Music Music and Mood: The Science Behind How Different Genres Affect Our Emotions

[Math Jeans]

Send an email to Mythbusters. lol

 

[DaveC426913]

Or someone is doing a project and happens to come across this thread
Duh!

Geethatpossibilitycompletelyescapedme.

 

[cybernomad]

Hello. The Q is, as before stated, can music effect your mood?(affect or effect?) Anyway, my mom and I have had arguments about this more than a few times. She says that me listening to metal makes me agry. Is there any scientific proof that this happens? Examples...

Metal= angry

country= sad

classical= relaxed

and so on.

fMRI i.e. Functional magnetic resonance imaging are in the early stages of finding objective 'proof' of music's ability to effect mood.

Now the old adage "different stroke for different folks" would apply to music. Your mother may by your statement believe the aggressive nature of metal leads to your anger.

 

[BelluhNichoel]

I Dont Think Music Can Really Affect Your Mood. I Think It Can Match Your Mood. Like For Example If Your Sad And A Slow Break Up Song Comes On Its Basically Matching Your Mood. I Like All Kinds of Music Myself Except Country(It Gives Me Headaches).I've Actually Had Any Justin Bieber Song Affect My Mood By Making Me Very Agravated.No Other Music Affects My Mood.

 

[nucleargirl]

music helps me to get motivated, like right now I'm really feeling 'weightless by all time low' the melody is motivational and the lyrics evoke my inner fear of ending up a failure. all good motivators!

 

[Leshok]

I always find myself focusing on lyrics to many songs. So I tend to listen to instrumental music such as Explosions in the Sky. I have made a habit of getting a study room and practicing my Math on a chalkboard while listening to them.

 

[Danger]

I haven't taken the time to read this entire thread, because I'm very tired right now. I will do so tomorrow, and possibly modify my response thereafter.
The only music that makes me angry is country. Real country, that is, not the rock that cowboys call country because they can't admit that they like rock. If I want to hear some idiot yodeling to his horse, I can walk a couple of miles down the road and get a live performance. A very good friend of mine, who I was in fact playing pool against tonight, once told me that there were only two kinds of music: country and western. (This despite the fact that his truck radio was set to the local hard-rock station.) I'm a westerner, but my absolute favourite music is Motown and the very closely related "Philly Soul". I also love Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Abba, Metallica, the Partridge Family, Springsteen, the Archies, Frank Zappa and the Mothers...
The music does affect my mood in some ways, but more often just reflects it. I quit playing the radio in my car over 30 years ago because the beat would alter my driving habits. While listening to "Dark Side of the Moon", I would find myself cruising along at about 40 mph in a 60 zone. On that same stretch of highway, with Trooper or Sabbath playing, I'd be doing 80 or 90. I decided early that it was better to just leave the music off and pay attention to the road.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Very strongly. For instance, when I hear a band strike up "My Country, 'tis of Thee", it lifts my mood considerably. Or when they play "G-d Save the Queen", my mood sours.

 

[Danger]

Very strongly. For instance, when I hear a band strike up "My Country, 'tis of Thee", it lifts my mood considerably. Or when they play "G-d Save the Queen", my mood sours.

Same tune either way. The first version irritates me, and the second offends me. At our cenotaph ceremony on Remembrance Day, I sang along with everyone else to "*** Save the Queen", but fell silent during the title phrase because it would be extremely hypocritical of me to utter those words.
I also refuse to fully acknowledge our national anthem since some bastard changed the lyrics to include a deity. (I have no objection to the second half now being sung in French, since we are bilingual, but I don't actually know those words.)

 

[books&music!]

music does affect your mood. it has to do with memory as well. if something happened in your life with music even playing in the background, everytime you listen to that music or that song you will feel the emotion that you were feeling at that time.

 

[Galteeth]

Of course, this is sort of an obvious one. If it had no impact on your mood, why would people listen to it?

 

[Ouabache]

Of course, this is sort of an obvious one. If it had no impact on your mood, why would people listen to it?

music does affect your mood...

Did you happen to notice this thread began almost 6 yrs ago? Metaphorically, you are replying to a message in a bottle. The author of this message has not logged in 5 yrs.

Reminds me of looking up at the stars and realizing the star I am looking at, may have already burned out, but its radiated light is still reaching my eyes.

 

[vjdarktm]

maybe you mean the other way around...music is someway of supporting that emotion of yours

 

[blue22]

I'm not sure, sometimes I think my mood affects my choice of music as much as my choice of music affects my mood.

While I think music can invoke certain emotions, I also think that is dependent on the listener's state of mind at the time they are listening.

I would say it depend all on the state of mind you have because I for one find punk rock claming & inrageing. it all depends on what has or is happening.

 

[benb1990]

put it this way, how did you come up with your exapmles for the type of music to mood, because it kind of answered your own question, meaning your brain at some stage has already made those assosiations with sound.