or not. My friends and I love Bruce Springsteen and our summer playlists include many of his songs. Because I associate his music with summer time and being with my friends, I’m always happy when when a Springsteen song comes on. In addition to influencing our lives via mood, I think it also influences our social lives as well. Categorizing people is a natural and subconscious action. Taste in music gives us insight as to what a particular person may be like depending on the genre or band that they listen to. Finding people that listen to the same music is exciting because you can talk about the melody, meaning of lyrics, and the style of the singer/band and really make a connection; it establishes a common ground. Here’s a link to an article that talks about how there may be a certain pattern in brain activity that can predict if someone will like or dislike a song they’re listening to. —->http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/15/health/brain-music-research/

  4. Victor William Gregory

    I was actually just thinking about how the music i listen to is very eclectic, and really has no connections. I was wondering what it was that caused me to feel engaged by those specific genres. I thought about how certain songs i liked because a friend had recommended it but others I had either stumbled upon, or heard in the background of an advertisement or video. The fact that our taste in music stems from our surroundings makes a whole lot of sense considering there aren’t many connections between alternative, country, rock, pop, classical, and show tunes. So if it is the things around us that cause us to enjoy a song, is it also our surroundings that cause us to hate a song? Here is an article i found that further develops the idea of the psychology behind our tastes in music. http://www.jyi.org/issue/the-science-and-psychology-behind-music-and-emotion/

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