The following is an ongoing collection of my ideas and commentary as it relates to the intersection between music and the brain - mostly touching on topics of linguistics and psychology for now.
Music is thought to be linked to heart rate; fast music typically makes the heart beat faster, while slow music typically does the opposite.
“Sound processing begins in the brainstem, which also controls the rate of your heartbeat and respiration. This connection could explain why relaxing music may lower heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure — and also seems to ease pain, stress, and anxiety.” Harvard
Better (Little Women): fast tempo = excitement/agitation
Odd time signatures
Creates unease because it feels interrupted; may be cultural? i.e., we’re used to even time signatures like 4/4, so 7/8 (1-2 1-2 1-2-3) feels unnatural
The Siege Begins (Rings of Power): switches between 7/8 and 8/8
Musical contour - must be short and easy to remember
My own theory is that it naturally mimics the cadence/inflection of speech; tends not to jump around at large/random intervals
Now this one’s a doozy - this might be entirely cultural
We’ve been trained to associate minor chords (a combination of frequencies at certain intervals) with sadness/negative emotions, because so many Western songs have done it
Speech patterns and music: Does a minor key give everyone the blues?
It’s not minor chords in a vacuum that trigger the complex emotions we often get from songs - it’s the combination and sequence of chords used in a song
Guns for Hire (chorus) - Bbm, Db, Ebm, Gb → 1m, m3M, 4m, m6M
Minor 3rd in a minor scale is the root of its relative major - could also be interpreted as m6m, 1M if in the key of Db (context: all major scales share the same notes as their relative minor scale a certain distance away)
All of that to say, almost gives the illusion that it’s in a major key for a moment - bittersweet
Worth noting that all of the notes in all of these chords are within the scale of Bbm - no expectations are subverted on that level
(Chorus part 2) - Bbm, C, Gb, F → 1m, 2M, m6M, 5M (leading tone)
C major is NOT within the scale of Bbm; this chord would normally be C diminished; subverts expectations by raising 3rd and 5th (that’s why C major feels sort of unnatural/haunting in the song)
(Chorus part 3) - B, C, Ebm, F → m2M, 2M, 4m, 5m (leading tone)
B is NOT within the scale of Bbm, but the rest of the notes in that chord are; makes for another strange haunting chord
A minor third (two notes at a certain interval, part of a minor chord) has been thought of as “sad” by Western culture since music theorists recorded this idea in the 16th century. Two thoughts about this:
This concept could be entirely made up by Western culture, and subsequent musicians have been conditioned to feel this connection.
This concept could be rooted in something cognitive relating to the fact that a minor triad has frequencies at a ratio 6:5, as opposed to a major 5:4; the former has a larger denominator, and differs by a smaller margin.
Compare this to a perfect fourth (4:3), a perfect fifth (3:2), and an octave (2:1), all considered neutral.
Also compare this to a minor second (16:15) and a major second (9:8)
Speaking of dissonance, Garry Schyman does this a LOT
Structure varies between songs, but the chorus typically contains the most important/defining idea in the song
Verses set up the story; e.g. details
Not giving away the main idea right away → builds anticipation
Chorus is what gets repeated, if it gets repeated
Similar parts of the structure connotate similar groups of ideas (i.e. verse 2 typically builds on ideas established in verse 1; if chorus isn’t repeated verbatim, it hits on the same idea)
Repeating ideas/words → solidifies them in memory
The importance of the chorus is usually highlighted by cues in the music, e.g.:
Big hit in music (instrumentation)
Reaches/hits root chord which feels like “home” in the key (music theory)
Memorable melody
Classic example - Don’t Stop Believin’
Verses give context that supports the main idea w/o giving it away
Chorus hits root chord with big bravado, presents main idea/theme, gets repeated
Melody is memorable/easy to sing
Lyrics are subjective and depend on writing style/the ideas you want to convey
What really resonates with me about lyrics is:
Rhythm
Putting stress on the right syllables (learned from David Poe)
Model Behavior (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) - I don’t even really care about the context since it’s so catchy & encapsulates a comedically frantic feeling so well
Every beat lines up with a stressed syllable in a word - pretty much follows a stressed-unstressed(-unstressed-unstressed) pattern through the whole song
Word choice is important for this, and it’s impressive that all of it sounds so natural! Might have something to do with the normal way people speak English gravitating towards this pattern
Avoiding filler words like “that” (as in the blue sky rather than the sky that is blue), passive voice and verbs ending in -ing (also learned from David Poe)
Every word should have a purpose in the song
Basically distilling your story down to its most concise form without losing its original meaning - less words means more room for more details!
You’re Welcome (Moana)
Rap section follows a 1-2-3 pattern very well
“Honestly I could go on and on, I could explain every natural phenomenon”
The key is matching the stress patterns between the music, the lyrics, and how you would normally speak the lyrics
Also has to do with peaks/valleys in the melody (coincides with stressed syllables) (definitely has something to do with inflection of regular speech)
Even something as slow/simple as Earthly Delights (Aurora) follows a pattern like this - if the first beat of a measure contains a syllable, it’s always stressed
Every word adds something new to the song!