Does it really make sense to listen to sad music when you're sad?
Wouldn't it make you sadder? You think it would,
but science says otherwise.
Howdy y'all. Trace here for Dnews. We've talked a lot about music over last year.
How robots are kicking out the jams, how music affects your brain,
and how your brain works when you're rapping. Music is an integral part of
the human experience. But what is it about sad music
that we like so much? When you're down, do you listen to something that matches
your mood? If music is the universal language of emotion, then we're gonna
need a universal translator
for sad music to really get it. If you're listening in the West you probably
associate sad music with minor key tonality.
If you're not exactly familiar with what that means, the Exploratorium in San
Francisco provided some nice
examples. So listen to this, Western music
has major keys and minor keys.
A study in the frontiers of auditory cognitive neuroscience explores music
not as entertainment but as a language
equal or maybe even superior to spoken languages. Their example is new borns.
As they're hearing speech for the first time, it's rythm in vocal performance
rather than processing it as language.
To nonverbal babies, speech is kinda like music. The question is,
what makes us think that music is sad or happy?
It's all in the culture man. We learn as we grow to feel sad when we listen to certain
songs.
We grow up associating sad cellos with death and violins that are screeching with
horror.
It's the same with major and minor modes. In other cultures major and minor modes don't
necessarily mean the same thing they do in the West,
which is why we need to kinda understand
what's sad music is before we can specifically study.
Another study in frontiers of emotion science look specifically at music and
sadness. Sadness is described in the study as
negative and unpleasant psychology of emotion.
And when we hear it our brain processes it through our cultural lens.
The scientists hypothesized, because of our cultural learnings, sad music
would make us sad. But they were wrong. Instead when we listen to sad music our brain
knows it's a cultural expression of sadness.
But realizes that it's not personal sadness.
And we interpret that as pleasure. This is because it turns out there are two
kinds of emotions. Felt emotion as in,
"I feel sad," and perceived emotion as in,
"That is sad, but it's not me."
Put another way, if a partner breaks up with you, you're like
bummed out.
Like really bummed out. It is inside of you. You feel it.
But when you listen to Otis Redding singing about how sad he is, you actually end up feeling
kinda happy.
It's tugging at your heart strings, but your brain makes a distinction.
It knows you're not actually sad and thus you
get pleasure from listening to it. Fantastically this
also works when you're actually sad.
The music still gives you pleasure and might even help you feel better in the
long run.
So next time you listen to that emo song because it's a rainy day,
relish it man. Your brain comprehends that you are happy. That you are not
actually sad.
So song do you listen to when you're down?
Let's make the saddest playlist ever.