Sad Jawns: A Study on the Emotional Responses Music Evokes

Since the dawn of the musical age, composers have used certain aspects in their works to evoke specific emotions when listened to. Composers typically used the major key to evoke happy and euphoric feelings, and the minor key to evoke sad and depressing feelings. As science and research has progressed this simple answer has been elaborated and expanded, especially when looking into brainwave activity while listening to certain types of music. Many psychologists have done studies on the therapeutic aspects of music in overcoming trauma as well, cementing music as a key to unlocking emotion and overcoming obstacles.

Early composers understood the power that their music held. These artists would purposefully select the key that would match the story and emotion they wanted the audience to feel, even without the use of lyrics to guide the listeners. When trying to evoke a sad, depressed, or helpless feeling, composers would use the minor key. A minor chord is made up of three musical notes, a triad, that uses a middle note which is closer to the tonic than a minor chord. In the triad of C in the minor key, the middle note is an E flat. This is closer to the tonic C than the major key, which would be an E note. This creates “more sensory dissonance, a kind of tension that stems from the clashing of closely spaced frequencies”(Wiliamson). These chords evoke what many would perceive as negative emotions, and have the ability to make the audience feel these negative emotions.

These emotional cues are most common and understood in Western music today, as many artists have made their careers off of sad songs. It is more uncommon in non-Western music to use these keys to evoke emotion, instead the musicians and listeners “appreciate music for qualities such as group coordination in rituals”(Fritz et al). Often times lyrics can help evoke the intended emotions, but this is not necessary in most cases. The minor key has the ability to influence emotion due to the dissonance and conflict that is embedded in each chord.

Most researchers have concluded that emotional responses to music are a learned association, as “We are exposed to this repeated pairing of sound and emotional meaning from the time our ears are functioning (around the fifth – sixth month in the womb) so it is no wonder that we leap to emotional assumptions based on experience”(Williamson). Sad songs are a combination of “of empathetic responses to sad acoustic features, learned associations, and cognitive rumination”(Huron). Modern sad songs are typically simplistic, featuring a single instrument or two and vocals in an acoustic fashion. The lack of diversity in sound production can be an influencing factor when discussing the emotions evoked in these songs. Scientists have found that “neuroimaging studies have shown that music can activate the brain areas typically associated with emotions” including the amygdala and the hippocampus, which help transmit dopamine to the brain when we find something pleasurable(Ahtisaari). Some researchers also speculate that there is a correlation between pleasurable sad music and a rise in levels of the hormone prolactin. This hormone is most commonly referred to when discussing pregnancy, but prolactin also has a correlation to “feelings of tranquility, calmness, well-being, or consolation – a positive “feel-good” state”(Huron). David Huron, a Canadian Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor in the School of Music and the Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the Ohio State University, suggests that high levels of prolactin are produced when listening to pleasurable sad music. On the flip side, truly sad music has a correlation to lower levels of prolactin. This can be seen in pregnant women, as it “is common for a weaning mother to feel sad or mildly depressed” when prolactin levels dip(Huron). According to Dr. Shahram Heshmat of the University of Illinois at Springfield, “Prolactin produces feelings of calmness to counteract mental pain”, which can explain why sad songs can instead be enjoyable to listeners(Heshmat).

Aside from the science behind emotional reactions and hormonal release in the brain to certain keys and lyrics, the listener’s perspective on the music is the truly deciding factor when determining if a song is pleasurable or not, regardless of the artist’s intentional emotional reaction. Sad songs often allow the listener to feel their emotions more deeply than without music, creating an outlet for release. Many people make playlists to listen to while they are sad that help them cry and feel better, or just allow them to wallow in their pain for a while. A big factor in determining if a song is pleasurable are the memories that accompany a song. For example, certain songs can make someone miserable because the songs remind them of a lost loved one. Lyrics can also influence a person, as a breakup song can cause a person to think about their ex. Dr. Heshmat details six reasons to explain the enjoyment behind sad music. He describes how memories and prolactin are influential when determining if a sad song is enjoyable, but he also writes about empathy, vicarious emotion, mood regulation, and an imaginary friend.

As most artists write about their own life experiences, listeners tend to have a sense of empathy toward the artists. The audience has the ability to understand and relate to what the artist is writing, feeling the pain in the artist’s voice and words. Listeners with a strong connection to their emotions can feel for the artist, and this empathetic feeling can cause the listener to feel closely connected with the artist, especially if the listener has experienced what the artist is writing about. This ties into the concept of vicarious emotion, or being able to channel emotions through music without real life implications.

Mood regulation is another idea that Dr. Heshmat discusses in his article. Heshmat argues that“Sad music enables the listener to disengage from distressing situations (breakup, death, etc.) and focus instead on the beauty of the music”(Heshmat). Lyrics in a song can also allow the listener to connect their own experiences to the music, creating a vessel to express and feel emotions that may be repressed for one reason or another. Finally, Dr. Heshmat talks about the idea of an imaginary friend being created while listening to music that is described as sad. He does not mean a literal imaginary friend, instead using this language to explain that sad songs can make listeners feel less alone in their pain. It is easier to deal and cope with negative emotions when people feel like someone is there for them and understands what they are going through.

The world of psychology has recently taken a look into the effectiveness of using music to help people heal from traumatic life events. Music therapists calm patients and give them an emotional outlet through listening and creating music. These methods can reduce anxiety and help patients overcome depression without the use of medication. In my personal experience, music therapy has been extremely successful in overcoming trauma in my life. As I was battling a long and difficult depression that lead me to being hospitalized for suicidal tendencies, I wound up in an IOP(Intensive OutPatient) facility from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm, Monday to Friday for a few weeks. Every day we had a different kind of group therapy session, ranging from yoga to aromatherapy. Despite the variety of treatment offered, I always looked forward to Thursday, as it was music therapy day. A woman would come in and bring instruments, sometimes we would play them and sometimes she would. As a group we would review the lyrics of songs and highlight the lyrics that resonated with us, explaining why the specific lyrics had an impact on us. Other days we would write our own lyrics to songs, and I found this to be the most impactful portion of the session. Writing my own lyrics about my traumas in a non-judgmental environment allowed me to admit what I was feeling rather than repressing my feelings. Our lyrics would then be played and sung by the therapist, and we would discuss the lyrics we wrote and what they mean. This was the most impactful experience for me, as I have kept my songs and have continued to write as well as learn guitar and piano.

Despite the reactions to sad songs and the brain studies conducted on individuals while listening to these songs, the exact reason for music being able to bring us to the emotions is unknown for the time being. The pleasurability of songs that are generally described as happy or sad is left to the assessment of the listener, as songs can not be classified as “sad” or “happy” due to differing perceptions of these songs. Certain sad songs can bring enjoyment to some, while they bring pain and anguish to others. The enjoyment of a song is directly correlated to the emotions and memory the song evokes, and varies from person to person.

Here's a link to my personal sad song playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4pdGKUGyHjtSM1nhCYrG89

Works Cited

Ahtisaari, Marko. “Music and Emotion.” SYNC PROJECT, SYNC PROJECT, 21 July 2015, syncproject.co/blog/2015/7/21/music-and-emotion.

Fritz, Thomas, et al. “Universal Recognition of Three Basic Emotions in Music.” Current Biology, Cell Press, 19 Mar. 2009, www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982209008136.

Heshmat, Shahram. “6 Reasons Why We Enjoy Listening to Sad Music.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 20 May 2019, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201905/6-reasons-why-we-enjoy-listening-sad-music.

Huron, David. “Why Is Sad Music Pleasurable? A Possible Role for Prolactin - David Huron, 2011.” SAGE Journals, 1 Jan. 1970, journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1029864911401171.

Scherer, Klaus R. “Which Emotions Can Be Induced by Music? What Are the Underlying Mechanisms? And How Can We Measure Them?” Taylor & Francis, 2 Feb. 2010, www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0929821042000317822.

Williamson, Vicky. “The Science Of Music - Why Do Songs In A Minor Key Sound Sad? - NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs.” NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM, 14 Feb. 2013, www.nme.com/blogs/nme-blogs/the-science-of-music-why-do-songs-in-a-minor-key-sound-sad-760215.