Ever wondered about why music can make us cry? Or wanting to dance? Or break out in song? Why is music so emotional?
There are a lot of explanations in this, but I found this for us. Here.
I have picked the most interesting one’s for us.
It reminds us. It can be of an event in the past, like a funeral where we heard a hymn. This can trigger a piece of memory. It can also be a good thing, like wedding. Many options. But in essence the music can trigger memory.
Listening and movement are connected. Our brain has a hard-wired connection between audio and motor reflexes. We want to move in accordance with the music. We want to dance or to march.
Music is like a drug. A certain piece of music evokes a feeling of say happiness. We want to be happy and we choose to listen to the same piece of music over and over. Because it makes us happy!
We want to be surprised. If we expect a piece of music to do something and it does something else, we can be surprised. And that may make us feel good. Or our expectations can be met and we feel good because we could predict something. This is a bit deep, I know.
And here is the bigger one of them all: AWE.
This is a direct quote from the article: “Music often makes us feel like crying, because we experience a sense of awe and admiration.
The feeling is a kind of wonder at realizing what other minds are capable of creating. Awe is described as sensitivity to greatness, accompanied by a sense of being overwhelmed by the object of greatness (Emmons, 2009).
In response to these emotions, we may experience goosebumps and motivation for the improvement of self and society”
Ever had goosebumps because of a piece of music? I think we all have. And what about crying? If you have not had a bit of broken voice after Titanic, you are not human! When Jack …. Oh, I can’t even write about it! – so we know what we are talking about here.
Now we know why music is ‘big’.
