As human cognitive abilities improved to become more sophisticated, we began to incorporate various art forms into our culture. Music is one such early art form which has thrived in human culture for more than 30,000 years. But why do humans appreciate music in the first place? Is music more than just a combination of sound and silent moments? And what impact does it leave in our brains?
To understand the answers of these questions, we need to first know how music works. Music functions more like life itself. There is a starting point, which is the first note known as the key. In a song, the key is where the home is. It sets the base for all the successive notes. The second note will start to create tension. Sometimes unexpected things happen in life. Similarly, the second note brings that unexpected tone and all the following notes try to get back to the point where it started. In short, a song uses a key to tell a story where a tension is created and resolved by end of the song just like how a movie uses a villain to create a problem and has it resolved in the end. This becomes the basic structure upon which the principles of music are built. The musicians have the power to decide what level of tension is to be created and how it must be resolved. Hence every music is different in its own way but the impact it has on the brain is very similar. That’s why a person listening to Carnatic music will have a similar impact on the brain as much as a person listening to Progressive Death Metal. Even though the rewarding system is similar, different kinds of music can produce different range of emotions in the human body. To understand why music makes sense to humans, we need to first know how it impacts brain and emotions.
Patterns:
Our brain likes patterns and it has played a crucial role in our survival. It learns a new skill by responding to the repeated patterns which is induced by practice. The brain’s affinity to repeated patterns is why the brain responds more effectively to familiar music. Even though music is not a biological necessity, it has proved to help improve mental states and deal with negative emotions.
Emotions:
Music sometimes is more than just what is composed and played. The effects are mostly subjective and depends a lot on the listener. The feeling and emotion of the listener enhances the way the music is appreciated. As Susanne Langer said, the real stimulus is not the progressive unfolding of the musical structure but the subjective content of the listener’s mind. Music helps in defining emotional states or sometimes gives the listener the ability to understand the way he wants it. This ability helps in therapeutic process of music.
Therefore, music is not only a tool to express but also a tool to understand and enhance the emotional states internally as it gives the listener the freedom for interpretation. Humans are emotional beings and meaning in music came to us even before meaning given by words. The ability to create and universally respond to music has been one of the features which is deeply ingrained in the earlier evolutionary development of human beings.
