Music. A vocal or instrumental sound combined in such a way as to produce beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. Cultures communicate by using tonal languages, markedly experimenting with strange instruments and creating different musical tradition. Yet the primacy of music across so many distinct human cultures implies a greatly embedded drive to create it, and to feel it.
Why do we feel so passionately towards music? A few strums of a guitar, a few toots on a flute can simply change your whole attitude and emotions. We, society, have become so infatuated over this, so desperate for music. Some might even say that music is considered a drug.
Research shows that there is a possible theory about how music and emotion combine in the listener’s mind. This is called appearance emotionalism, as developed by the philosopher Stephen Davies. Consider the beliefs of appearance emotionalism by examining some self-evident premises:
People who share a common musical culture, have a high coincidence of shared emotional responses to music.
While Person A and Person B may not agree with each emotional interpretations of music, in most cases B will not describe as "depressing and tedious " the same musical example which A has just described as "happy and energetic."
An example of how music responses can be similar due to culture: Danish people may be unfamiliar with Balinese classical music, and are therefore very likely to have very similar emotional responses to Balinese classical music. Therefore implying big factors like exposure and enculturation.
People interpret the emotions and the intentions of others through theory of mind, a kind of empathetic projection. People can use music as a distraction, an escape from their troubles. Some people listen to music as a response, the music is almost agreeing with them.
When you put some of these premises together, you get a rough idea of what appearance emotionalism is in music - how we tend to treat music like a person whose emotions and intentions we are trying to read.
Appearance emotionalism can also take on visual idea. Sounds are instantly anthropomorphized when they reach our ears in order to create an illustration, a way of feeling the music. We often relate music to images, and then feelings. For example, a song may sound like the rain tapping against a window, which conveys a sense of sadness.
As well as this, we can feel music by relating it to past experiences. Fast music probably implies excitement because we associate 'fast' with excitement in general. Some music trigger memories, and certain tempos, notes can take us back to vivid parts of our lives.
Emotional impenetrability can result from a lack of understanding about cues and so forth, or it can come about as a sheer act of will.
So why is music so powerful? How can some people feel it more than others?
Perhaps some can empathize more emotionally. Perhaps some have had more experiences in life than others.
Music. Seems like a drug. But only some can get addicted.
