Walking into a room, you hear lively, upbeat “dance” music playing. Immediately after hearing it, you feel your foot start to tap along to the beat and maybe your head starts bobbing too. All too soon, you feel like dancing, but why?
Chrissy Watson, a music therapist, answers this question: why does music move us? Her answer is simple, “rhythm prompts motor”. When we hear music, our brains are naturally created to send signals to the part of our brains that control movement (1). The more that we listen to music, the more this connection develops and strengthens our ability to feel rhythm, thus tapping our feet, bobbing our heads, or dancing to particular pieces of music.
One component in Popular Music that I am fascinated with is the syncopations that are used. This rhythm is genius for creating music that makes you want to move, especially bobbing your head along. The term “syncopation” simply refers to emphasizing notes on the weak beats, throwing you off the main beats. However, this works so well because when bobbing along to the music, the off-beats catch your head as it moves back, thus giving the listener the satisfaction of “catching” those off-beats (even if it is subconscious!).
Music also “moves” us emotionally. First let’s look at how tempo affects us. A slow tempo in music can cause us to relax or calm down, the beats are slower so naturally we slow down. Whereas the opposite is true for music with strong pulses, where we move along with the beats, and are generally more energetic.
Secondly, the key in which music is written in also determines how we will react to it. A piece or song written in a major key combined with an upbeat tempo, is the perfect combination for “dance” music. Music written in a minor key combined with a slower tempo is the perfect combination for “relaxing” music. Of course major keys can have slow tempos and vice versa, the effects are very similar.
Try This Next time you listen to music, try to find a fast or slow tempo in the music. Ask yourself, “How does this affect me?”
Source: http://star-center.org/feel-the-rhythm-how-music-affects-movement/
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