Lin Cremore: Blog

Music and Emotion. The power of Music to move us.

As a musician, music and emotion to me are almost inseparable! I cannot imagine one without the other. Through out my life, on a daily basis music has the power to conjure up all kinds of varied and subtle emotions. It can make me sad, thoughtful, energized, motivated or happy. Or ….. It can accompany me while I wallow luxuriously in the occasional self indulgent bad mood! “Music was my refuge. I could crawl into the space between the words and curl my back to loneliness.” Maya Angelou. Gather Together in my Name. When I’ve nothing to clarify or express my emotions, I feel the most overwhelming desire to write a song, or piece of music in order to express myself and satisfy my need. The emotion and desire to express myself in music is very strong. It helps me to name or clarify the un named feelings. I’ve no choice but to write and I find the process to be a cathartic experience. So for me music can produce emotion and emotion can produce music!

Musical composition.

Musicians are able to manipulate sounds to evoke atmosphere or mood. They use minor keys to create sadness. Dissonance to heighten expectation and tension. Rhythm, harmony and certain individual instruments to colour and contribute to the emotional impact of a piece. A scary film is much more frightening when accompanied by the eerie sound track! Music adds extra depth to the event. We can experience emotions while listening and appreciating a musical piece for its musical beauty of form and composition. Or, we respond emotionally to the music because of the feelings and interpretations we bring to it. Perhaps best of all is when we do both!

Music, Emotion, Brain and the Body.

Occasionally music can affect you so profoundly that the hair on the back of your neck rises. Heart rate and breathing increase and you experience intense pleasure or “chills.” It is a moving and beautiful experience. What happens when we experience these “chills?” The continual interplay of input and feedback which takes place between the brain and body is incredibly complex. Into this mix there may also be a release of hormones and neurotransmitters. Music elicits a physical response which stimulates the pituitary gland and produces hormones. Endorphins make us feel good, minimise pain and give us pleasure. The secretion of hormones into the body increases blood flow and blood pressure. As your heart rate increases this too can make you feel energised and excited. The effects of hormones also feed back to the brain, stimulating the amygdala, (a major emotional centre in the brain.) Hormone surges such as adrenaline, help in the creation of strong memories. This might help explain why an important experience, linked with musical stimuli, can create a lasting associated memory. Most of us I’m sure have a particular song to which we feel a special emotional attachment. Perhaps it was the song playing on your first date or one which bring backs vivid childhood memories. When it’s played we are immediately transported back to that moment and once again relive the emotions and feelings that it encapsulates. The reason that music seems to have such an emotional effect on our minds and bodies seems to lie in the fact that emotions are primarily registered, in the oldest (in evolutionary terms,) parts of our brain.

Music and Emotion. Performance.

The performance of music creates great amounts of emotion for both the performer and listener. An emotional musical performance has the power to move many. Great musicians are able to convey to the audience subtle nuances of emotion, or to rouse them to heightened excitement and anticipation. Performers such as Ella Fitzgerald captivated her audiences through the emotional quality of her voice and it was easy to see the emotional effect the young John, Paul, George and Ringo had on the girls in the 60’s! Interestingly, the MRI scans of musicians asked to improvise show areas of the brain lighting up which are related to the concept of ‘self.’ They are expressing themselves not by language but through the medium they know best…sound.

Amazing TED Lecture.

What it feels like to have a stroke.

While exploring and finding out about the mind and how it works I came across this fantastic lecture on TED.

You might like it too.