Why does music make us feel things?
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Imagine a scene from the movie Jaws, with the great white shark closing in on another helpless victim. The iconic semitone pattern builds and your heartbeat rises with it; the suspense pulls you further to the edge of your seat.
Now picture that scene without the score. Much of the tension evaporates. Maybe it’s a heartfelt love song from the '60s, a big band tune from the '40s, or a stirring movie soundtrack that brings back vivid memories. It could be the theme from The Golden Girls or a timeless classic like Unchained Melody—songs forever linked to close friendships, cherished moments, and the journeys of growing older together.
Music has a powerful way of evoking emotion and bringing the past to life in an instant. But how do so many different combinations of rhythm, harmony, and melody trigger such profound reactions?
The categorical approach
Swedish music psychology researcher Patrik Juslin proposed the most popular explanation of music’s ability to trigger emotion.
He identified eight key mechanisms under the acronym BRECVEMA. The categories begin with more fundamental connections:
Brain stem reflexes – maybe a movie jumpscare moment or another sudden, frightening sound triggering a pre-conscious response. Evolution programmed these reactions into the brain over thousands of years in order to influence arousal levels and initiate the necessary emotional response.
Rhythmic entrainment, like the tendency to tap your foot to the beat; the benefits of moving in time together have been critical to human survival and evolution.
Then, the listings become increasingly complex:
Evaluative conditioning in the fashion of Pavlov’s dog. After years of watching and cultural references, we hear the Jaws music and automatically feel tense.
The contagion effect, wherein we feel the emotions we perceive in the music. Lyrics aren’t necessary; the Peanuts cartoon’s signature tune, for example, strongly conveys childhood wonder and freedom without any words.
The visual imagery many people experience when listening to music is imagery that is often tied to some deep emotion.
Episodic memories, when hearing certain music brings up recollections of a past event. Music therapists can monitor the emotional reactions people have when unexpectedly reminded of particular situations, be they positive, negative, or both. The therapists then use their expertise to support people in processing these resulting emotions.
From there, Juslin’s model gets more technical and music theory-based:
Musical expectancy, when we anticipate the resolution of a chord or phrase. This is something you might feel rather than consciously notice. Take My Heart Will Go On: a delicate tension builds through the chorus, before finally resolving as Celine Dion sings the final line of the section and listeners are put to ease.
Aesthetic judgments, closely related to the ways we experience pleasure, are our personal emotional responses to how beautiful (or not) we consider a piece of music.
It makes sense that a theory using the brain to explain otherwise indescribable relationships would be popular. It provides a level of objectivity to what is, in essence, a purely subjective and non-generalisable experience.
Is it just about neurological pathways?
Evolutionary theories suggest music and emotions are connected because of the inherent musicality we are each born with, essential to our ability to develop relationships and flourish.
Parent-infant interactions often have musical aspects to them, described as:
Subsequently, however, other learning and our limited brain capacity mean this ability is buried deep, so it rarely translates to perfect pitch or other forms of music theory knowledge that underpin Mozart-like genius.
This baby-talk theory may be the most intimate and emotion-based explanation for why music affects us so strongly—it was designed to enhance our emotional bonds with others. When adults coo and dance with babies, they are being musical, meaning emotional reactions to music are implicit in human nature.
Cognitive developmental theorists like Steven Pinker have opinions firmly in contrast to this. Pinker calls music “evolutionary cheesecake,” functioning only to tickle the senses and serving no evolutionary purpose.
Pleasure for purpose
Cultures across the world have long acknowledged the healing power of music.
Sound healing practitioners in India and China, for example, point to ancient traditions of healing and draw correlations between recovery from illness and certain tones, scales, and chants.
Some suggest the vibrations of different tones can serve specific purposes.
In the West, the idea of emotional differences between major and minor scales still has public traction even though its academic credibility hasn’t really extended in the past 100 years.
None of these concepts have been used in the modern practice of music therapy, but they do reflect assumptions many people hold about how music works.
Instead, a fundamental principle of music therapy is based on how each person’s unique connections with music shapes their emotional reactions. What moves your sibling to tears might leave you cold, for example. It always depends on a range of conditions—historical, cultural, and personal.
Cultural upbringing, simple song-like phrases from infancy, and our own unique musical preferences and behaviors all shape these connections. They’re powerful, but they sure ain’t simple.
Also read:
What song instantly brings back a special memory for you? We'd love to hear the stories behind the music that’s touched your life—whether it’s from a dance, a road trip, or a quiet moment at home. Share in the comments below!
Now picture that scene without the score. Much of the tension evaporates. Maybe it’s a heartfelt love song from the '60s, a big band tune from the '40s, or a stirring movie soundtrack that brings back vivid memories. It could be the theme from The Golden Girls or a timeless classic like Unchained Melody—songs forever linked to close friendships, cherished moments, and the journeys of growing older together.
Music has a powerful way of evoking emotion and bringing the past to life in an instant. But how do so many different combinations of rhythm, harmony, and melody trigger such profound reactions?
The categorical approach
Swedish music psychology researcher Patrik Juslin proposed the most popular explanation of music’s ability to trigger emotion.
He identified eight key mechanisms under the acronym BRECVEMA. The categories begin with more fundamental connections:
Brain stem reflexes – maybe a movie jumpscare moment or another sudden, frightening sound triggering a pre-conscious response. Evolution programmed these reactions into the brain over thousands of years in order to influence arousal levels and initiate the necessary emotional response.
Rhythmic entrainment, like the tendency to tap your foot to the beat; the benefits of moving in time together have been critical to human survival and evolution.
Music is a powerful force to induce and preempt all kinds of emotions in us. Image source: Travis Yewell / Unsplash
Then, the listings become increasingly complex:
Evaluative conditioning in the fashion of Pavlov’s dog. After years of watching and cultural references, we hear the Jaws music and automatically feel tense.
The contagion effect, wherein we feel the emotions we perceive in the music. Lyrics aren’t necessary; the Peanuts cartoon’s signature tune, for example, strongly conveys childhood wonder and freedom without any words.
The visual imagery many people experience when listening to music is imagery that is often tied to some deep emotion.
Episodic memories, when hearing certain music brings up recollections of a past event. Music therapists can monitor the emotional reactions people have when unexpectedly reminded of particular situations, be they positive, negative, or both. The therapists then use their expertise to support people in processing these resulting emotions.
From there, Juslin’s model gets more technical and music theory-based:
Musical expectancy, when we anticipate the resolution of a chord or phrase. This is something you might feel rather than consciously notice. Take My Heart Will Go On: a delicate tension builds through the chorus, before finally resolving as Celine Dion sings the final line of the section and listeners are put to ease.
Aesthetic judgments, closely related to the ways we experience pleasure, are our personal emotional responses to how beautiful (or not) we consider a piece of music.
It makes sense that a theory using the brain to explain otherwise indescribable relationships would be popular. It provides a level of objectivity to what is, in essence, a purely subjective and non-generalisable experience.
Is it just about neurological pathways?
Evolutionary theories suggest music and emotions are connected because of the inherent musicality we are each born with, essential to our ability to develop relationships and flourish.
Parent-infant interactions often have musical aspects to them, described as:
- pulse, a shared tempo, where infant and carer move in time together and synchronise to one underlying beat
- quality, the character and melodic interplay of voices and movements, mirroring one another in dynamics and timbre
- narrative, the tendency for the same phrases, gestures and movements to be repeated on the same pitch and pace over time.
Subsequently, however, other learning and our limited brain capacity mean this ability is buried deep, so it rarely translates to perfect pitch or other forms of music theory knowledge that underpin Mozart-like genius.
This baby-talk theory may be the most intimate and emotion-based explanation for why music affects us so strongly—it was designed to enhance our emotional bonds with others. When adults coo and dance with babies, they are being musical, meaning emotional reactions to music are implicit in human nature.
Cognitive developmental theorists like Steven Pinker have opinions firmly in contrast to this. Pinker calls music “evolutionary cheesecake,” functioning only to tickle the senses and serving no evolutionary purpose.
Pleasure for purpose
Cultures across the world have long acknowledged the healing power of music.
Sound healing practitioners in India and China, for example, point to ancient traditions of healing and draw correlations between recovery from illness and certain tones, scales, and chants.
Some suggest the vibrations of different tones can serve specific purposes.
In the West, the idea of emotional differences between major and minor scales still has public traction even though its academic credibility hasn’t really extended in the past 100 years.
None of these concepts have been used in the modern practice of music therapy, but they do reflect assumptions many people hold about how music works.
Instead, a fundamental principle of music therapy is based on how each person’s unique connections with music shapes their emotional reactions. What moves your sibling to tears might leave you cold, for example. It always depends on a range of conditions—historical, cultural, and personal.
Cultural upbringing, simple song-like phrases from infancy, and our own unique musical preferences and behaviors all shape these connections. They’re powerful, but they sure ain’t simple.
Also read:
- Music like you’ve never seen before: This orchestra’s uncommon instruments broke a world record!
- Once-famous music store chain closing for good—the untold story behind it
