Contents
How music can influence our mood
Music Therapy
It has been observed that, depending on the moment we are living and the type of music we are listening to, our mood can change
From the drums of our ancestors to the unlimited streaming services of today, the music it is an integral part of the human experience. In general, we listen to ‘What a feeling’, by Irene Cara, and a “good vibes” runs through us. On the other hand, possibly ‘Photograph’, an endearing song by Ed Sheeran, does not give us that feeling of wanting to eat the world and the emotion that addresses us is that of longing with a mixture of melancholy. Each song is a world, and what we feel with each of them is a vast box of feelings and emotions that do not produce the same for some as for others. But what there is no doubt is that
music affects, in one way or another, our emotional level.
Manuel Tizón, academic coordinator of the Music Area and the Master in Musical Research at UNIR and a member of the Research Group ‘Technology and Music’ of this university, assures that music interferes with our emotions, something that has already been demonstrated by several studies. What must be taken into account, as the music expert says, is that there are different mechanisms:
— Emotional contagion: When we are at a concert we are looking at the face of the performer, of the companions, and their expression can be contagious … «Music can move us, although a sad song does not have to make us sad, but it does make me emotional or my mood It is influenced in some way, it is an indication that I have been infected, either by the music itself or by external factors, ”says the specialist.
— Visual images: When we listen to music we can imagine different scenarios and that conditions us on an emotional level.
— Episodic memory. Manuel Tizón gives us a very suggestive example: if we have had a negative experience with someone who loves Mecano —to give an example— it is most likely that in the future we will stop liking this group because it reminds us of that person: «We it influences and we will not want to hear it more ».
— Musical expectation: this point refers to what we expect when we listen to a song. We know that after a verse comes the chorus, that there is a certain cadence or end of a phrase, etc, and this can also be involved in emotions. “All of this relates, of course, to our familiarity with the style,” he says.
Aesthetic judgment: we manage our judgment, more perceptual or cognitive, when evaluating a specific music.
Who is affected the most
«For all this, it must be borne in mind that, due to different circumstances, emotions in music do not affect everyone in the same way; if I am more or less prone to imagine (visual images), if I am at a concert or I am listening to music at home, if the music evokes a memory in me, if I am a musician or not a musician… », indicates Manuel Tizón. In addition, he adds that “there may be differences in the subject’s personality type, age, etc.”.
According to a study at a university in Colombia, it has been observed that when listening to some pleasant music, chemical substances can be activated in the central nervous system, stimulating the production of neurotransmitters such as dopamine, endorphins and oxytocin, experiencing a state that favors joy and optimism in general (Jauset, 2008).
Apparently, these sensations help the mobilization of unconscious information that generates changes in neuronal activity, facilitating the expression of emotions, the discharge of feelings and repressed impulses or even the emotional outbreak of conflicts or traumatic situations (Betes de Toro, 2000). In this sense, the emotional response arising from musical stimuli are not homogeneous but are very different from one person to another, so much so that it could be difficult to decipher which is pleasant or unpleasant, since it would be reflected based on the individual experiences of each being and their previous learning processes (González, 1999).