Why is "good music", good?
“Well Sally, I'm glad you asked!” =)
In short, its actually a combination of our DNA, our genetic "wiring", experiences, and personal preferences in a few categories.. please read on…
It all starts with our nervous systems... they conduct electricity.. (DUH =P) Well, there are twelve major nerve bundles that run out of our brains, sort of our “Interstate Highways” joining major systems. Sound can generate electricity on 10 of them. Acoustic vibration (AKA. Sound) is translated from mechanical energy into electrical energy by the ear. This energy obviously comes in different patterns and frequencies. It then travels through out the body based on those 10 nerves and which frequencies they can handle. Sort of like two tuning forks that are close in pitch; if you strike one and hold it near the other.. it will start to vibrate as well. That’s why you instinctively bob your head or shake your ass to certain music that you “Like”. Because the music is “tickling” certain nerves causing you to react.
So far we have the mechanical part down. I’ll continue… This is where the preferences come in. Some people enjoy being high energy, other relaxed. Up tempo music has been shown to speed up brain rhythms and heart rate. Down tempo has been shown to slow them down, even decreasing blood pressure. Slower music is relaxing, faster music may get you going.. makes sense. Depending on your mood (or “which patterns of energy you are creating in your nervous system at the moment”) and preferences such as whether you choose to be happy or sad, the key of the song and even the individual notes can cause pleasing or unpleasant vibrations to occur.
Throw in lyrics that you can search through your internal database of experience to relate to… and you have a formula that is tailored to suit you. You also have different electrical patterns that you associate with different events in your life… when a similar electrical pattern is caused by music, it subconsciously triggers that memory and you “feel” a like or dislike based on your opinion of the experience.
The DNA part is most interesting… There was a group of researchers that decided it would be fun to take DNA and assigning a nucleotide to notes, play the number data as I correlated to musical notes… The results were pretty fascinating. It turned out that the music sounded much like pleasing classical music.. not only that, when they tried to figure out what certain types of music would look like when converted to DNA it turns out that one of the “saddest” Chopin classical pieces known – resembled the code for a cancer gene!
While all of this is the tangible aspect of it, there is of course, arguably the human factor; the beautiful abstract indefinable sense that emotion can play in our lives.
I think that’s enough of “Ask Mr. Wizard” for now.. I would love to see your thoughts and responses to this. Comment away!
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