High Note
High Note; Musically Attuned
Something intangible happens when listening to music. New music, good music, it's cerebral, ethereal, upbeat. From both the religious and cultural perspectives, music is elevated.
Nothing gets me out of bed Friday morn like Spotify's "made for you" new music Friday playlist. That feeling you get when discovering a new "it song" and you lose yourself in message and melody is what Grammy goals are made of.
From a religious perspective, to illustrate the level of "high note" music can reach: songs during the Beis HaMikdash were so lofty it roused teshuva that led to elevated levels of kedusha, which led to Ruach HaKodesh. This is the potential of music.
Music is so multifaceted I was curious to learn, what happens to our brains when we listen to new music, vibe with old, play music, and what makes a song become a new staple versus a good beat, like at what point do you decide to abandon the track versus stay tuned ;)
What makes music good?
A good song makes the listener feel emotion. Plain and simple if you're stirred for the right situation, e.g., a song at a wedding that makes you feel feels, a beaty song that gets your heart pumping, and a car ride song that gets you vibing. These are good songs. At its essence, this is the purpose of music, to connect the music and the listener. The more authentic the lyrics and the emotion behind the vocals, the more relatable a song will resonate, even if it's not your preferred genre. Same with topics; you know the joke about country music? If you play the song backward, the guy gets his truck, drink, and girl back. Music connects when the listener feels that original aha moment. Then, of course, we have the technical component of music; the long and short of it is that it's easier for us to process lower tones (jazz, classical, a lot of country music) versus higher tones (think pop and Justin Bieber). The other element that plays a factor in how well the song will resonate is based on scales; There are two types of scales, the major and the minor. The best way to explain the difference between them is that major scales sound happy and minor scales sound sad; a good song will start with more minor scales than transition to the major scales and uplift, good music will transition to a story with fluidity. In music tech terms, this is called macroharmonic consistency. One of the essential functions of a musical scale is to limit the overall pitch content of what we hear over short periods, this reminds me of when you edit audio, and you see the pitch rise higher and lower; the goal is to keep the overall diaphragm within one mountain range.
What happens when you hear a new favorite song?
I knew music is cerebral, sometimes you feel it in your fingers and toes, but most of the time, there's that feel-good dopamine feel that's triggered. According to neuroscientists, when we hear music that we like, a part of the brain's reward system is activated even for the first time. The region, called the nucleus accumbens, determines how much we value the song; in 2011, McGill University's Montreal Neurological Institute in Canada performed a study to see how music affects the brain. The studies showed that listeners' dopamine levels in pleasure centers surged during key passages of favorite music, but also just a moment before—as if the brain was anticipating the crescendo to come. The nucleus accumbens is believed to be responsible for pleasant surprises. Our brains are well-suited to using patterns, such as the structure of music, to predict the future. These predictions are based on past musical experience so that classical fans will have different expectations than punk devotees. But when the music turns out better than the brain expected, the nucleus accumbens fires off with delight. (according to MRI scans :) We are creatures of habit and don't like surprises but…with just the right balance "People tend to like music that is familiar enough that they can form expectations in response to it, but surprisingly enough that it engages them." -Elizabeth Margulis, director of Princeton University's Music Cognition Lab.
One of the most substantial reasons people return to music is because of the memory it evokes (get those wedding dance playlists ready ;) Since memories are not stored in the brain in a centralized location but are instead spread throughout neurological pathways, music's connection to emotion imbues these musical memories with even more significance. Music can be so effective at stimulating memories; it's sometimes used to help patients living with Alzheimer's disease and dementia grasp portions of their former selves. Jumping back to the familiar concept, data from a report revealed that consumer attention spans are shortest when dealing with new artists or talent new to the consumer.
And how does playing an instrument effect
Playing a musical instrument engages every area of the brain at once, especially the visual, auditory, and motor cortices. And with every workout, disciplined practice strengthens those brain functions, allowing us to apply that discipline to other areas of your life. (Basically, that kid in elementary who went on to win the 8th-grade science fair, I can bet you he plays the cello and dabbles in violin as well.)
In terms of a new song or track becoming a classic?
In the record label world, execs recommend putting an artist’s best six songs first- if a listener gets past the first six songs, listens, such an album is what is usually deemed a classic.
The overall running theme with music is that its purpose is to connect artists to listeners amongst each other. Most significantly, if it stirs something within oneself and emotion or memory, this is music leaving the listener on a high note.
