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Friday, March 31, 2023
Happy songs: these are the musical elements that make us feel good
theconversation.com: Music has a unique power to affect the way people feel and many people use music to enhance or change their mood, channel emotions and for psychological support.
The article highlights the key musical elements that contribute to making happy songs. The author states that the tempo, major key, and lyrics that convey positive emotions are the primary factors that make a song upbeat and joyful. The article further elaborates on how the use of certain instruments and rhythmic patterns can also play a significant role in creating happy music. The study referenced in the article reveals that fast-paced songs with a major key evoke happy emotions in listeners, while slower songs with a minor key evoke sadness. I feel like the music I listen to definitely relates to my mood, but I often find myself choosing specific playlists depending on my mood. Like when I’m sad, I tend to listen to sad songs rather than happy ones even though I know those will probably uplift my mood. I wonder if there is a further study into musical preferences, cultural associations and their effect on people’s moods. Since this was mentioned so briefly in the article, I wonder if there’s a link somewhere.
I have always been impressed and intrigued in the ways and process in how artists make music just from an idea and changing them into melodies. With that, I often also feel different ways with different songs and lyrics. This article really take me into a new realm of reality where people make music. As I was reading the article, I can’t stop myself from thinking about all the kids songs that I have been listening to since little. These songs often represent and includes a strong sense of the elements that have been talked about in this article. Including melody, tone, the lyrics and keys. It is really fascinating and interesting to me in how music is capable of doing all these things and creating a new world to its listeners and leading them into a completely different form of reality. Many of my friends studied music and practice them in different ways, it is really impressive and almost scary sometimes in how they come together to create a piece.
Music has been such a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve just always connected with it so much and it has such a powerful way of affecting my mood. So much so that I organize my playlists based on mood, I have my energetic music, my chill music, my day music, my night music, etc. It’s so interesting to read about the actual biological science behind why music affects the mood. The way listening to music affects the endocrine system, which is responsible for hormone production, is really remarkable. This article talks about the concept of creating a personal soundscape, which I am no stranger to. I often listen to music while walking, working, waiting, and many other instances. My noise canceling headphones take the soundscape to a whole new level, eliminating all other sounds around me. It’s nice to know that this is a very common thing and it’s not just me.
Once again I am fascinated by the ability of artists to evoke emotions in an audience. Theres plenty of examples of a song normally in a major key being played in a minor key, and its always interesting to see how that is effective in altering the mood, and therefore the meaning of a song. Learning about more types of… manipulation(?) in music is fascinating. I’d never considered ‘danceability’ to be a point of what makes a song happy, but now that I think about it, it does make sense. Tempo is another one, I suppose it makes perfect sense that a faster tempo can effect the joyousness of a song. I must say, one piece of music that always cheers me up is the soundtrack to Disney’s Fantasmic. I think after this I will need to go listen to it and see how many of these elements I can hear.
One of the main reasons why I enjoy music is because of how versatile it is in terms of the way it makes us feel as well as the amount of barriers. It can overcome in terms of the people it can connect with. I enjoy how this article goes over in a sense the formula of music that makes us happy music that we find enjoyable personally. If I were a sound designer, this article would have definitely aided in how I go about choosing music that evokes a specific feeling. And how things such as vibrations, tone, and the overall speed in which the song is produced can affect the audiences mood. I also liked how this article emphasizes that because it doesn’t necessarily have to be extremely complex in terms of beets and the flow that it incorporates. However, is the sense of balance and understanding, key points within the music that aids in its overall likability.
I’ll start off by saying that just seeing “Don’t Stop Me Now” immediately got the song in my head and I already felt lighter. That song is so good, and I definitely see the elements in there that give it its energy - the pulsing 4/4, the high BPM. But I would like to take a tangent on this to talk about the world of royalty-free music. I’m talking about the library that comes with iMovie that you’ve used or more specifically, the Kevin MacLeod suite you’ve undoubtedly heard hours of in the back of YouTube videos. Kevin MacLeod is an absolute legend. He’s got to have composed dozens of pieces of “happy” instrumental music. The ones in the “bright” major keys with marimbas and chimes. That’s something that’s always intrigued me, is the effect of music scoring any kind of video. Every video I’ve made, every school project, etc., has felt bare and awkward without the inclusion of music, even if it’s super low in the background.
6 comments:
The article highlights the key musical elements that contribute to making happy songs. The author states that the tempo, major key, and lyrics that convey positive emotions are the primary factors that make a song upbeat and joyful. The article further elaborates on how the use of certain instruments and rhythmic patterns can also play a significant role in creating happy music. The study referenced in the article reveals that fast-paced songs with a major key evoke happy emotions in listeners, while slower songs with a minor key evoke sadness. I feel like the music I listen to definitely relates to my mood, but I often find myself choosing specific playlists depending on my mood. Like when I’m sad, I tend to listen to sad songs rather than happy ones even though I know those will probably uplift my mood. I wonder if there is a further study into musical preferences, cultural associations and their effect on people’s moods. Since this was mentioned so briefly in the article, I wonder if there’s a link somewhere.
I have always been impressed and intrigued in the ways and process in how artists make music just from an idea and changing them into melodies. With that, I often also feel different ways with different songs and lyrics. This article really take me into a new realm of reality where people make music. As I was reading the article, I can’t stop myself from thinking about all the kids songs that I have been listening to since little. These songs often represent and includes a strong sense of the elements that have been talked about in this article. Including melody, tone, the lyrics and keys. It is really fascinating and interesting to me in how music is capable of doing all these things and creating a new world to its listeners and leading them into a completely different form of reality. Many of my friends studied music and practice them in different ways, it is really impressive and almost scary sometimes in how they come together to create a piece.
Music has been such a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I’ve just always connected with it so much and it has such a powerful way of affecting my mood. So much so that I organize my playlists based on mood, I have my energetic music, my chill music, my day music, my night music, etc. It’s so interesting to read about the actual biological science behind why music affects the mood. The way listening to music affects the endocrine system, which is responsible for hormone production, is really remarkable. This article talks about the concept of creating a personal soundscape, which I am no stranger to. I often listen to music while walking, working, waiting, and many other instances. My noise canceling headphones take the soundscape to a whole new level, eliminating all other sounds around me. It’s nice to know that this is a very common thing and it’s not just me.
Once again I am fascinated by the ability of artists to evoke emotions in an audience. Theres plenty of examples of a song normally in a major key being played in a minor key, and its always interesting to see how that is effective in altering the mood, and therefore the meaning of a song. Learning about more types of… manipulation(?) in music is fascinating. I’d never considered ‘danceability’ to be a point of what makes a song happy, but now that I think about it, it does make sense. Tempo is another one, I suppose it makes perfect sense that a faster tempo can effect the joyousness of a song. I must say, one piece of music that always cheers me up is the soundtrack to Disney’s Fantasmic. I think after this I will need to go listen to it and see how many of these elements I can hear.
One of the main reasons why I enjoy music is because of how versatile it is in terms of the way it makes us feel as well as the amount of barriers. It can overcome in terms of the people it can connect with. I enjoy how this article goes over in a sense the formula of music that makes us happy music that we find enjoyable personally. If I were a sound designer, this article would have definitely aided in how I go about choosing music that evokes a specific feeling. And how things such as vibrations, tone, and the overall speed in which the song is produced can affect the audiences mood. I also liked how this article emphasizes that because it doesn’t necessarily have to be extremely complex in terms of beets and the flow that it incorporates. However, is the sense of balance and understanding, key points within the music that aids in its overall likability.
I’ll start off by saying that just seeing “Don’t Stop Me Now” immediately got the song in my head and I already felt lighter. That song is so good, and I definitely see the elements in there that give it its energy - the pulsing 4/4, the high BPM. But I would like to take a tangent on this to talk about the world of royalty-free music. I’m talking about the library that comes with iMovie that you’ve used or more specifically, the Kevin MacLeod suite you’ve undoubtedly heard hours of in the back of YouTube videos. Kevin MacLeod is an absolute legend. He’s got to have composed dozens of pieces of “happy” instrumental music. The ones in the “bright” major keys with marimbas and chimes. That’s something that’s always intrigued me, is the effect of music scoring any kind of video. Every video I’ve made, every school project, etc., has felt bare and awkward without the inclusion of music, even if it’s super low in the background.
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