Emotions, music go hand in hand

A recent study has found that music can evoke 13 specific feelings in the listener

When words fail, music speaks’ — Hans Christian Andersen’s words have now been proved scientifically correct. Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, recently found that music evokes 13 key emotions among listeners. These are amusement, joy, eroticism, beauty, relaxation, sadness, dreaminess, triumph, anxiety, scariness, annoyance, defiance, and feeling pumped up.

Their study surveyed more than 2,500 people in the US and China about their emotional responses to thousands of songs from genres like rock, folk, jazz, classical, and heavy metal.

From the songs that were played to the participants, Ed Sheeran’s ‘The Shape of You’ and Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’s upbeat version of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ were found to spark joy, Antonio Vivaldi’s Baroque masterpiece ‘The Four Seasons’ and ‘Rock the Casbah’ from the ‘80s rock band The Clash made people feel more energised and Al Green’s 1971 single ‘Let’s Stay Together’ elicited erotic feelings. The listeners experienced feelings of fear on hearing the ‘Jaws’ movie score and the shower scene score from the movie ‘Psycho’. Heavy metal was widely viewed as defiant.

The researchers believe that their work may help psychologists and psychiatrists develop better therapies involving music and also allow developers at music streaming services to identify playlists that will fit the listener’s current mood.

Ragas and the emotions associated with them

Long before this study came out, it was scientifically confirmed that ragas evoke diverse emotional responses in people, ranging from ‘happy’ and ‘calm’ to ‘tensed’ and ‘sad.

Indian music is based on the concept of ‘nava rasas’ which are ‘shringara’ (romance), ‘hasya’ (humour), ‘karuna’ (grief), ‘raudra’ (anger), ‘veera’ (heroism), ‘bhayanaka’ (fear), ‘vibhatsa’ (disgust), ‘adbhuta’ (wonder) and ‘shanta’ (peace).

Each raga is dominated by one of these rasas.

Scientists at the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), Manesar, Haryana and the School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading, UK found that ragas like ‘Desh’ and ‘Tilak Kamod’ made the listeners feel both calm (in the slower arrhythmic alaap) and happy (in the faster rhythmic gat). Similarly, the emotional responses for ‘Shree’ and ‘Miyan ki Todi’ ranged between ‘sad’ and ‘tensed’.

In Carnatic music, ragas like Amrithavarshini, Reethigowlai, Nattai and Abheri are widely believed to be ‘happy’ ones while the likes of ‘Shivaranjani’ and ‘Vasantha Bhairavi’ usually portray an element of sadness, though it depends on the way it is sung.

Vivek Radhakrishnan (V3K)

(Music producer and DJ, member of ‘Street Academics’ and founder of ‘Glitch Collective’)

Different frequencies resonate with our mind and body. A combination of frequencies (chords and scales or ragas) has the ability to trigger particular emotions in humans.
I have been a music producer and DJ for the past 12 years and over these years, I have seen people connecting to different songs, regardless of language or how recent the release was. For example , ‘Feels’ by Calvin Harris and ‘Happy’ by Pharrell Williams makes people joyful and gets them in a cheerful mood. One of the songs which I produced for Street Academics called ‘Kala pila’ has a reputation for making people nostalgic; people have said it makes them miss their home and hometown.

Varun Sunil

(Vocalist and percussionist, founder of ‘Masala Coffee’)

It is difficult to pick out songs that I typically associate with an emotion because there are so many of them! I usually listen to powerful, motivating tracks most of the time and my top picks include those by ‘Metallica’ and ‘Lamb Of God’. Happiness is usually evoked by some tracks of Coldplay, like ‘True Love’. After a busy day, when I am chilling at home with my loved ones, I will most probably play their 2014 hit ‘Midnight’. Some songs by Rihanna and Christina Perri also make for easy listening and are soothing on the ears.
When it comes to Indian artistes, some songs of Hariharan ji are so melodious and beautiful that you can’t help but be carried away. I have shared the stage with him many times and have fully soaked in the vibe of each song we played; a notable one is ‘Yeh Aaine Se’, which he classifies as ‘Urdu blues’. It’s the kind of song you listen to with a glass of wine in your hand and a small smile on your lips.
I do listen to sad songs sometimes and my favourites include ‘Evano Oruvan’ from ‘Alaipayuthey’ and ‘Mannipaya’ from ‘Vinaithandi Varuvaya’. I have to mention Malayalam composer Vidyasagar here, who has given us gems like ‘Oru raathri koodi’ (‘Summer in Bethlehem’) which always puts me in a pensive mood.

Suraj Mani

(Singer-guitarist, founder of ‘The Tattva Trip’)

I largely feel that what we feel is what the artist is feeling. And while the situations we face in our lives are unique, the emotions themselves are not. ‘Heavy Fuel’ by Dire Straits evokes a feeling of amusement in me and ‘I wanna love you’ by Bob Marley sparks joy. Other picks will be ‘Smooth Operator’ by Sade (eroticism), ‘Don’t worry be happy’ by Bobby McFerrin (relaxation), ‘Unbreak my heart’ by Toni Braxton (sadness), ‘I want it all’ by Queen (triumph), ‘Get up, stand up’ by Bob Marley (defiance) and ‘Mama’ by Genesis (fear).

Munz

(Vocalist of The Down Troddence and creative director at Dunzo)

Whenever I am down or feel sorrowful, I always listen to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ by Queen; I have always associated that song with tragedy. If I am in an angry mood, I listen to songs by the American rock band ‘Rage Against the Machine’. This is especially true if I am agitated about a cause or disturbed about political happenings in the country.
Slipknot, an American heavy metal band, has songs spanning multiple genres. So whatever emotion I am feeling, I will find a song by the band which corresponds to that. I associate very strongly with the band as a musician too.
If I am missing my school and childhood, I end up listening to some songs of ‘Manichitrathazhu’, the 1993 Malayalam blockbuster by Fazil. They evoke very strong feelings of nostalgia in me. Also, when I listen to hit songs from a particular year, I remember the memories associated with that period, which consequently evokes strong emotions in me. For example, A R Rahman songs from the movie ‘Boys’ or the song ‘Pachai Nirame’ from the Madhavan-starrer ‘Alaipayuthey’.