The Music Effect
We are all aware that music and "atmosphere" go together. We might put on relaxing music for a quiet romantic dinner, but listen to something livelier while doing some physical work or exercise or out socialising in larger groups. You might have heard of farmers who increase production by playing music to their animals, recent studies showing that listening to fast music whilst driving increases the rate of car accidents, and the Mozart Effect claims to increase intelligence. While some claims may be exaggerated, there is no denying that music can suggest and affect our state of mind. But the reason for this is very mysterious. Why should organised sounds affect us to such an extent that billions are spent annually making music?
We're sure some professors may have written volumes about this topic but don't worry, we won't! We just think that it might be useful to record some thoughts on this question, since it is so relevant to other explorations on the mfiles web-site. We think that the main aspects of music which influence us can be summed up as:
Tempo & Rhythm
Pitch, Melody & Harmony
Pattern recognition
Culture aspects
and will explore each of these facets in turn.
Tempo & Rhythm
Music tends to have a steady tempo to it, often measured in "beats per minute". A simple observation is that most music is in the range of 50-200 beats per minute, the same as the extreme range of our heartbeats. In general too, the tempo of a piece of music roughly equates with the heartbeat associated with the corresponding physical state or emotion which the music suggests.
Anything in the range 60-80 beats per minute is calm and relaxed, less than 60 is often very relaxed, introspective or even depressed. 80-100 is moderately alert and interested. 100 upwards is increasingly lively, excited or agitated and, since we crave some degree of excitement from our entertainment,...
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