How Music Affects Us Emotionally

Music is remarkable in its ability to evoke profound emotions (chills and thrills) in listeners. We often describe pieces of music as sad, joyful, tender, or harsh. Most music listeners use emotional expression as the most important factor in valuing music and the decision to buy a song. The following describes key factors that explain our emotional responses to music (Juslin, 2019).

1. Brain stem response

The brain stem response is an evolutionary response to any kind of sound that evokes arousal. The brain stem response to sound explains why music in general is pleasurable. For example, music (particularly singing) is known to be intrinsically pleasurable to infants over speaking. Pleasurable music (lullaby) soothes aroused infants.

2. Rhythmic entrainment

Rhythmic entrainment refers to the way the listener moves in synchrony to the beat (for example, dancing, marching, or foot tapping). Being in sync with music is a source of pleasure. It is no accident that dance-like music makes people happy because it is easy to entrain (attune) to its rhythmic pattern. People who dance in synchrony experience higher perceptions of closeness to their fellow dancers, and higher pain thresholds because of endorphin release. Entrainment also explains the energizing effects of music. For example, a jogger listens to techno while running to boost her motivation and speed.

3. Emotional contagion

Music doesn’t only evoke emotions at the individual level, but also at the interpersonal level. When people attend concerts, their emotions are in part influenced by the emotions of other people present. When sports fans sing together, their brains release oxytocin that makes them feel an emotional bond with those in their group.

4. Conditioned responses to particular sounds

One way music could express emotion is simply through a learned association. For example, the use of trumpets in Western classical music evokes ceremonial occasions. We hear certain kinds of music as sad because we have learned to associate them with sad events like funerals. The feeling is not the music, but what it reminds us of.

5. Visual imagery

Visual imagery concerns shapes in the music and visual patterns in the listener’s mind that are stimulated by the music. For instance, imagining nature, such as mountains or fields, enhances our emotional responses to music such as the Four Seasons by Vivaldi. The passage from Beethoven’s Pathétique might evoke such experiences of running downstairs or riding a roller coaster. In a high-tech digital age, for some listeners, the easy country melody is a reminder of the good old days. The lyrics of a certain song describe a scene that reminds you of a joyful time.

6. Musical expectancy

What makes music so emotionally powerful is the creation of expectations. Research shows that anticipation is a key element in activating the reward system and provoking musical pleasure. Unexpected change in musical features intensity and tempo is one of the primary means by which music provokes a strong emotional response in listeners (Salimpoor and colleagues, 2015). For instance, when the music begins softly and then sharply becomes loud, or when a new instrument or voice is abruptly introduced.

7. Episodic memory

Episodic memory refers to the Darling They’re Playing Our Tune Theory (Davis 1978). When a particular piece of music becomes associated with specific moments in listeners’ lives, it tends to evoke emotions such as nostalgia. Listening to music that was played a lot during a significant life event (for example, a family celebration) many years ago can trigger a deeply nostalgic emotional experience. The feeling is not in the music, but in what it reminds us. For example, the song by Paul McCartney’s “Yesterday” is considered a jewel of modern nostalgia.

8. Pleasurable sadness

Sad music evokes a special emotion that people enjoy listening to (Huron, 2011). Listening to sad music can purge a negative emotion, without actually experiencing the loss. Listening to a sad song while in a sad mood is like someone (a friend) empathizing with your experience. It can bring comfort by making us feel connected and that we are not so alone.

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9. Aesthetic emotion

Music is one of the most powerful means of evoking aesthetic emotions. Aesthetic emotions include feeling moved, awe, wonder, transcendence, nostalgia, and tenderness. In response to these emotions, we may experience goosebumps, and motivation for the improvement of self and society (Winner, 2019).

In sum, music is capable of inspiring emotions. Music can be used to create an emotional atmosphere such as calming, relaxing, playful, sincere, or intimate. These factors also explain an important emotional benefit of music for mood regulation.