Chopin, Bach used human speech ‘cues’ to express emotion in music
Music has long been described, anecdotally, as a universal language.
This may not be entirely true, but we’re one step closer to understanding why humans are so deeply affected by certain melodies and modes.
A team of McMaster researchers has discovered that renowned European composers Frédéric Chopin and Johann Sebastian Bach used everyday speech “cues” to convey emotion in some of their most famous compositions. Their findings were recently published in Frontiers of Psychology: Cognition.
Their research stemmed from an interest in human speech perception — the notion that “happy speech” for humans tends to be higher in pitch and faster in timing, while “sad speech” is lower and slower.
These same patterns are reflected in the delicate nuances of Chopin and Bach’s music, the McMaster team found.
To borrow from Canadian singer-songwriter Feist, we “feel it all” because the music features a very familiar cadence or rhythmic flow. It’s speaking to us in a language we understand.
“If you ask people why they listen to music, more often than not, they’ll talk about a strong emotional connection,” says Michael Schutz, director of McMaster’s MAPLE (Music, Acoustics, Perception & LEarning) Lab, and an associate professor of music cognition and percussion.
“What we found was, I believe, new evidence that individual composers tend to use cues in their music paralleling the use of these cues in emotional speech.” For example, major key or “happy” pieces are higher and faster than minor key or “sad” pieces.
The team also discovered that Bach and Chopin appear to “trade-off” their use of cues within the examined music.
PR:
http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca/article/chopin-bach-used-human-speech-cues-to-express-emotion-in-music/
Watch & learn:
How playing an instrument benefits your brain
http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-playing-an-instrument-benefits-your-brain-anita-Collins
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#music #neuroscience #cognition
Equally, language will affect how the listener receives the music. I saw a documentary about differences in language, and one of the things they demonstrated was that people with different mother languages perceived colours differently - people of a particular tribe in Africa had no difficulty in identifying a particular shade of green from other similar shades, while a group from the UK couldn't.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Critchlow theres only one shade of green...for the people who cant see that they must be colour blind..respect ye being colour blind get some glasses and have a good one. maidean mhaite
ReplyDeleteI wasn't in the documentary mate, so I've got nothing to worry about.
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Critchlow mats is important .im not as smart as you but I know the difference between red and white> and the one shade of green enjoy your day,
ReplyDeleteYou too Martin. I wasn't implying anything about being smart - no hard feelings.
ReplyDeletePS incase ya thing I am aracist . Ive no problem with the brittish I just don't like them.
ReplyDeleteFair enough :/ well I don't know where you're from but I sure wouldn't dislike you on the basis of where you're from alone.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this post. I love music and brains 🎀🎀 Corina Marinescu 🎀🎀
ReplyDeleteI find that even if words are spoken or sung in another language you don't understand, you can still feel the emotion and passion. It shows that, fundamentally, humans are the same, regardless of ethnicity. Communication need not just be verbal
ReplyDeleteThanks, now I'm going to hear even more voices when I listen to my favourite Brandenburg concertos...
ReplyDeleteThe complexity of classical music is amazing. Musicologists have known about this for centuries. Now the scientists are seeing it.
ReplyDeleteMakes sence that people say music speaks to you... even if there are no physical words, the human super computer (Brain) can understand at a much higher level than we think possible.
ReplyDeleteJohn Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" is literally a song without words, with the rhythm coming from a "psalm." I'm sure the fact that Coltrane was expressing meaning is what gives the music its power.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kOu61AtFVk
Nifty! I've discovered that the same in-tonal nuances and cadences are used in nature by various animals for the same emotional purposes. You can "talk with" animals if you use the right sound patterns and emotions.
ReplyDeleteNot that they have much to say outside of expressing the current moment. "there's a cat! Cat! danger!" for instance, isn't as compelling as the tale of when you rescued a snail from the tire of your car.
love it
ReplyDelete