Music is one of the most powerful forms of art, and therefore has developed alongside humans throughout the course of time, dating back to prehistoric melodies and instruments. But why has it survived and changed over the course of so many years? What makes music so appealing? Some may say that it would be the lyrical content that triggers the emotional response stemming from a song, but this is only partly true. While insightful or exciting lyrics can provide something to relate to or raise adrenaline levels, there exists music, such as classical Beethoven or Mozart, that can trigger the same emotional response without muttering a single word. There is something about the arrangement of various sounds and tones that complement each other that makes music so soothing, exciting, and emotionally stimulating. It’s the same reason that this speech feels a lot more inspirational when this song is played, and like most reasons, the answer lies within the human brain.

There is a concept that Michael Shermer calls “patternicity” and it affects the way humans perceive their everyday world. Shermer explains that our brains are always trying to find patterns and piece together jumbled information that we are processing that may or may not be related. This brain function is the reason humans can be deceived by optical illusions, why we see animals in cloud formations, and why we recognize faces. Why is this something we are able to do? This skill may seem somewhat useless today, especially since many times it fools us rather than helps us, but this skill proved very useful to our ancestors. Take the picture (as seen below) in the patternicity article for a loose example. Many predators in the prehistoric world utilized methods of camouflage and prowess to secure a kill on their prey. If a prehistoric human noticed two eyes and a shape that resembled a mouth in a bush and cognitively formed the pattern of a face with the information they were processing, they would have a better chance of recognizing danger and escaping rather than a prehistoric human that did not have this cognitive ability. Therefore this trait was naturally selected for, but what does it have to do with the appeal of music?

All music is made up of consistent composition that repeats throughout the piece, whether it be rap, folk, or rock and roll. When we hear this music, we are exposed to individual rhythms, beats and melodies that coincide. The human brain then works to perceive and familiarize these patterns (patternicity), like an auditory puzzle being pieced together to a whole, and this is what stimulates the brain. This process triggers activity from the nucleus accumbens (which are also involved with endorphin release during sex, narcotic consumption and eating) and the amygdala, which is responsible for emotional response and abstract decision making. Therefore, music can trigger extra emotional response and euphoria during everyday activities, thus it is often accompanied with busy work, exercise, and sleep to make mundane tasks more bearable. But what makes certain songs less enjoyable than others? This depends on the persons usual taste in music as well as their culture. According to a study presented in the article, our brain tends to enjoy melodies that are somewhat fresh but at the same time predictable, and when the brain is able to predict the way the music will unfold, you will like it. This is also why music gets old, because once a song becomes too familiar, the brain no longer works to “piece the puzzle” and no intellectual or emotional stimulation occurs.

This also explains cultural and generational gaps in music(U.S vs.France). According to the article, we tend to like the music we are often exposed to. This is because we already have a level of familiarity with the genre, so the brain can make predictions which will trigger the stimulation. For this reason, people often stay away from genres they aren’t familiar with. So if you don’t like a style of music, just expose yourself to it and I guarantee you will eventually find a level of enjoyment with it.

The final reason music sparks an emotional response is because it can tap into one of the most powerful array of emotions…nostalgia. Emotion plays a very heavy role in memory. It is a scientific fact that a memory is more likely to be formed when an emotion has been triggered. If a song is being perceived at the same time as an event or time of high emotion, a memory is
formed and a neural association is established between the event and the auditory stimulus. When the stimulus is then heard months or even years later, the same neural pathway is triggered to the memory and the emotional response that was associated with the event or time will be prompted. Just think back to the first time that the sound waves from that first Christmas tune of the year infiltrated your eardrum as the season approached, and that joyful feeling swept over you, reminiscent of your childhood Christmases.