What Makes Music Expressive

[Unk]

What Makes Music Expressive?

Scientists have been trying to unravel what specific components of music make it emotionally expressive. The following quiz is based on research by Daniel Levitin, director of the laboratory for music perception, cognition and expertise at McGill University. Related Article»

[Unk]

When listening to the musical samples, you may also wish to consider which version is potentially the corny-est, without being corny.

[David Ayers]

Interesting and thanks for posting this.

[Larry Kart]

The whole piece struck me as dressed-up restatements of the obvious at best and circular and/or meaninglessly vague at worst:

E.g. "Research is showing, for example, that our brains understand music not only as emotional diversion, but also as a form of motion and activity." Gee -- motion AND activity.

"Dr. Levitan's results suggest that the more surprising moments in a piece, the more emotions listeners perceive -- if those moment seem logical in context."

Right. And "reasonable people are those who think and reason intelligently."

[AllenLowe]

well, I would argue with that last statement - but only because I'm stubborn and generally irrational.

[thedwork]

What Makes Music Expressive?

Scientists have been trying to unravel what specific components of music make it emotionally expressive. The following quiz is based on research by Daniel Levitin, director of the laboratory for music perception, cognition and expertise at McGill University. Related Article»

these "studies" come around a few times a year. every time i hear/read about them i want to vomit. it'd be easy to go through the article, and the larger related 'real' article here, to pick out all of the jive, pop pseudo-science, cutesy nonsense - but it's just not worth doing again.

as far as i'm concerned, the appropriate response to any one of these articles that are about some science project/department "proving scientifically" how music "makes you feel," and exactly which particular rhythms or harmonies do this-that-and the other thing to some specific region in the brain and that that must mean that Bb makes little jimmy's neurons flutter in such a way that he'll end up asking helen to the prom, is "fuck you."

be on the lookout for pfizer to market the "Mozart Pill" any year now. didn't you hear? the scientists located the synapse/neuron that gives you the feeling of listening to Mozart. side effects may include vomiting, depression, and wasting money.

Edited April 21, 2011 by thedwork

[Larry Kart]

What Makes Music Expressive?

Scientists have been trying to unravel what specific components of music make it emotionally expressive. The following quiz is based on research by Daniel Levitin, director of the laboratory for music perception, cognition and expertise at McGill University. Related Article»

these "studies" come around a few times a year. every time i hear/read about them i want to vomit. it'd be easy to go through the article, and the larger related 'real' article here, to pick out all of the jive, pop pseudo-science, cutesy nonsense - but it's just not worth doing again.

as far as i'm concerned, the appropriate response to any one of these articles that are about some science project/department "proving scientifically" how music "makes you feel," and exactly which particular rhythms or harmonies do this-that-and the other thing to some specific region in the brain and that that must mean that Bb makes little jimmy's neurons flutter in such a way that he'll end up asking helen to the prom, is "fuck you."

be on the lookout for pfizer to market the "Mozart Pill" any year now. didn't you hear? the scientists located the synapse/neuron that gives you the feeling of listening to Mozart. side effects may include vomiting, depression, and wasting money.

[Spontooneous]

Maybe, just maybe, music doesn't EXPRESS anything but music.

[Harold_Z]

Maybe, just maybe, music doesn't EXPRESS anything but music.

Gee! What a novel thought.

I think you hit it Spoon!

Why does this subject remind me of Frank Kofsky's interview with Trane?

[papsrus]

Haven't read the article. Not really interested. Maybe later.

But more generally, it's curious that these attempts to somehow quantify emotional responses tend to prompt such ... emotional responses.

[Larry Kart]

Haven't read the article. Not really interested. Maybe later.

But more generally, it's curious that these attempts to somehow quantify emotional responses tend to prompt such ... emotional responses.

Pretentiously dumb stuff (printed in the New York Times, from whence it volleys around the Internet) leaves you calm?

[JSngry]

Articles like that always give me images of guys in lab coats taking notes so they can figure out how to have a library of fail-safe musical/emotional manipulators on hand for whoever pays them the most money.

These are the third-party arms dealers of music.

[papsrus]

Haven't read the article. Not really interested. Maybe later.

But more generally, it's curious that these attempts to somehow quantify emotional responses tend to prompt such ... emotional responses.

Pretentiously dumb stuff (printed in the New York Times, from whence it volleys around the Internet) leaves you calm?

I suppose I should go read the article. Wasn't commenting specifically on the dumbness of the piece, rather the response to these kinds of things more generally.

[papsrus]

Yeah, after listening to some of the sound samples, it does seem to come down to: which is more expressive, the more expressive one or the less expressive one?

Still can't muster much indignation over scientists doodling around in areas they apparently shouldn't be.