Alice Lindsay Research Paper
HOW DOES MUSIC GENERATE AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE IN THE LISTENER AND CAN WE PREDICT WHEN THESE EMOTIONS WILL BE EVOKED?
July 2013
Alice Lindsay
Introduction
Firstly, I want to clarify what aspect of emotion I am going to investigate by differentiating a feeling of sense of wonder or awe about a piece of music or a performance because of its musical prowess from the intense emotion or connection one can feel through listening to music in an unanalysed way (that is, allowing yourself to become immersed in the sound as a whole): I am going to focus on the latter of these for the following reasons:
It seems fair to say that a certain level of technical capability and competence is needed for a performer to be able to analyse sufficiently and exploit the expressive qualities hidden within the score, rather than having to pay their attention to playing or singing the correct notes. It also seems plausible that one could form an emotional response to certain pieces of music because of its impressive virtuosity rather than any …show more content…
These interceptions of the relative sound waves create beats, which is a sort of grating on the sound, which is generally thought of to be unpleasant to listen to. The presence of these beats bring about a feeling of tension or angst and so it is the tense dissonant harmonies resolving to the satisfying consonant notes that contribute to the constant suspending and resolving rollercoaster journey we are taken on whilst listening to music. In a more scientific sense, it has been noted through psychological experimentation in Juslin & Wastfjall’s essay that ‘The overlap in vibration patterns comprises the resolution of pitches of different frequency on the basilar membrane, leading to beating and the perception of
July 2013
Alice Lindsay
Introduction
Firstly, I want to clarify what aspect of emotion I am going to investigate by differentiating a feeling of sense of wonder or awe about a piece of music or a performance because of its musical prowess from the intense emotion or connection one can feel through listening to music in an unanalysed way (that is, allowing yourself to become immersed in the sound as a whole): I am going to focus on the latter of these for the following reasons:
It seems fair to say that a certain level of technical capability and competence is needed for a performer to be able to analyse sufficiently and exploit the expressive qualities hidden within the score, rather than having to pay their attention to playing or singing the correct notes. It also seems plausible that one could form an emotional response to certain pieces of music because of its impressive virtuosity rather than any …show more content…
These interceptions of the relative sound waves create beats, which is a sort of grating on the sound, which is generally thought of to be unpleasant to listen to. The presence of these beats bring about a feeling of tension or angst and so it is the tense dissonant harmonies resolving to the satisfying consonant notes that contribute to the constant suspending and resolving rollercoaster journey we are taken on whilst listening to music. In a more scientific sense, it has been noted through psychological experimentation in Juslin & Wastfjall’s essay that ‘The overlap in vibration patterns comprises the resolution of pitches of different frequency on the basilar membrane, leading to beating and the perception of